Socket.io how to check if user is typing and broadcast it to other users

Question

I am trying to setup socket.io chat server. I have gotten it up to send and receive message from server and client. I was interested in showing users if some one is typing. I kn

Answer 1

You can use timeouts to send "started typing" and "stopped typing" messages, like so:

var typing = false;
var timeout = undefined;

function timeoutFunction(){
  typing = false;
  socket.emit(noLongerTypingMessage);
}

function onKeyDownNotEnter(){
  if(typing == false) {
    typing = true
    socket.emit(typingMessage);
    timeout = setTimeout(timeoutFunction, 5000);
  } else {
    clearTimeout(timeout);
    timeout = setTimeout(timeoutFunction, 5000);
  }

}

It's rough, but you should get the idea.