Outside the (Web) Box

Using Ruby with Other Protocols

Danielle Adams / RubyConf AU 2018     

I'm Danielle

@adamzdanielle

@danielleadams

Outside the (Web) Box

Using Ruby with Other Protocols

april 2016

1. protocols


2. Ruby + machines

 


3. integration with services

protocols

What is an HTTP request?

How does a web server a handle request?

DNS

IP

Web Server

(ie. Puma)

Rack
Middleware

Web App

(ie. Rails)

What is TCP?

"The Transmission Control Protocol is intended for use as a highly reliable host-to-host protocol between hosts in packet-switched computer communication networks, and in interconnected systems of such networks."

 

RFC (1981)

 

TCP

RFC

A document drafted to be reviewed by interested parties.

How is TCP different from HTTP?

Internet Protocol Suite

application layer

transport layer

internet layer

link layer

physical layer

july 2016

Ruby + machines

Ruby has a Socket library.

"[...] the TCP provides a set of addresses or ports within each host. Concatenated with the network and host addresses from the internet communication layer, this forms a socket."

 

RFC (1981)

 

socket

TCPSocket

Server

(ie. Rails App)

Database
(ie. SQLite)

Client
(ie. Browser)

Server

(ie. Printer)

Client

???

open a socket

in order to communicate with hardware, a TCP socket needs to be established

require 'socket'
socket = TCPSocket.new '127.0.0.1', 8080
socket.write 'Hello, RubyConf!'
socket.close
# client.rb

TCPServer

Web Server

(ie. Rails App)

Database
(ie. SQLite)

Client
(ie. Browser)

Server

Client

loop do
  client = server.accept





end
require 'socket'
server = TCPServer.new 8080
puts "There's a new client: #{client}"
puts client.read
# server.rb
client.close

machines

there are lots of types of servers and clients

demo

dec. 2016

integration with services

non-blocking
integration

Printer

Browser

???

Printer

Browser

Web

Server

Worker

# app/controllers/labels_controller.rb

def create
  label = Label.create! label_params
  
  PrinterWorker.perform_async label.zpl
end


# app/workers/printer_worker.rb

sidekiq_options queue: 'devices'

def perform(message)
  socket = TCPSocket.new

  socket.write message
  socket.close
end
# app/controllers/labels_controller.rb

def create
  label = Label.create! label_params
  
  PrinterWorker.perform_async label.zpl
end


# app/workers/printer_worker.rb

sidekiq_options queue: 'devices'

def perform(message)
  socket = TCPSocket.new

  socket.write message
  socket.close
end

???

Scanner

BAR CODE

Database

TCP Server

Scanner

BAR CODE

Worker

Database

# bin/scans

require_relative '../lib/daemons/scan'

Daemons::Scan.listen


# lib/daemons/scan.rb

require 'socket'
require 'sidekiq'

server = TCPServer.new port
client = server.accept

while message = client.gets
  ScanWorker.perform_async(message)
end

client.close
# bin/scans

require_relative '../lib/daemons/scan'

Daemons::Scan.listen


# lib/daemons/scan.rb

require 'socket'
require 'sidekiq'

server = TCPServer.new
client = server.accept

while message = client.gets
  ScanWorker.perform_async(message)
end

client.close

device protocols

not all devices support the same protocol

Zebra Programming Language is a label-definition and printer-control language.

ZPL

printer

^XA
^FO15,15^BQN,2,6^FDID-10^FS
^CF0,50
^FO150,30^FDHello, my name is:^FS
^CF0,120
^FO150,90^FDDanielle^FS
^CF0,50
^FO150,200^FDTitle: Software Engineer^FS
^XZ

scanner

\x03092018
\x1FRA:1L:Sx:00:C0:NF
\x1F0340\r\n

middleware

shared code to handle different device protocols

demo

text +1 970 800 2583

OR

+61 428 431 280

your name and "title"

ie.

"Danielle

Cat Enthusiast"

obstacles

Multi socket support

Not all hardware supports connections to multiple sockets. Some only support one at a time.

Persistence

A framework may not support persistent open sockets.

Privacy

Not all hosting services support the level of privacy that may be needed for a device that is online.

Testing

Integration with hardware becomes difficult to mock and requires lots of manual testing.

epilogue

thank you!

@adamzdanielle

@danielleadams

github.com/danielleadams/web-box-demo

slides.com/danielleadams/outside-the-web-box-rbau18

Outside the Web Box

By Danielle Adams

Outside the Web Box

Slides for RubyConf AU 2018

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