Message Persistence API for PubNub C# SDK

Message Persistence provides real-time access to the history of all messages published to PubNub. Each published message is timestamped to the nearest 10 nanoseconds and is stored across multiple availability zones in several geographical locations. Stored messages can be encrypted with AES-256 message encryption, ensuring that they are not readable while stored on PubNub's network. For more information, refer to Message Persistence.

Messages can be stored for a configurable duration or forever, as controlled by the retention policy that is configured on your account. The following options are available: 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or Unlimited.

You can retrieve the following:

  • Messages
  • Message actions
  • File Sharing (using File Sharing API)

Fetch History

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

This function fetches historical messages from one or multiple channels. The includeMessageActions flag also allows you to fetch message actions along with the messages.

It's possible to control how messages are returned and in what order.

  • if you specify only the start parameter (without end), you will receive messages that are older than the start timetoken
  • if you specify only the end parameter (without start), you will receive messages from that end timetoken and newer
  • if you specify values for both start and end parameters, you will retrieve messages between those timetokens (inclusive of the end value)

You will receive a maximum of 100 messages for a single channel or 25 messages for multiple channels (up to 500). If more messages meet the timetoken criteria, make iterative calls while adjusting the start timetoken to fetch the entire list of messages from Message Persistence.

Method(s)

To run Fetch History, you can use the following method(s) in the C# SDK:

pubnub.FetchHistory()
.Channels(string[])
.IncludeMeta(bool)
.IncludeMessageType(bool)
.IncludeUUID(bool)
.IncludeMessageActions(bool)
.Reverse(bool)
.Start(int)
.End(int)
.MaximumPerChannel(int)
.QueryParam(Dictionary<string, object>)
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
Channelsstring[]YesSpecifies channel to return history messages from. Maximum of 500 channels are allowed.
IncludeMetaboolOptionalWhether meta (passed when Publishing the message) should be included in response or not.
IncludeMessageTypeboolOptionalPass true to receive the message type with each history message. Default is true.
IncludeUUIDboolOptionalPass true to receive the publisher uuid with each history message. Default is true.
IncludeMessageActionsboolOptionalThe flag denoting to retrieve history messages with message actions. If true, the method is limited to one channel and 25 messages only. Default is false.
ReverseboolOptionalSetting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
StartlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the start of time slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
EndlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the end of time slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
MaximumPerChannelintOptionalSpecifies the number of historical messages to return. Default and maximum is 100 for a single channel, 25 for multiple channels, and 25 if IncludeMessageActions is true.
QueryParamDictionary<string, object>OptionalQueryParam accepts a Dictionary object, the keys and values are passed as the query string parameters of the URL called by the API.
ExecutePNCallbackYesPNCallback of type PNFetchHistoryResult.
ExecuteAsyncNoneOptionalReturns PNResult<PNFetchHistoryResult>.
Truncated response

If you fetch messages with messages actions, the number of messages in the response may be truncated when internal limits are hit. If the response is truncated, a more property will be returned with additional parameters. Send iterative calls to history adjusting the parameters to fetch more messages.

Basic Usage

Retrieve the last message on a channel:

PNResult<PNFetchHistoryResult> fetchHistoryResponse = await pubnub.FetchHistory()
.Channels(new string[] { "my_channel" })
.IncludeMeta(true)
.MaximumPerChannel(25)
.ExecuteAsync();

Returns

{
"Messages":
{
"my_channel":
[{
"Timetoken":15717278253295153,
"Entry":"sample message",
"Meta":"",
"Uuid":"user-1",
"MessageType":null,
"Actions":null
}]
},
"More":null
}

Other Examples

Retrieve the last 25 messages on a channel synchronously

pubnub.FetchHistory()
.Channels(new string[] { "my_channel" })
.IncludeMeta(true)
.MaximumPerChannel(25)
.Execute(new PNFetchHistoryResultExt((result, status) =>
{

}));

Delete Messages from History

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Removes the messages from the history of a specific channel.

Required setting

There is a setting to accept delete from history requests for a key, which you must enable by checking the Enable Delete-From-History checkbox in the key settings for your key in the Admin Portal.

Requires Initialization with secret key.

Method(s)

To Delete Messages from History you can use the following method(s) in the C# SDK.

pubnub.DeleteMessages()
.Channel(string)
.Start(long)
.End(long)
.QueryParam(Dictionary<string,object>)
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
ChannelstringYesSpecifies channel messages to be deleted from history.
StartlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the Start of time slice (inclusive) to delete messages from.
EndlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the End of time slice (exclusive) to delete messages from.
QueryParamDictionary<string, object>OptionalDictionary object to pass name/value pairs as query string params with PubNub URL request for debug purpose.
AsyncPNCallbackDeprecatedPNCallback of type PNDeleteMessageResult.
ExecutePNCallbackYesPNCallback of type PNDeleteMessageResult.
ExecuteAsyncNoneOptionalReturns PNResult<PNDeleteMessageResult>.

Basic Usage

PNResult<PNDeleteMessageResult> delMsgResponse = await pubnub.DeleteMessages()
.Channel("history_channel")
.Start(15088506076921021)
.End(15088532035597390)
.ExecuteAsync();

PNDeleteMessageResult delMsgResult = delMsgResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = delMsgResponse.Status;

if (status != null && status.Error)
{
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else if (delMsgResult != null)
show all 19 lines

Returns

The DeleteMessages() operation returns a PNResult<PNDeleteMessageResult> which returns empty PNDeleteMessageResult object.

Other Examples

Delete messages sent in a particular timeframe

pubnub.DeleteMessages()
.Channel("history_channel")
.Start(15088506076921021)
.End(15088532035597390)
.Execute(new PNDeleteMessageResultExt(
(result, status) => {
if (status != null && status.Error) {
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else if (result != null) {
//Expect empty object
Console.WriteLine(pubnub.JsonPluggableLibrary.SerializeToJsonString(result));
}
}
show all 16 lines

Delete specific message from history

To delete a specific message, pass the publish timetoken (received from a successful publish) in the End parameter and timetoken +/- 1 in the Start parameter. For example, if 15526611838554310 is the publish timetoken, pass 15526611838554309 in Start and 15526611838554310 in End parameters respectively as shown in the following code snippet.

PNResult<PNDeleteMessageResult> delMsgResponse = await pubnub.DeleteMessages()
.Channel("history_channel")
.Start(15526611838554310)
.End(15526611838554309)
.ExecuteAsync();

PNDeleteMessageResult delMsgResult = delMsgResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = delMsgResponse.Status;

if (status != null && status.Error)
{
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else if (delMsgResult != null)
show all 19 lines

Message Counts

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Returns the number of messages published on one or more channels since a given time. The count returned is the number of messages in history with a timetoken value greater than or equal to than the passed value in the ChannelsTimetokenparameter.

Unlimited message retention

For keys with unlimited message retention enabled, this method considers only messages published in the last 30 days.

Method(s)

You can use the following method(s) in the C# SDK:

pubnub.MessageCounts()
.Channels(string[])
.ChannelsTimetoken(long[])
.QueryParam(Dictionary<string, object>)
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
Channelsstring[]YesThe channels to fetch the message count
ChannelsTimetokenlong[]YesArray of timetokens, in order of the channels list. Specify a single timetoken to apply it to all channels. Otherwise, the list of timetokens must be the same length as the list of channels, or the function returns a PNStatus with an error flag.
AsyncPNCallbackDeprecatedPNCallback of type PNMessageCountResult.
ExecutePNCallbackYesPNCallback of type PNMessageCountResult.
ExecuteAsyncNoneOptionalReturns PNResult<PNMessageCountResult>.

Basic Usage

PNResult<PNMessageCountResult> msgCountResponse = await pubnub.MessageCounts()
.Channels(new string[] { "message_count_channel" })
.ChannelsTimetoken(new long[] { 15088506076921021 })
.ExecuteAsync();

PNMessageCountResult msgCountResult = msgCountResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = msgCountResponse.Status;

if (status != null && status.Error)
{
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else
{
show all 17 lines

Returns

The operation returns a PNResult<PNMessageCountResult> which contains the following operations:

Property NameTypeDescription
ResultPNMessageCountResultReturns a PNMessageCountResult object.
StatusPNStatusReturns a PNStatus object

PNMessageCountResult contains the following properties:

Property NameTypeDescription
ChannelsDictionary<string, long>Collection of channels along with the messages count. channels without messages have a count of 0. channels with 10,000 messages or more have a count of 10000.

Other Examples

Retrieve count of messages for a single channel

pubnub.MessageCounts()
.Channels(new string[] { "message_count_channel" })
.ChannelsTimetoken(new long[] { 15088506076921021 })
.Execute(new PNMessageCountResultExt(
(result, status) => {
if (status != null && status.Error)
{
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine(pubnub.JsonPluggableLibrary.SerializeToJsonString(result));
}
}));

Retrieve count of messages using different timetokens for each channel

PNResult<PNMessageCountResult> msgCountResponse = await pubnub.MessageCounts()
.Channels(new string[] { "message_count_channel", "message_count_channel2" })
.ChannelsTimetoken(new long[] { 15088506076921021, 15088506076921131 })
.ExecuteAsync();

PNMessageCountResult msgCountResult = msgCountResponse.Result;
PNStatus status = msgCountResponse.Status;

if (status != null && status.Error)
{
//Check for any error
Console.WriteLine(status.ErrorData.Information);
}
else
{
show all 17 lines

History (deprecated)

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Alternative method

This method is deprecated. Use fetch history instead.

This function fetches historical messages of a channel.

It is possible to control how messages are returned and in what order, for example you can:

  • Search for messages starting on the newest end of the timeline (default behavior - Reverse = false)
  • Search for messages from the oldest end of the timeline by setting Reverse to true.
  • Page through results by providing a Start OR End timetoken.
  • Retrieve a slice of the time line by providing both a Start AND End timetoken.
  • Limit the number of messages to a specific quantity using the Count parameter.
Start & End parameter usage clarity

If only the Start parameter is specified (without End), you will receive messages that are older than and up to that Start timetoken value. If only the End parameter is specified (without Start) you will receive messages that match that End timetoken value and newer Specifying values for both Start and End parameters will return messages between those timetoken values (inclusive on the End value). Keep in mind that you will still receive a maximum of 100 messages even if there are more messages that meet the timetoken values. Iterative calls to history adjusting the Start timetoken is necessary to page through the full set of results if more than 100 messages meet the timetoken values.

Method(s)

To run History you can use the following method(s) in the C# SDK:

pubnub.History()
.Channel(string)
.IncludeMeta(bool)
.Reverse(bool)
.IncludeTimetoken(bool)
.Start(long)
.End(long)
.count(int)
.QueryParam(Dictionary<string,object>)
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
ChannelstringYesSpecifies Channelto return history messages from.
IncludeMetaboolOptionalWhether meta (passed when Publishing the message) should be included in response or not.
ReverseboolOptionalSetting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
IncludeTimetokenboolOptionalWhether event dates timetokens should be included in response or not.
StartlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the Start of time slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
EndlongOptionalTimetoken delimiting the End of time slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
CountintOptionalSpecifies the number of historical messages to return.
QueryParamDictionary<string, object>OptionalDictionary object to pass name/value pairs as query string params with PubNub URL request for debug purpose.
AsyncPNCallbackDeprecatedPNCallback of type PNHistoryResult.
ExecutePNCallbackYesPNCallback of type PNHistoryResult.
ExecuteAsyncNoneOptionalReturns PNResult<PNHistoryResult>.
tip
Using the reverse parameter

Messages are always returned sorted in ascending time direction from history regardless of Reverse. The Reverse direction matters when you have more than 100 (or Count, if it's set) messages in the time interval, in which case Reverse determines the end of the time interval from which it should start retrieving the messages.

Basic Usage

Retrieve the last 100 messages on a channel:

PNResult<PNHistoryResult> historyResponse = await pubnub.History()
.Channel("history_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Count(100) // how many items to fetch
.ExecuteAsync();

Returns

The History() operation returns a PNResult<PNHistoryResult> which contains the following properties:

Property NameTypeDescription
ResultPNHistoryResultReturns a PNHistoryResult object.
StatusPNStatusReturns a PNStatus object.

PNHistoryResult which contains the following properties:

Property NameTypeDescription
MessagesList<PNHistoryItemResult>List of messages of type PNHistoryItemResult. See PNHistoryItemResult for more details.
StartTimetokenlongStart timetoken.
EndTimetokenlongEnd timetoken.

PNHistoryItemResult

Property NameTypeDescription
TimetokenlongTimetoken of the message.
EntryobjectMessage.

Other Examples

Retrieve the last 100 messages on a channel synchronously

pubnub.History()
.Channel("history_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Count(100) // how many items to fetch
.Execute(new PNHistoryResultExt(
(result, status) => {
}
));

Use History() to retrieve the three oldest messages by retrieving from the time line in reverse

PNResult<PNHistoryResult> historyResponse = await pubnub.History()
.Channel("my_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Count(3) // how many items to fetch
.Reverse(true) // should go in reverse?
.ExecuteAsync();

Response

{
"Messages":[
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub1"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub2"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub3"
}
],
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Use History() to retrieve messages newer than a given timetoken by paging from oldest message to newest message starting at a single point in time (exclusive)

PNResult<PNHistoryResult> historyResponse = await pubnub.History()
.Channel("my_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Start(13847168620721752L) // first timestamp
.Reverse(true) // should go in reverse?
.ExecuteAsync();

Response

{
"Messages":[
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub3"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub4"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub5"
}
],
show all 18 lines

Use History() to retrieve messages until a given timetoken by paging from newest message to oldest message until a specific end point in time (inclusive)

PNResult<PNHistoryResult> historyResponse = await pubnub.History()
.Channel("my_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Count(100) // how many items to fetch
.Start(-1) // first timestamp
.End(13847168819178600L) // last timestamp
.Reverse(true) // should go in reverse?
.ExecuteAsync();

Response

{
"Messages":[
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub3"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub4"
},
{
"Timetoken": 0,
"Entry": "Pub5"
}
],
show all 18 lines

History Paging Example

Usage

You can call the method by passing 0 or a valid timetoken as the argument.

public class PubnubRecursiveHistoryFetcher {
private static Pubnub pubnub;

public abstract class CallbackSkeleton {
public abstract void HandleResponse(PNHistoryResult result);
}

public PubnubRecursiveHistoryFetcher() {
// NOTICE: for demo/demo pub/sub keys Message Persistence is disabled,
// so use your pub/sub keys instead
PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration(new UserId("myUniqueUserId"));
pnConfiguration.SubscribeKey = "demo";
pubnub = new Pubnub(pnConfiguration);
}

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Include timetoken in history response

PNResult<PNHistoryResult> historyResponse = await pubnub.History()
.Channel("history_channel") // where to fetch history from
.Count(100) // how many items to fetch
.IncludeTimetoken(true) // include timetoken with each entry
.ExecuteAsync();
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