[6a3a178] | 1 | # websocket-extensions [![Build status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/faye/websocket-extensions-node.svg)](http://travis-ci.org/faye/websocket-extensions-node)
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| 2 |
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| 3 | A minimal framework that supports the implementation of WebSocket extensions in
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| 4 | a way that's decoupled from the main protocol. This library aims to allow a
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| 5 | WebSocket extension to be written and used with any protocol library, by
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| 6 | defining abstract representations of frames and messages that allow modules to
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| 7 | co-operate.
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| 8 |
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| 9 | `websocket-extensions` provides a container for registering extension plugins,
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| 10 | and provides all the functions required to negotiate which extensions to use
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| 11 | during a session via the `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` header. By implementing the
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| 12 | APIs defined in this document, an extension may be used by any WebSocket library
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| 13 | based on this framework.
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| 14 |
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| 15 | ## Installation
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| 16 |
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| 17 | ```
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| 18 | $ npm install websocket-extensions
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| 19 | ```
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| 20 |
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| 21 | ## Usage
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| 22 |
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| 23 | There are two main audiences for this library: authors implementing the
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| 24 | WebSocket protocol, and authors implementing extensions. End users of a
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| 25 | WebSocket library or an extension should be able to use any extension by passing
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| 26 | it as an argument to their chosen protocol library, without needing to know how
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| 27 | either of them work, or how the `websocket-extensions` framework operates.
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| 28 |
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| 29 | The library is designed with the aim that any protocol implementation and any
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| 30 | extension can be used together, so long as they support the same abstract
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| 31 | representation of frames and messages.
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| 32 |
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| 33 | ### Data types
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| 34 |
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| 35 | The APIs provided by the framework rely on two data types; extensions will
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| 36 | expect to be given data and to be able to return data in these formats:
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| 37 |
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| 38 | #### *Frame*
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| 39 |
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| 40 | *Frame* is a structure representing a single WebSocket frame of any type. Frames
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| 41 | are simple objects that must have at least the following properties, which
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| 42 | represent the data encoded in the frame:
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| 43 |
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| 44 | | property | description |
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| 45 | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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| 46 | | `final` | `true` if the `FIN` bit is set, `false` otherwise |
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| 47 | | `rsv1` | `true` if the `RSV1` bit is set, `false` otherwise |
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| 48 | | `rsv2` | `true` if the `RSV2` bit is set, `false` otherwise |
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| 49 | | `rsv3` | `true` if the `RSV3` bit is set, `false` otherwise |
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| 50 | | `opcode` | the numeric opcode (`0`, `1`, `2`, `8`, `9`, or `10`) of the frame |
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| 51 | | `masked` | `true` if the `MASK` bit is set, `false` otherwise |
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| 52 | | `maskingKey` | a 4-byte `Buffer` if `masked` is `true`, otherwise `null` |
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| 53 | | `payload` | a `Buffer` containing the (unmasked) application data |
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| 54 |
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| 55 | #### *Message*
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| 56 |
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| 57 | A *Message* represents a complete application message, which can be formed from
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| 58 | text, binary and continuation frames. It has the following properties:
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| 59 |
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| 60 | | property | description |
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| 61 | | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| 62 | | `rsv1` | `true` if the first frame of the message has the `RSV1` bit set |
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| 63 | | `rsv2` | `true` if the first frame of the message has the `RSV2` bit set |
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| 64 | | `rsv3` | `true` if the first frame of the message has the `RSV3` bit set |
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| 65 | | `opcode` | the numeric opcode (`1` or `2`) of the first frame of the message |
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| 66 | | `data` | the concatenation of all the frame payloads in the message |
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| 67 |
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| 68 | ### For driver authors
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| 69 |
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| 70 | A driver author is someone implementing the WebSocket protocol proper, and who
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| 71 | wishes end users to be able to use WebSocket extensions with their library.
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| 72 |
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| 73 | At the start of a WebSocket session, on both the client and the server side,
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| 74 | they should begin by creating an extension container and adding whichever
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| 75 | extensions they want to use.
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| 76 |
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| 77 | ```js
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| 78 | var Extensions = require('websocket-extensions'),
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| 79 | deflate = require('permessage-deflate');
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| 80 |
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| 81 | var exts = new Extensions();
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| 82 | exts.add(deflate);
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| 83 | ```
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| 84 |
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| 85 | In the following examples, `exts` refers to this `Extensions` instance.
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| 86 |
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| 87 | #### Client sessions
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| 88 |
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| 89 | Clients will use the methods `generateOffer()` and `activate(header)`.
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| 90 |
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| 91 | As part of the handshake process, the client must send a
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| 92 | `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` header to advertise that it supports the registered
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| 93 | extensions. This header should be generated using:
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| 94 |
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| 95 | ```js
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| 96 | request.headers['sec-websocket-extensions'] = exts.generateOffer();
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| 97 | ```
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| 98 |
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| 99 | This returns a string, for example `"permessage-deflate;
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| 100 | client_max_window_bits"`, that represents all the extensions the client is
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| 101 | offering to use, and their parameters. This string may contain multiple offers
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| 102 | for the same extension.
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| 103 |
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| 104 | When the client receives the handshake response from the server, it should pass
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| 105 | the incoming `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` header in to `exts` to activate the
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| 106 | extensions the server has accepted:
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| 107 |
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| 108 | ```js
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| 109 | exts.activate(response.headers['sec-websocket-extensions']);
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| 110 | ```
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| 111 |
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| 112 | If the server has sent any extension responses that the client does not
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| 113 | recognize, or are in conflict with one another for use of RSV bits, or that use
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| 114 | invalid parameters for the named extensions, then `exts.activate()` will
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| 115 | `throw`. In this event, the client driver should fail the connection with
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| 116 | closing code `1010`.
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| 117 |
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| 118 | #### Server sessions
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| 119 |
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| 120 | Servers will use the method `generateResponse(header)`.
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| 121 |
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| 122 | A server session needs to generate a `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` header to send
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| 123 | in its handshake response:
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| 124 |
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| 125 | ```js
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| 126 | var clientOffer = request.headers['sec-websocket-extensions'],
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| 127 | extResponse = exts.generateResponse(clientOffer);
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| 128 |
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| 129 | response.headers['sec-websocket-extensions'] = extResponse;
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| 130 | ```
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| 131 |
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| 132 | Calling `exts.generateResponse(header)` activates those extensions the client
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| 133 | has asked to use, if they are registered, asks each extension for a set of
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| 134 | response parameters, and returns a string containing the response parameters for
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| 135 | all accepted extensions.
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| 136 |
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| 137 | #### In both directions
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| 138 |
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| 139 | Both clients and servers will use the methods `validFrameRsv(frame)`,
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| 140 | `processIncomingMessage(message)` and `processOutgoingMessage(message)`.
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| 141 |
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| 142 | The WebSocket protocol requires that frames do not have any of the `RSV` bits
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| 143 | set unless there is an extension in use that allows otherwise. When processing
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| 144 | an incoming frame, sessions should pass a *Frame* object to:
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| 145 |
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| 146 | ```js
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| 147 | exts.validFrameRsv(frame)
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| 148 | ```
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| 149 |
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| 150 | If this method returns `false`, the session should fail the WebSocket connection
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| 151 | with closing code `1002`.
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| 152 |
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| 153 | To pass incoming messages through the extension stack, a session should
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| 154 | construct a *Message* object according to the above datatype definitions, and
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| 155 | call:
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| 156 |
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| 157 | ```js
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| 158 | exts.processIncomingMessage(message, function(error, msg) {
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| 159 | // hand the message off to the application
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| 160 | });
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| 161 | ```
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| 162 |
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| 163 | If any extensions fail to process the message, then the callback will yield an
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| 164 | error and the session should fail the WebSocket connection with closing code
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| 165 | `1010`. If `error` is `null`, then `msg` should be passed on to the application.
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| 166 |
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| 167 | To pass outgoing messages through the extension stack, a session should
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| 168 | construct a *Message* as before, and call:
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| 169 |
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| 170 | ```js
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| 171 | exts.processOutgoingMessage(message, function(error, msg) {
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| 172 | // write message to the transport
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| 173 | });
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| 174 | ```
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| 175 |
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| 176 | If any extensions fail to process the message, then the callback will yield an
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| 177 | error and the session should fail the WebSocket connection with closing code
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| 178 | `1010`. If `error` is `null`, then `message` should be converted into frames
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| 179 | (with the message's `rsv1`, `rsv2`, `rsv3` and `opcode` set on the first frame)
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| 180 | and written to the transport.
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| 181 |
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| 182 | At the end of the WebSocket session (either when the protocol is explicitly
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| 183 | ended or the transport connection disconnects), the driver should call:
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| 184 |
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| 185 | ```js
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| 186 | exts.close(function() {})
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| 187 | ```
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| 188 |
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| 189 | The callback is invoked when all extensions have finished processing any
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| 190 | messages in the pipeline and it's safe to close the socket.
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| 191 |
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| 192 | ### For extension authors
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| 193 |
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| 194 | An extension author is someone implementing an extension that transforms
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| 195 | WebSocket messages passing between the client and server. They would like to
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| 196 | implement their extension once and have it work with any protocol library.
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| 197 |
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| 198 | Extension authors will not install `websocket-extensions` or call it directly.
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| 199 | Instead, they should implement the following API to allow their extension to
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| 200 | plug into the `websocket-extensions` framework.
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| 201 |
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| 202 | An `Extension` is any object that has the following properties:
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| 203 |
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| 204 | | property | description |
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| 205 | | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| 206 | | `name` | a string containing the name of the extension as used in negotiation headers |
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| 207 | | `type` | a string, must be `"permessage"` |
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| 208 | | `rsv1` | either `true` if the extension uses the RSV1 bit, `false` otherwise |
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| 209 | | `rsv2` | either `true` if the extension uses the RSV2 bit, `false` otherwise |
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| 210 | | `rsv3` | either `true` if the extension uses the RSV3 bit, `false` otherwise |
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| 211 |
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| 212 | It must also implement the following methods:
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| 213 |
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| 214 | ```js
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| 215 | ext.createClientSession()
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| 216 | ```
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| 217 |
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| 218 | This returns a *ClientSession*, whose interface is defined below.
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| 219 |
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| 220 | ```js
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| 221 | ext.createServerSession(offers)
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| 222 | ```
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| 223 |
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| 224 | This takes an array of offer params and returns a *ServerSession*, whose
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| 225 | interface is defined below. For example, if the client handshake contains the
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| 226 | offer header:
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| 227 |
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| 228 | ```
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| 229 | Sec-WebSocket-Extensions: permessage-deflate; server_no_context_takeover; server_max_window_bits=8, \
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| 230 | permessage-deflate; server_max_window_bits=15
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| 231 | ```
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| 232 |
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| 233 | then the `permessage-deflate` extension will receive the call:
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| 234 |
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| 235 | ```js
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| 236 | ext.createServerSession([
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| 237 | { server_no_context_takeover: true, server_max_window_bits: 8 },
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| 238 | { server_max_window_bits: 15 }
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| 239 | ]);
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| 240 | ```
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| 241 |
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| 242 | The extension must decide which set of parameters it wants to accept, if any,
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| 243 | and return a *ServerSession* if it wants to accept the parameters and `null`
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| 244 | otherwise.
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| 245 |
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| 246 | #### *ClientSession*
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| 247 |
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| 248 | A *ClientSession* is the type returned by `ext.createClientSession()`. It must
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| 249 | implement the following methods, as well as the *Session* API listed below.
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| 250 |
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| 251 | ```js
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| 252 | clientSession.generateOffer()
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| 253 | // e.g. -> [
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| 254 | // { server_no_context_takeover: true, server_max_window_bits: 8 },
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| 255 | // { server_max_window_bits: 15 }
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| 256 | // ]
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| 257 | ```
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| 258 |
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| 259 | This must return a set of parameters to include in the client's
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| 260 | `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` offer header. If the session wants to offer multiple
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| 261 | configurations, it can return an array of sets of parameters as shown above.
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| 262 |
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| 263 | ```js
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| 264 | clientSession.activate(params) // -> true
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| 265 | ```
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| 266 |
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| 267 | This must take a single set of parameters from the server's handshake response
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| 268 | and use them to configure the client session. If the client accepts the given
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| 269 | parameters, then this method must return `true`. If it returns any other value,
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| 270 | the framework will interpret this as the client rejecting the response, and will
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| 271 | `throw`.
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| 272 |
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| 273 | #### *ServerSession*
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| 274 |
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| 275 | A *ServerSession* is the type returned by `ext.createServerSession(offers)`. It
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| 276 | must implement the following methods, as well as the *Session* API listed below.
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| 277 |
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| 278 | ```js
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| 279 | serverSession.generateResponse()
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| 280 | // e.g. -> { server_max_window_bits: 8 }
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| 281 | ```
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| 282 |
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| 283 | This returns the set of parameters the server session wants to send in its
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| 284 | `Sec-WebSocket-Extensions` response header. Only one set of parameters is
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| 285 | returned to the client per extension. Server sessions that would confict on
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| 286 | their use of RSV bits are not activated.
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| 287 |
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| 288 | #### *Session*
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| 289 |
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| 290 | The *Session* API must be implemented by both client and server sessions. It
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| 291 | contains two methods, `processIncomingMessage(message)` and
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| 292 | `processOutgoingMessage(message)`.
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| 293 |
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| 294 | ```js
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| 295 | session.processIncomingMessage(message, function(error, msg) { ... })
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| 296 | ```
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| 297 |
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| 298 | The session must implement this method to take an incoming *Message* as defined
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| 299 | above, transform it in any way it needs, then return it via the callback. If
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| 300 | there is an error processing the message, this method should yield an error as
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| 301 | the first argument.
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| 302 |
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| 303 | ```js
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| 304 | session.processOutgoingMessage(message, function(error, msg) { ... })
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| 305 | ```
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| 306 |
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| 307 | The session must implement this method to take an outgoing *Message* as defined
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| 308 | above, transform it in any way it needs, then return it via the callback. If
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| 309 | there is an error processing the message, this method should yield an error as
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| 310 | the first argument.
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| 311 |
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| 312 | Note that both `processIncomingMessage()` and `processOutgoingMessage()` can
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| 313 | perform their logic asynchronously, are allowed to process multiple messages
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| 314 | concurrently, and are not required to complete working on messages in the same
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| 315 | order the messages arrive. `websocket-extensions` will reorder messages as your
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| 316 | extension emits them and will make sure every extension is given messages in the
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| 317 | order they arrive from the driver. This allows extensions to maintain state that
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| 318 | depends on the messages' wire order, for example keeping a DEFLATE compression
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| 319 | context between messages.
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| 320 |
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| 321 | ```js
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| 322 | session.close()
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| 323 | ```
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| 324 |
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| 325 | The framework will call this method when the WebSocket session ends, allowing
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| 326 | the session to release any resources it's using.
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| 327 |
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| 328 | ## Examples
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| 329 |
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| 330 | - Consumer: [websocket-driver](https://github.com/faye/websocket-driver-node)
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| 331 | - Provider: [permessage-deflate](https://github.com/faye/permessage-deflate-node)
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