Action Cable is a powerful feature of Ruby on Rails that allows developers to easily build real-time applications.
Real-time applications provide a dynamic and interactive experience for users, enabling updates to be pushed to the
client instantly without the need to manually refresh the page.
Step 1: Install Action Cable
To start using Action Cable, make sure you have Ruby on Rails installed on your system. Open your terminal and run the
following command to install Action Cable:
$ gem install actioncable
Step 2: Create and Configure Action Cable
Once you have Action Cable installed, you need to generate the necessary files. In your terminal, navigate to your Rails
project directory and run the following command:
$ bin/rails generate channel Chat
This will generate a new channel named Chat. You can replace “Chat” with the name of your choice. The generator also
creates a JavaScript file and modifies several other files to configure Action Cable properly.
Step 3: Implement the Logic
Open the chat_channel.rb file in your channels directory. This is where you can define the logic for your real-time
application. For example, you can add a method called “speak” to handle incoming messages from clients:
def speak(data)
# Perform any necessary tasks with the incoming data
Step 4: Update the JavaScript File
Open the chat_channel.js file in your app/assets/javascripts directory. This file is responsible for establishing a
connection to the channel and handling the incoming and outgoing messages. You can modify this file to suit your
application’s needs.
App.chat = App.cable.subscriptions.create('ChatChannel', {
connected: function() {
},
disconnected: function() {
// Code to run when the connection is lost
received: function(data) {
// Code to run when a message is received
speak: function(message) {
// Code to send a message to the server
this.perform('speak', { message: message });
}
});
Step 5: Integrate Action Cable into Your Application
To integrate Action Cable into your application, you’ll need to update your views or JavaScript files to include the
necessary code. For example, if you want to display the real-time messages on a web page, you can add the following code
to your HTML file:
Step 6: Start the Action Cable Server
Finally, you need to start the Action Cable server to establish a connection with the client. Open your terminal, navigate
to your Rails project directory and run the following command:
$ bin/cable
You should see a message confirming that the Action Cable server is running. Now you can visit your application in the
browser and experience the real-time updates provided by Action Cable!
Action Cable is an excellent tool for building real-time applications with Ruby on Rails. By following the steps outlined
above, you can leverage the power of Action Cable to provide an engaging and dynamic user experience in your own
projects.
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