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Using WebSockets

WebSockets are useful for having a very dynamic application, where data is shared in near real-time between the server and its clients.

JHipster currently uses Spring WebSockets as its implementation, so you will find a lot more information on this feature on the Spring WebSockets website.

This option has a few limitations:

  • By default, we use the dispatcher provided by Spring Websockets, which is an in-memory implementation. It will not scale if you want to use several servers. If you want to do so, have a look at the Spring WebSockets documentation which explains how to configure an external broker.

The "Tracker" example​

JHipster provides a "tracker" example out-of-the-box. Located in the admin menu, it will track the other users' behavior: you will see their login and IP, and which page they are currently viewing.

  • This is provided as an example so you can get started using WebSockets, not as a "production-ready" user tracker, but it works quite well.
  • It will show you how to integrate WebSockets with Spring Security, which is quite a complex topic
  • This works because JHipster is a Single-Page Web Application, so the WebSockets connections are not reinitialized between each page: this is where you get one of the big benefits of JHipster's architecture