Simple chat

To get started install node.js, mongodb and npm. Then use npm to install:

• socket.io
• expressjs
• mongodb - use npm install mongodb@0.9.2
• yaml
• underscore

To get start from the command line:

git clone https://github.com/gregstewart/chat.io.git
cd chat.io
sudo node main.js

You might be prompted by your firewall that something is listening on port 8080, that's the node server. Finally open up a browser and go to http://localhost:3000/, then open up another browser and type in a message and submit it, the message should appear in the first browser.

By default the server will run in development mode. To say run it in production mode (this influences expressjs), simply do this:

sudo NODE_ENV=production node main.js

To change any of the settings such as the ports/host names, open up config/settings.yml and make your changes there. The file has the following format:

# Settings file (YAML)
---
  development:
    database:
      adapter: mongodb
      host: ''
      port: 27017
    express:
      host: localhost
      port: 3000
    chat:
      host: localhost
      port: 8080
  # borrowing from the rails convention
  test:
    database:
      adapter: mongodb
      host: ''
      port: 27017
    express:
      host: localhost
      port: 3000
    chat:
      host: localhost
      port: 8080
  production:
    database:
      adapter: mongodb
      host: ''
      port: 27017
    express:
      host: localhost
      port: 3000
    chat:
      host: localhost
      port: 8080

For example to change the default port value for the chat server, look for chat >> port >> 8080 and change it to whatever you want.

To change the appearance of the "UI" simply edit the index.html file.

You can create channels and join them by clicking on their link. Still needs some refinement, however to post to a channel type /1 (or x - this number is derived from the order in which you joined the channel).

Update

I have added expressjs and mongoDB to capture user names in a database (for display purposes and for kicks really).

I have added yaml, so that a configuration file can be read on start up. Specifying an invalid NODE_ENV, will cause the application to log an exception and just halt.

I have added underscore, for array functions.

by Greg Stewart