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Publish/Subscribe API for PubNub Android SDK

The foundation of the PubNub service is the ability to send a message and have it delivered anywhere in less than 100ms. Send a message to just one other person, or broadcast to thousands of subscribers at once.

For higher-level conceptual details on publishing and subscribing, refer to Connection Management and to Publish Messages.

Publish

Description

The publish() function is used to send a message to all subscribers of a channel. To publish a message you must first specify a valid publishKey at initialization. A successfully published message is replicated across the PubNub Real-Time Network and sent simultaneously to all subscribed clients on a channel.

Messages in transit can be secured from potential eavesdroppers with SSL/TLS by setting ssl to true during initialization.

Publish Anytime

It's not required to be subscribed to a channel in order to publish to that channel.

Message Data:

The message argument can contain any JSON serializable data, including: Objects, Arrays, Ints and Strings. data should not contain special Android V4 classes or functions as these will not serialize. String content can include any single-byte or multi-byte UTF-8 character.

Don't JSON serialize!

It is important to note that you should not JSON serialize when sending signals/messages via PUBNUB. Why? Because the serialization is done for you automatically. Instead just pass the full object as the message payload. PubNub takes care of everything for you.

Message Size:

The maximum number of characters per message is 32 KiB by default. The maximum message size is based on the final escaped character count, including the channel name. An ideal message size is under 1800 bytes which allows a message to be compressed and sent using single IP datagram (1.5 KiB) providing optimal network performance.

If the message you publish exceeds the configured size, you will receive the following message:

Message Too Large Error
["PUBLISHED",[0,"Message Too Large","13524237335750949"]]

For further details please check: https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051495932-Calculating-Message-Payload-Size-Before-Publish

Message Publish Rate:

Messages can be published as fast as bandwidth conditions will allow. There is a soft limit based on max throughput since messages will be discarded if the subscriber can't keep pace with the publisher.

For example, if 200 messages are published simultaneously before a subscriber has had a chance to receive any messages, the subscriber may not receive the first 100 messages because the message queue has a limit of only 100 messages stored in memory.

Publishing to Multiple Channels:

It is not possible to publish a message to multiple channels simultaneously. The message must be published to one channel at a time.

Publishing Messages Reliably:

There are some best practices to ensure messages are delivered when publishing to a channel:

  • Publish to any given channel in a serial manner (not concurrently).

  • Check that the return code is success (e.g. [1,"Sent","136074940..."])

  • Publish the next message only after receiving a success return code.

  • If a failure code is returned ([0,"blah","<timetoken>"]), retry the publish.

  • Avoid exceeding the in-memory queue's capacity of 100 messages. An overflow situation (aka missed messages) can occur if slow subscribers fail to keep up with the publish pace in a given period of time.

  • Throttle publish bursts in accordance with your app's latency needs e.g. Publish no faster than 5 msgs per second to any one channel.

Method(s)

To Publish a message you can use the following method(s) in the Android V4 SDK:

this.pubnub.publish().message(Object).channel(String).shouldStore(Boolean).meta(Object).queryParam(HashMap).usePOST(Boolean).ttl(Integer);
ParameterTypeRequiredDefaultsDescription
messageObjectYesThe payload.
channelStringYesDestination of the message.
shouldStoreBooleanOptionalaccount defaultStore in history.
If shouldStore is not specified, then the history configuration on the key is used.
metaObjectOptionalNot setMeta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
queryParamHashMap<string,string>OptionalNot setOne or more query parameters to be passed to the server, for analytics purposes. Overridden in case of conflicts with reserved PubNub parameters, such as uuid or instance_id. Accessible from your PubNub Dashboard, and never returned in server responses.
usePOSTBooleanOptionalfalseUse POST to publish.
ttlIntegerOptionalSet a per message time to live in storage.
  1. If shouldStore = true, and ttl = 0, the message is stored with no expiry time.
  2. If shouldStore = true and ttl = X (X is an Integer value), the message is stored with an expiry time of X hours.
  3. If shouldStore = false, the ttl parameter is ignored.
  4. If ttl is not specified, then expiration of the message defaults back to the expiry value for the key.
syncCommandOptionalBlock the thread, exception thrown if something goes wrong.
asyncPNCallbackOptionalPNCallback of type PNPublishResult

Basic Usage

Publish a message to a channel:

JsonObject position = new JsonObject();
position.addProperty("lat", 32L);
position.addProperty("lng", 32L);

System.out.println("before pub: " + position);
pubnub.publish()
    .message(position)
    .channel("my_channel")
    .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
            // handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
            // status.isError() to see if error happened
            if(!status.isError()) {
                System.out.println("pub timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
            }
            System.out.println("pub status code: " + status.getStatusCode());
        }
    });
Note

Before running the above publish example, either using the Debug Console or in a separate script running in a separate terminal window, subscribe to the same channel that is being published to.

Returns

The publish() operation returns a PNPublishResult which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getTimetoken()LongReturns a long representation of the timetoken when the message was published.

Other Examples

  1. Publish with metadata

    pubnub.publish()
        .message(Arrays.asList("hello", "there"))
        .channel("suchChannel")
        .shouldStore(true)
        .meta(<Object>) // optional meta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
        .usePOST(true)
        .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
                // handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
                // status.isError to see if error happened
            }
        });
    
  2. Publishing JsonObject (Google GSON)

    JsonObject position = new JsonObject();
    position.addProperty("lat", 32L);
    position.addProperty("lng", 32L);
    
    System.out.println("before pub: " + position);
    pubnub.publish()
        .message(position)
        .channel("my_channel")
        .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
                // handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
                // status.isError() to see if error happened
                if(!status.isError()) {
                    System.out.println("pub timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
                }
                System.out.println("pub status code: " + status.getStatusCode());
            }
        });
    
  3. Publishing JsonArray (Google GSON)

    JsonArray position = new JsonArray();
    position.add(32L);
    
    System.out.println("before pub: " + position);
    pubnub.publish()
        .message(position)
        .channel("my_channel")
        .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
                //  handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
                //  status.isError to see if error happened
                if(!status.isError()) {
                    System.out.println("pub timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
                }
                System.out.println("pub status code: " + status.getStatusCode());
            }
        });
    
  4. Publishing JSONObject (org.json)

    JSONObject position = new JSONObject();
    position.put("lat", 32L);
    position.put("lng", 32L);
    
    System.out.println("before pub: " + position);
    pubnub.publish()
        .message(toMap(position))
        .channel("my_channel")
        .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
                // handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
                // status.isError to see if error happened
                if(!status.isError()) {
                    System.out.println("pub timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
                }
                System.out.println("pub status code: " + status.getStatusCode());
            }
        });
    

    Helper Functions

    public static Map<String, Object> toMap(JSONObject object) throws JSONException {
        Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<>();
    
        Iterator<String> keysItr = object.keys();
        while(keysItr.hasNext()) {
            String key = keysItr.next();
            Object value = object.get(key);
    
            if(value instanceof JSONArray) {
                value = toList((JSONArray) value);
            }
    
            else if(value instanceof JSONObject) {
                value = toMap((JSONObject) value);
            }
            map.put(key, value);
        }
        return map;
    }
    
    public static List<Object> toList(JSONArray array) throws JSONException {
        List<Object> list = new ArrayList<>();
        for(int i = 0; i < array.length(); i++) {
            Object value = array.get(i);
            if(value instanceof JSONArray) {
                value = toList((JSONArray) value);
            }
    
            else if(value instanceof JSONObject) {
                value = toMap((JSONObject) value);
            }
            list.add(value);
        }
        return list;
    }
    
  5. Publishing JSONArray (org.json)

    JSONArray position = new JSONArray();
    position.put(32L);
    
    System.out.println("before pub: " + position);
    pubnub.publish()
        .message(toList(position))
        .channel("my_channel")
        .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
                //  handle publish result, status always present, result if successful
                //  status.isError to see if error happened
                if(!status.isError()) {
                    System.out.println("pub timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
                }
                System.out.println("pub status code: " + status.getStatusCode());
            }
        });
    

    Helper Functions

    public static List<Object> toList(JSONArray array) throws JSONException {
        List<Object> list = new ArrayList<>();
        for(int i = 0; i < array.length(); i++) {
            Object value = array.get(i);
            if(value instanceof JSONArray) {
                value = toList((JSONArray) value);
            }
    
            else if(value instanceof JSONObject) {
                value = toMap((JSONObject) value);
            }
            list.add(value);
        }
        return list;
    }
    
  6. Store the published message for 10 hours

    PNPublishResult result = pubnub.publish()
                                 .channel("coolChannel")
                                 .message("test")
                                 .shouldStore(true)
                                 .ttl(10)
                                 .sync();
    

Fire

Description

The fire endpoint allows the client to send a message to PubNub Functions Event Handlers. These messages will go directly to any Event Handlers registered on the channel that you fire to and will trigger their execution. The content of the fired request will be available for processing within the Event Handler. The message sent via fire() isn't replicated, and so won't be received by any subscribers to the channel. The message is also not stored in history.

Method(s)

To Fire a message you can use the following method(s) in the Android V4 SDK:

this.pubnub.fire().message(Object).channel(String).meta(Object).usePOST(Boolean);
ParameterTypeRequiredDefaultsDescription
messageObjectYesThe payload.
channelStringYesDestination of the message.
metaObjectOptionalNot setMeta data object which can be used with the filtering ability.
usePOSTBooleanOptionalfalseUse POST to publish.
syncCommandOptionalBlock the thread, exception thrown if something goes wrong.
asyncPNCallbackOptionalPNCallback of type PNPublishResult

Basic Usage

Fire a message to a channel:

pubnub.fire()
    .message(Arrays.asList("hello", "there"))
    .channel("my_channel")
    .usePOST(true)
    .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onResponse(PNPublishResult result, PNStatus status) {
            if (status.isError()) {
                // something bad happened.
                System.out.println("error happened while publishing: " + status.toString());
            } else {
                System.out.println("publish worked! timetoken: " + result.getTimetoken());
            }
        }
    });

Signal

Description

The signal() function is used to send a signal to all subscribers of a channel.

By default, signals are limited to a message payload size of 64 bytes. This limit applies only to the payload, and not to the URI or headers. If you require a larger payload size, please contact support.

Method(s)

To Signal a message you can use the following method(s) in the Android V4 SDK:

this.pubnub.signal().message(Object).channel(String);
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
messageObjectYesThe payload which will be serialized and sent.
channelStringYesThe channel which the signal will be sent to.
syncPNPublishResultOptionalExecutes the call. Blocks the thread, exception is thrown if something goes wrong.
asyncPNCallbackOptionalExecutes the call asynchronously.

Basic Usage

Signal a message to a channel:

pubnub.signal()
    .message("Hello everyone!")
    .channel("bar")
    .async(new PNCallback<PNPublishResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onResponse(PNPublishResult pnPublishResult, PNStatus pnStatus) {
            if (pnStatus.isError()) {
                Long timetoken = pnPublishResult.getTimetoken(); // signal message timetoken
            } else {
                pnStatus.getErrorData().getThrowable().printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    });

Response

The signal() operation returns a PNPublishResult object which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getTimetoken()LongReturns a long representation of the timetoken when the signal was published.

Subscribe

Description

This function causes the client to create an open TCP socket to the PubNub Real-Time Network and begin listening for messages on a specified channel. To subscribe to a channel the client must send the appropriate subscribeKey at initialization.

By default a newly subscribed client will only receive messages published to the channel after the subscribe() call completes. If a client gets disconnected from a channel, it can automatically attempt to reconnect to that channel and retrieve any available messages that were missed during that period. This can be achieved by setting setReconnectionPolicy to PNReconnectionPolicy.LINEAR, when initializing the client.

Warning

Unsubscribing from all channels, and then subscribing to a new channel Y is not the same as subscribing to channel Y and then unsubscribing from the previously-subscribed channel(s). Unsubscribing from all channels resets the last-received timetoken and thus, there could be some gaps in the subscription that may lead to message loss.

Method(s)

To Subscribe to a channel you can use the following method(s) in the Android V4 SDK:

pubnub.subscribe().channels(Array).channelGroups(Arrays).withTimetoken(Long).withPresence().execute();
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
channelsArrayOptionalSubscribe to channels, Either channel or channelGroup is required
channelGroupsArrayOptionalSubscribe to channel groups, Either channel or channelGroup is required
withTimetokenLongOptionalPass a timetoken
withPresence()CommandOptionalAlso subscribe to related presence information
execute()CommandYesCommand that will execute subscribe.

Basic Usage

Subscribe to a channel:

pubnub.subscribe()
    .channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel")) // subscribe to channels
    .execute();
Note

The response of the call is handled by adding a Listener. Please see the Listeners section for more details. Listeners should be added before calling the method.

Returns

Note

PNMessageResult is returned in the Listeners

The subscribe() operation returns a PNStatus which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getCategory()Enum of type PNStatusCategory.Details of PNStatusCategory are here
isError()BooleanIs true in case of an error.

The subscribe() operation returns a PNMessageResult for messages which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getMessage()JsonElementThe message sent on the channel.
getSubscription()StringThe channel group or wildcard subscription match (if exists).
getChannel()StringThe channel for which the message belongs.
getTimetoken()LongTimetoken for the message.
getUserMetadata()ObjectUser metadata.

The subscribe() operation returns a PNPresenceEventResult from presence which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getEvent()StringEvents like join, leave, timeout, state-change, interval.
getUuid()StringUUID for the event.
getTimestamp()LongTimestamp for the event.
getOccupancy()IntCurrent occupancy.
getState()JsonElementState of the UUID.
getSubscription()StringThe channel group or wildcard subscription match (if exists).
getChannel()StringThe channel for which the message belongs.
getTimetoken()LongTimetoken of the message.
getUserMetadata()ObjectUser metadata.

The subscribe() operation returns a PNSignalResult for signals which contains the following operations:

MethodTypeDescription
getMessage()JsonElementThe signal sent on the channel.
getSubscription()StringThe channel group or wildcard subscription match (if exists).
getChannel()StringThe channel for which the signal belongs.
getTimetoken()LongTimetoken for the signal.
getUserMetadata()ObjectUser metadata.

Other Examples

  1. Basic subscribe with logging:

    PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
    // subscribeKey from admin panel
    pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("my_subkey"); // required
    // publishKey from admin panel (only required if publishing)
    pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("my_pubkey");
    pnConfiguration.setLogVerbosity(PNLogVerbosity.BODY);
    PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);
    
    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel")) // subscribe to channels information
        .execute();
    
  2. Subscribing to multiple channels:

    It's possible to subscribe to more than one channel using the Multiplexing feature. The example shows how to do that using an array to specify the channel names.

    Alternative subscription methods

    You can also use Wildcard Subscribe and Channel Groups to subscribe to multiple channels at a time. To use these features, the Stream Controller add-on must be enabled on your keyset in the Admin Portal.

    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel1","my_channel2" )) // subscribe to channels information
        .execute();
    
  3. Subscribing to a Presence channel: Requires Presence add-onRequires that the Presence add-on is enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    For any given channel there is an associated Presence channel. You can subscribe directly to the channel by appending -pnpres to the channel name. For example the channel named my_channel would have the presence channel named my_channel-pnpres. Presence data can be observed inside the SubscribeCallback#message(PubNub, PNMessageResult) callback.

    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel")) // subscribe to channels
        .withPresence() // also subscribe to related presence information
        .execute();
    

    Sample Responses

    Join Event

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("join")) {
        presence.getUuid(); // 175c2c67-b2a9-470d-8f4b-1db94f90e39e
        presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
        presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
    }
    

    Leave Event

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("leave")) {
        presence.getUuid(); // 175c2c67-b2a9-470d-8f4b-1db94f90e39e
        presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
        presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
    }
    

    Timeout Event

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("timeout")) {
        presence.getUuid(); // 175c2c67-b2a9-470d-8f4b-1db94f90e39e
        presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
        presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
    }
    

    Custom Presence Event (State Change)

    {
        "action": "state-change",
        "uuid": "76c2c571-9a2b-d074-b4f8-e93e09f49bd",
        "timestamp": 1345549797,
        "data": {
            "isTyping": true
        }
    }
    

    Interval Event

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("interval")) {
        presence.getUuid(); // 175c2c67-b2a9-470d-8f4b-1db94f90e39e
        presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
        presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
    }
    

    When a channel is in interval mode with presence_deltas pnconfig flag enabled, the interval message may also include the following fields which contain an array of changed UUIDs since the last interval message. This settings can be altered in the Admin Portal

    • joined
    • left
    • timedout

    For example, this interval message indicates there were 2 new UUIDs that joined and 1 timed out UUID since the last interval:

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("interval")) {
        presence.getTimestamp(); // <unix timestamp>
        presence.getOccupancy(); // <# users in channel>
        presence.getJoin(); // ["uuid1", "uuid2"]
        presence.getTimeout(); // ["uuid3"]
    }
    

    If the full interval message is greater than 30KB (since the max publish payload is ∼32KB), none of the extra fields will be present. Instead there will be a here_now_refresh boolean field set to true. This indicates to the user that they should do a hereNow request to get the complete list of users present in the channel.

    if (presence.getEvent().equals("interval")) {
        presence.getTimestamp(); // <unix timestamp>
        presence.getOccupancy(); // <# users in channel>
        presence.getHereNowRefresh() // true
    }
    
  4. Wildcard subscribe to channels: Requires Stream Controller add-onRequires that the Stream Controller add-on is enabled with Enable Wildcard Subscribe checked for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    Wildcard subscribes allow the client to subscribe to multiple channels using wildcard. For example, if you subscribe to a.* you will get all messages for a.b, a.c, a.x. The wildcarded * portion refers to any portion of the channel string name after the dot (.).

    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("foo.*")) // subscribe to channels information
        .execute();
    
    Wildcard grants and revokes

    Only one level (a.*) of wildcarding is supported. If you grant on * or a.b.*, the grant will treat * or a.b.* as a single channel named either * or a.b.*. You can also revoke permissions from multiple channels using wildcards but only if you previously granted permissions using the same wildcards. Wildcard revokes, similarly to grants, only work one level deep, like a.*.

  5. Subscribing with State:

    Requires Presence add-onRequires that the Presence add-on is enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    Note

    Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

    PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
    pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("demo");
    pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("demo");
    
    class complexData {
        String fieldA;
        int fieldB;
    }
    
    PubNub pubnub= new PubNub(pnConfiguration);
    
    pubnub.addListener(new SubscribeCallback() {
        @Override
        public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
            if (status.getCategory() == PNStatusCategory.PNConnectedCategory){
                complexData data = new complexData();
                data.fieldA = "Awesome";
                data.fieldB = 10;
                pubnub.setPresenceState()
                    .channels(Arrays.asList("awesomeChannel"))
                    .channelGroups(Arrays.asList("awesomeChannelGroup"))
                    .state(data).async(new PNCallback<PNSetStateResult>() {
                        @Override
                        public void onResponse(PNSetStateResult result, PNStatus status) {
                            // handle set state response
                        }
                    });
            }
        }
    
        @Override
        public void message(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageResult message) {
    
        }
    
        @Override
        public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
    
        }
    });
    
    pubnub.subscribe().channels(Arrays.asList("awesomeChannel"));
    
  6. Subscribe to a channel group:

    Requires Stream Controller add-onRequires that the Stream Controller add-on is enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("ch1", "ch2")) // subscribe to channels
        .channelGroups(Arrays.asList("cg1", "cg2")) // subscribe to channel groups
        .withTimetoken(1337L) // optional, pass a timetoken
        .withPresence() // also subscribe to related presence information
        .execute();
    
  7. Subscribe to the presence channel of a channel group:

    Requires Stream Controller and Presence add-onRequires that both Stream Controller and Presence add-ons are enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    pubnub.subscribe()
        .channelGroups(Arrays.asList("cg1", "cg2")) // subscribe to channel groups
        .withTimetoken(1337L) // optional, pass a timetoken
        .withPresence() // also subscribe to related presence information
        .execute();
    

Unsubscribe

Description

When subscribed to a single channel, this function causes the client to issue a leave from the channel and close any open socket to the PubNub Network. For multiplexed channels, the specified channel(s) will be removed and the socket remains open until there are no more channels remaining in the list.

Warning

Unsubscribing from all channels, and then subscribing to a new channel Y is not the same as subscribing to channel Y and then unsubscribing from the previously-subscribed channel(s). Unsubscribing from all channels resets the last-received timetoken and thus, there could be some gaps in the subscription that may lead to message loss.

Method(s)

To Unsubscribe from a channel you can use the following method(s) in the Android V4 SDK:

pubnub.unsubscribe().channels(Array).channelGroups(Array).execute();
ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
channelsArrayOptionalUnsubscribe to channels, Either channel or channelGroup is required
channelGroupsArrayOptionalUnsubscribe to channel groups, Either channel or channelGroup is required
execute()CommandYesCommand that will execute unsubscribe.

Basic Usage

Unsubscribe from a channel:

pubnub.unsubscribe()
    .channels(Arrays.asList("my_channel"))
    .execute();
Note

The response of the call is handled by adding a Listener. Please see the Listeners section for more details. Listeners should be added before calling the method.

Response

The output below demonstrates the response to a successful call:

@Override
public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
    if (presence.getEvent().equals("leave")) {
        presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
        presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
        presence.getUuid(); // left_uuid
    }
}

Other Examples

  1. Unsubscribing from multiple channels.

    Requires Stream Controller add-onRequires that the Stream Controller add-on is enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
    https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

    pubnub.unsubscribe()
        .channels(Arrays.asList("ch1", "ch2", "ch3"))
        .channelGroups(Arrays.asList("cg1", "cg2", "cg3"))
        .execute();
    

    Example Response:

    @Override
    public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
        if (presence.getEvent().equals("leave")) {
            presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
            presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
            presence.getUuid(); // left_uuid
        }
    }
    
  2. Unsubscribe from a channel group

    pubnub.unsubscribe()
        .channelGroups(Arrays.asList("cg1", "cg2", "cg3"))
        .execute();
    

    Example Response:

    @Override
    public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
        if (presence.getEvent().equals("leave")) {
            presence.getTimestamp(); // 1345546797
            presence.getOccupancy(); // 2
            presence.getUuid(); // left_uuid
        }
    }
    

Unsubscribe All

Description

Unsubscribe from all channels and all channel groups

Method(s)

  1. public final void unsubscribeAll()
    

Basic Usage

pubnub.unsubscribeAll();

Returns

None

Listeners

Description

You can be notified of connectivity status, message and presence notifications via the listeners.

Listeners should be added before calling the method.

Adding Listeners

pubnub.addListener(new SubscribeCallback() {
    // PubNub status
    @Override
    public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
        switch (status.getOperation()) {
            // combine unsubscribe and subscribe handling for ease of use
            case PNSubscribeOperation:
            case PNUnsubscribeOperation:
                // Note: subscribe statuses never have traditional errors,
                // just categories to represent different issues or successes
                // that occur as part of subscribe
                switch (status.getCategory()) {
                    case PNConnectedCategory:
                        // No error or issue whatsoever.
                    case PNReconnectedCategory:
                        // Subscribe temporarily failed but reconnected.
                        // There is no longer any issue.
                    case PNDisconnectedCategory:
                        // No error in unsubscribing from everything.
                    case PNUnexpectedDisconnectCategory:
                        // Usually an issue with the internet connection.
                        // This is an error: handle appropriately.
                    case PNAccessDeniedCategory:
                        // PAM does not allow this client to subscribe to this
                        // channel and channel group configuration. This is
                        // another explicit error.
                    default:
                        // You can directly specify more errors by creating
                        // explicit cases for other error categories of
                        // `PNStatusCategory` such as `PNTimeoutCategory` or
                        // `PNMalformedFilterExpressionCategory` or
                        // `PNDecryptionErrorCategory`.
                }

            case PNHeartbeatOperation:
                // Heartbeat operations can in fact have errors, so it's important to check first for an error.
                // For more information on how to configure heartbeat notifications through the status
                // PNObjectEventListener callback, refer to
                // /docs/sdks/java/android/api-reference/configuration#configuration_basic_usage
                if (status.isError()) {
                    // There was an error with the heartbeat operation, handle here
                } else {
                    // heartbeat operation was successful
                }
            default: {
                // Encountered unknown status type
            }
        }
    }

    // Messages
    @Override
    public void message(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageResult message) {
        String messagePublisher = message.getPublisher();
        System.out.println("Message publisher: " + messagePublisher);
        System.out.println("Message Payload: " + message.getMessage());
        System.out.println("Message Subscription: " + message.getSubscription());
        System.out.println("Message Channel: " + message.getChannel());
        System.out.println("Message timetoken: " + message.getTimetoken());
    }

    // Presence
    @Override
    public void presence(@NotNull PubNub pubnub, @NotNull PNPresenceEventResult presence) {
        System.out.println("Presence Event: " + presence.getEvent());
        // Can be join, leave, state-change or timeout

        System.out.println("Presence Channel: " + presence.getChannel());
        // The channel to which the message was published

        System.out.println("Presence Occupancy: " + presence.getOccupancy());
        // Number of users subscribed to the channel

        System.out.println("Presence State: " + presence.getState());
        // User state

        System.out.println("Presence UUID: " + presence.getUuid());
        // UUID to which this event is related

        presence.getJoin();
        // List of users that have joined the channel (if event is 'interval')

        presence.getLeave();
        // List of users that have left the channel (if event is 'interval')

        presence.getTimeout();
        // List of users that have timed-out off the channel (if event is 'interval')

        presence.getHereNowRefresh();
        // Indicates to the client that it should call 'hereNow()' to get the
        // complete list of users present in the channel.
    }

    // Signals
    @Override
    public void signal(PubNub pubnub, PNSignalResult pnSignalResult) {
        System.out.println("Signal publisher: " + signal.getPublisher());
        System.out.println("Signal payload: " + signal.getMessage());
        System.out.println("Signal subscription: " + signal.getSubscription());
        System.out.println("Signal channel: " + signal.getChannel());
        System.out.println("Signal timetoken: " + signal.getTimetoken());
    }

    // Message actions
    @Override
    public void messageAction(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageActionResult pnActionResult) {
        PNMessageAction pnMessageAction = pnActionResult.getAction();
        System.out.println("Message action type: " + pnMessageAction.getType());
        System.out.println("Message action value: " + pnMessageAction.getValue());
        System.out.println("Message action uuid: " + pnMessageAction.getUuid());
        System.out.println("Message action actionTimetoken: " + pnMessageAction.getActionTimetoken());
        System.out.println("Message action messageTimetoken: " + pnMessageAction.getMessageTimetoken());]
        System.out.println("Message action subscription: " + pnActionResult.getSubscription());
        System.out.println("Message action channel: " + pnActionResult.getChannel());
        System.out.println("Message action timetoken: " + pnActionResult.getTimetoken());
    }

    // files
    @Override
    public void file(PubNub pubnub, PNFileEventResult pnFileEventResult) {
        System.out.println("File channel: " + pnFileEventResult.getChannel());
        System.out.println("File publisher: " + pnFileEventResult.getPublisher());
        System.out.println("File message: " + pnFileEventResult.getMessage());
        System.out.println("File timetoken: " + pnFileEventResult.getTimetoken());
        System.out.println("File file.id: " + pnFileEventResult.downloadFile().getId());
        System.out.println("File file.name: " + pnFileEventResult.downloadFile().getName());
        System.out.println("File file.url: " + pnFileEventResult.downloadFile().getUrl());
    }
});

Removing Listeners

SubscribeCallback subscribeCallback = new SubscribeCallback() {
    @Override
    public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {

    }

    @Override
    public void message(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageResult message) {

    }

    @Override
    public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {

    }

    @Override
    public void signal(PubNub pubnub, PNSignalResult pnSignalResult) {

    }

    @Override
    public void messageAction(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageActionResult pnActionResult) {

    }

    @Override
    public void user(PubNub pubnub, PNUserResult pnUserResult) {

    }

    @Override
    public void space(PubNub pubnub, PNSpaceResult pnSpaceResult) {

    }

    @Override
    public void membership(PubNub pubnub, PNMembershipResult pnMembershipResult) {

    }

    @Override
    public void file(PubNub pubnub, PNFileEventResult pnFileEventResult) {

    }

};

pubnub.addListener(subscribeCallback);

// some time later
pubnub.removeListener(subscribeCallback);

Handling Disconnects

SubscribeCallback subscribeCallback = new SubscribeCallback() {
    @Override
    public void status(PubNub pubnub, PNStatus status) {
        if (status.getCategory() == PNStatusCategory.PNUnexpectedDisconnectCategory) {
            // internet got lost, do some magic and call reconnect when ready
            pubnub.reconnect();
        } else if (status.getCategory() == PNStatusCategory.PNTimeoutCategory) {
            // do some magic and call reconnect when ready
            pubnub.reconnect();
        } else {
            log.error(status);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void message(PubNub pubnub, PNMessageResult message) {

    }

    @Override
    public void presence(PubNub pubnub, PNPresenceEventResult presence) {

    }
};

pubnub.addListener(subscribeCallback);

Listener status events

CategoryDescription
PNNetworkUpCategoryThe SDK detected that the network is online.
PNNetworkDownCategoryThe SDK announces this when a connection isn't available, or when the SDK isn't able to reach the PubNub Data Stream Network.
PNNetworkIssuesCategoryA subscribe event experienced an exception when running. The SDK isn't able to reach the PubNub Data Stream Network. This may be due to many reasons, such as: the machine or device isn't connected to the internet; the internet connection has been lost; your internet service provider is having trouble; or, perhaps the SDK is behind a proxy.
PNReconnectedCategoryThe SDK was able to reconnect to PubNub.
PNConnectedCategorySDK subscribed with a new mix of channels. This is fired every time the channel or channel group mix changes.
PNAccessDeniedCategoryPAM permission failure.
PNMalformedResponseCategoryJSON parsing crashed.
PNBadRequestCategoryThe server responded with a bad response error because the request is malformed.
PNDecryptionErrorCategoryIf using decryption strategies and the decryption fails.
PNTimeoutCategoryFailure to establish a connection to PubNub due to a timeout.
PNRequestMessageCountExceedCategoryThe SDK announces this error if requestMessageCountThreshold is set, and the number of messages received from PubNub (in-memory cache messages) exceeds the threshold.
PNUnknownCategoryReturned when the subscriber gets a non-200 HTTP response code from the server.
← ConfigurationPresence →
  • Publish
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
    • Returns
    • Other Examples
  • Fire
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
  • Signal
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
    • Response
  • Subscribe
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
    • Returns
    • Other Examples
  • Unsubscribe
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
    • Response
    • Other Examples
  • Unsubscribe All
    • Description
    • Method(s)
    • Basic Usage
    • Returns
  • Listeners
    • Description
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