AspNetCore.Docs/aspnetcore/signalr/streaming.md

title	author	description	monikerRange	ms.author	ms.custom	ms.date	uid
Use streaming in ASP.NET Core SignalR	tdykstra		>= aspnetcore-2.1	tdykstra	mvc	11/14/2018	signalr/streaming

Use streaming in ASP.NET Core SignalR

By Brennan Conroy

ASP.NET Core SignalR supports streaming return values of server methods. This is useful for scenarios where fragments of data will come in over time. When a return value is streamed to the client, each fragment is sent to the client as soon as it becomes available, rather than waiting for all the data to become available.

View or download sample code (how to download)

Set up the hub

A hub method automatically becomes a streaming hub method when it returns a ChannelReader<T> or a Task<ChannelReader<T>>. Below is a sample that shows the basics of streaming data to the client. Whenever an object is written to the ChannelReader that object is immediately sent to the client. At the end, the ChannelReader is completed to tell the client the stream is closed.

[!NOTE] Write to the ChannelReader on a background thread and return the ChannelReader as soon as possible. Other hub invocations will be blocked until a ChannelReader is returned.

::: moniker range="= aspnetcore-2.1"

[!code-csharpStreaming hub method]

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.2"

[!code-csharpStreaming hub method]

[!NOTE] In ASP.NET Core 2.2 or later, streaming Hub methods can accept a CancellationToken parameter that will be triggered when the client unsubscribes from the stream. Use this token to stop the server operation and release any resources if the client disconnects before the end of the stream.

::: moniker-end

.NET client

The StreamAsChannelAsync method on HubConnection is used to invoke a streaming method. Pass the hub method name, and arguments defined in the hub method to StreamAsChannelAsync. The generic parameter on StreamAsChannelAsync<T> specifies the type of objects returned by the streaming method. A ChannelReader<T> is returned from the stream invocation, and represents the stream on the client. To read data, a common pattern is to loop over WaitToReadAsync and call TryRead when data is available. The loop will end when the stream has been closed by the server, or the cancellation token passed to StreamAsChannelAsync is canceled.

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.2"

// Call "Cancel" on this CancellationTokenSource to send a cancellation message to 
// the server, which will trigger the corresponding token in the Hub method.
var cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
var channel = await hubConnection.StreamAsChannelAsync<int>(
    "Counter", 10, 500, cancellationTokenSource.Token);

// Wait asynchronously for data to become available
while (await channel.WaitToReadAsync())
{
    // Read all currently available data synchronously, before waiting for more data
    while (channel.TryRead(out var count))
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"{count}");
    }
}

Console.WriteLine("Streaming completed");

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="= aspnetcore-2.1"

var channel = await hubConnection
    .StreamAsChannelAsync<int>("Counter", 10, 500, CancellationToken.None);

// Wait asynchronously for data to become available
while (await channel.WaitToReadAsync())
{
    // Read all currently available data synchronously, before waiting for more data
    while (channel.TryRead(out var count))
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"{count}");
    }
}

Console.WriteLine("Streaming completed");

::: moniker-end

JavaScript client

JavaScript clients call streaming methods on hubs by using connection.stream. The stream method accepts two arguments:

• The name of the hub method. In the following example, the hub method name is Counter.
• Arguments defined in the hub method. In the following example, the arguments are: a count for the number of stream items to receive, and the delay between stream items.

connection.stream returns an IStreamResult which contains a subscribe method. Pass an IStreamSubscriber to subscribe and set the next, error, and complete callbacks to get notifications from the stream invocation.

[!code-javascriptStreaming javascript]

::: moniker range="= aspnetcore-2.1"

To end the stream from the client, call the dispose method on the ISubscription that is returned from the subscribe method.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.2"

To end the stream from the client, call the dispose method on the ISubscription that is returned from the subscribe method. Calling this method will cause the CancellationToken parameter of the Hub method (if you provided one) to be canceled.

::: moniker-end

Related resources

• Hubs
• .NET client
• JavaScript client
• Publish to Azure