feat(subscription): implement new rising protocol graphql-ws

[jjangga0214]

The official GraphQL specification deliberately does not specify the transport layer.

For subscription, historically, GraphQL over WebSocket Protocol by apollographql/subscriptions-transport-ws library is widely adapted as de-facto standard.

However, the library is not actively maintained, and it officially recommends migrating to the "new" GraphQL over WebSocket Protocol of enisdenjo/graphql-ws.

Those two protocols are incompatible with each other.

The ecosystem is incrementally adapting to the new de-facto standard.

Currently, graphql_flutter only implements subscriptions-transport-ws's protocol. So, if a server uses graphql-ws protocol, graphql_flutter cannot be used.

Thus, hereby I request implementing a new protocol.

Thanks.

[sbatezat]

Thanks @jjangga0214 for these details. It should be mentionned on the readme that graphql-flutter is not supporting graphql-ws protocol (and thus, it's - for now - a useless library as it's the new standard...)

Do you know some other library - up to date with WebSocket standards ?

[sarp86]

Would be nice to implemented as soon as possible. thx!

[maximilianmaihoefner]

I also needed this, so i put together a quick working example: https://github.com/maximilianmaihoefner/graphql-flutter/tree/graphql-transport-ws

You can try it out by specifying the following in your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  graphql:
    git:
      url: https://github.com/maximilianmaihoefner/graphql-flutter/tree/graphql-transport-ws
      path: packages/graphql
      ref: graphql-transport-ws
  graphql_flutter:
    git:
      url: https://github.com/maximilianmaihoefner/graphql-flutter
      path: packages/graphql_flutter
      ref: graphql-transport-ws

dependency_overrides:
  graphql:
    git:
      url: https://github.com/maximilianmaihoefner/graphql-flutter
      path: packages/graphql
      ref: graphql-transport-ws

And specifying the new Subprotocol when creating the WebsocketLink:

final WebSocketLink websocketLink = WebSocketLink(
  subscriptionUri,
  config: const SocketClientConfig(autoReconnect: false),
  subProtocol: SocketSubProtocol.graphqlTransportWs,
);

The main changes have been made in websocket_client.dart, it is however not a super clean implementation.

[vincenzopalazzo]

@maximilianmaihoefner Why not open a PR to contribute to your work?

[maximilianmaihoefner]

@vincenzopalazzo I considered opening a PR, but I don't think my implementation is super clean or maintainable, it probably needs a better concept for supporting both subprotocols. Right now I'm just doing string comparisons to decide which Message to send, it is also missing tests. And I'm not sure I have the time right now to work on these issues. If you want I can submit a PR, but as mentioned, I don't think its in a mergeable state.

[vincenzopalazzo]

@maximilianmaihoefner I see the code, and yes I agree with your with the better implementation of the protocol healing.

However, we can integrate it and clean it after more testing.

Nothings born clean the first time :)

[maximilianmaihoefner]

@vincenzopalazzo I opened a PR, another thing that should be looked at is the ping implementation, right now I'm highjacking the inactivityTimeout, which results in a ping every 30 Seconds, the original JS-Client, by default, never sends pings. Only if the keepAlive is specified.

[chrisdrobison]

I am confused by some of the comments. Based on the PR, graphql-ws (the newer protocol) was already implemented. It's the older version of the protocol that you're adding?

[chrisdrobison]

Nevermind, I see the difference now.

[maximilianmaihoefner]

@chrisdrobison No worries, I was confused when I looked at the code for the first time as well. The new protocol is called graphql-transport-ws (which was the name of the old library) and the old protocol is called graphql-ws (which is the name of the new library). So I can definitely understand the confusion.