Getting started with VueJS VueJS

Getting started with deepstreamHub is easy and takes less than ten minutes. However, if you have any questions, please get in touch.

This getting started guide will walk you through integrating deepstream in Vue. You will also learn how to implement the three deepstream core concepts: Records, Events and RPCs.

First, let's start by creating a free deepstreamHub account:

Create a free account and get your API key

deepstream provides a JavaScript library which helps interact with your deepstreamHub server.

Create a Vue App

Vue provides a nice CLI tool for creating and managing Vue apps. The CLI allows you to create Vue apps using different templates that use either Webpack, Browserify or just CDN scripts. This example will use the simple template which creates Vue app with the CDN scripts:

# Install Vue CLI
npm install -g vue-cli
# Create Vue app with "simple" template
vue init simple ds-vue

Connect to deepstreamHub and log in

After you have successfully created an Angular app, add the deepstream JS-client library in your new project:

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/deepstream.io-client-js/2.1.1/deepstream.js"></script>

Get your app url from the dashboard and establish a connection to deepstreamHub using the created lifecycle hook:

new Vue({
    el: '#app',
    data: {
        ds: null,
    },
    created: function() {
        this.ds = deepstream('<YOUR APP URL>')
        .login()
    }
})

The hook will connect to your deepstream server and login only when the component is created.

The login method can take credentials if authentication is configured.

Records (realtime datastore)

Creating a new record or retrieving an existent one works the same way

var myRecord = ds.record.getRecord( 'test/johndoe' );

Values can be stored using the .set() method

myRecord.set({
    firstname: 'John',
    lastname: 'Doe'
});

Let's set up two-way bindings with an input field - whenever a path within our record, e.g. firstname changes we want to update the input. Whenever a user types, we want to update the record.

Let's see an example:

const Record = {
    template: `
            <div class="group realtimedb">
                <h2>Realtime Datastore</h2>
                <div class="input-group half left">
                    <label>Firstname</label>
                    <input type="text" v-model="firstname" @input="handleFNameUpdate()" />
                </div>
                <div class="input-group half">
                    <label>Lastname</label>
                    <input type="text" v-model="lastname" @input="handleLNameUpdate()" />
                </div>
            </div>
    `,
    props: ['ds'],
    data: function() {
        return {
            firstname: '',
            lastname: '',
        }
    },
    created: function() {
        this.record = this.ds.record.getRecord('test/johndoe');

        this.record.subscribe(values => {
            this.firstname = values.firstname;
            this.lastname = values.lastname;
        })
    },
    methods: {
        handleFNameUpdate: function() {
            this.record.set('firstname', this.firstname);
        },
        handleLNameUpdate: function() {
            this.record.set('lastname', this.lastname);
        }
    }
};

The ds props is the deepstream connection instance which is passed from the parent App component to the child Record component.

The subscribe method is used to listen for updates and update the inputs accordingly. The method is called in the created lifecycle hook as well so it can be setup once the component is created.

Events (publish-subscribe)

Clients and backend processes can receive events using .subscribe()

ds.event.subscribe( 'test-event', function( eventData ){ /*do stuff*/ });

... and publish events using .emit()

ds.event.emit( 'test-event', {some: 'data'} );

A simple example:

const Events = {
    template: `
            <div class="group pubsub">
                <div class="half left">
                    <h2>Publish</h2>
                    <button class="half left" id="send-event" @click="handleClick()">Send test-event with</button>
                    <input type="text" class="half" id="event-data" v-model="value"/>
                </div>
                <div class="half">
                    <h2>Subscribe</h2>
                    <ul id="events-received">
                        <template v-for="event in eventsReceived">
                            <li>  </li>
                        </template>
                    </ul>
                </div>
            </div>
    `,
    props: ['ds'],
    data: function() {
        return {
            eventsReceived: [],
            value: '',
        };
    },
    created: function() {
        this.event = this.ds.event;
        this.event.subscribe('test-event', value => {
            this.eventsReceived.push(value);
        });
    },
    methods: {
        handleClick: function() {
            this.event.emit('test-event', this.value)
        }
    }
};

Just like the record example, ds instance is passed as props and the created hook handles the event subscription.

RPCs (request-response)

You can make a request using .make()

ds.rpc.make( 'multiply-numbers', { a: 6, b: 7 }, function( err, result ){
    //result === 42
});

and answer it using .provide()

ds.rpc.provide( 'multiply-numbers', function( data, response ){
    resp.send( data.a * data.b );
});

For example:

const RPC = {
    template: `
            <div class="group reqres">
                <div class="half left">
                    <h2>Request</h2>
                    <button class="half left" @click="handleClick()">Make multiply request</button>
                    <div class="half">
                        <input type="text" v-model="requestValue" class="half left" />
                        <span class="response half item">  </span>
                    </div>
                </div>
                <div class="half">
                    <h2>Response</h2>
                    <div class="half left item">Multiply number with:</div>
                    <input type="text" class="half" v-model="responseValue" />
                </div>
            </div>
    `,
    props: ['ds'],
    data: function() {
        return {
            responseValue: '7',
            requestValue: '3',
            displayResponse: '-'
        }
    },
    created: function() {
        this.rpc = this.ds.rpc;
        this.rpc.provide( 'multiply-number', ( data, response ) => {
            response.send( data.value * parseFloat(this.responseValue) );
        });
    },
    methods: {
        handleClick: function() {
            const data = {
                value: parseFloat(this.requestValue)
            };

            this.rpc.make( 'multiply-number', data, ( err, resp ) => {

                this.displayResponse = resp || err.toString();
            });
        }
    }
}

The button click makes the request and the created hook handles the response using the provide method.

The examples can be assembled together in a parent App component:

new Vue({
      el: '#app',
      components: {
        'my-record': Record,
        'my-events': Events,
        'my-rpc': RPC
      },
      data: {
        ds: null
      },
      created: function() {
          this.ds = deepstream('<APP-URL>')
          .login()
      }
})

<div id="app">
    <my-record :ds="ds"></my-record>
    <my-events :ds="ds"></my-events>
    <my-rpc :ds="ds"></my-rpc>
</div>

Where to go next?

To learn how to use deepstreamHub with other frontend frameworks head over to the tutorial section. To learn how to use the JavaScript SDK with NodeJS rather than in a browser, head over to the getting started with NodeJS tutorial.

Live demo