Is there any way I can use Web Sockets with Lightstreamer on IE 9?

lidanh

Hi guys,

I tested our Lightstreamer on several browsers, and I noticed that on IE9 it doesn't stream data using WebSockets.
I've done a little research and I found out that IE9 is the only modern browser that does not support WebSockets.

Even though I know now that IE 9 doesn't support WebSockets, I wanted to know if you have any input on this. I heard that there is some sort of SWF trick that allows WebSockets on IE9.

Please share your thoughts...

Thanks,
Lidan.

Mone

Hi,

We do not support such a solution: our library is JavaScript only, the solution you suggest would imply to import a swf file in our own library.
On IE9 you should be able to get a HTTP streaming connection: excluding the client to server communication such connection is quite the same as a WebSocket connection; do you have a huge client to server traffic?

In any case I don't believe we're going to directly support the swf solution; On the other hand if you find a library that implements the correct protocol (RFC 6455) and exposes the correct WebSocket JavaScript interfaces (http://www.w3.org/TR/websockets/) on the browser our library will be able to detect it and use it.

lidanh

Hi,

Our js clients receives a large amount of data on a very small intervals. We already found out that WebSockets are the way to go. They provide the best performance with the lowest bandwidth.

I did not mean to suggest that you'll use the SWF trick of course, I was only suggesting that there may be another solution for this.

I've found an extension for IE called Google Chrome frame. It will allow IE to run Web Sockets (source: http://highlevellogic.blogspot.co.il/2011/11/websocket-demonstration-on-microsoft.html).

I've installed the Goolge Chrome frame from here:
http://www.google.com/chromeframe/eula.html

And I was able to connect through WebSockets in IE to the following chat tester:
http://isr.servequake.com:8181/ws/WebSocketTest.htm

Yet, I was still unable to connect to WebSocket using the following link even though WS is now working on my IE:
http://www.lightstreamer.com/demo/StockListDemo

Is WebSocket disabled hard-coded on Lightstreamer's code when the browser is IE 9?

BTW:
Are you aware of Kaazing?
They implemented a WebSocket Gateway for lots of platforms. http://kaazing.com

Thanks,
Lidan Hackmon.

Alessandro Alinone

Hi Lidan,

With Goolge Chrome Frame, WebSockets on IE9 should work with Lightstreamer too. We will do further tests and let you know.

In any case, let me stress that for your usage scenario, WebSockets do not offer any better performance than HTTP Streaming. The real advantage of WebSockets arises for bi-directional communication, that is, when you send low latency updates FROM the client to the SERVER. Please see this slide and the previous slides in the same deck for a deeper explanation on the topic.

If you are still skeptical, then perform a test. Measure the bandwidth consumed by the same application when connected over WebSockets and over HTTP Streaming and compare them...

Thanks,
Alessandro

lidanh

Hi Alessandro,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Sorry for not being clear, when I said that WebSocket has better performance and use less bandwidth I compared them to HTTP smart polling.

Since HTTP-Streaming usually fails in our case (many of our end-users are behind firewalls\antiviruses that does not allow that, according to LS logs) I really want them to use WebSockets. We've upgraded our LS just last week and we were amazed by the WebSocket performance in compare to the smart polling.

I'm waiting for your answer regarding possible solutions for IE 9 (our most commonly used browser).

Thanks,
Lidan.

Mone

Hi,

Chrome frame needs to be enabled on the target website otherwise it will not handle the page ( see http://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started#TOC-Making-Your-Pages-Work-With-Google-Chrome-Frame )

I don't know if we'll add the header that enables google chrome frame on our website, anyway the same page specify how to force google chrome frame on a website and thus test our online demos with it: http://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/chrome-frame-getting-started#TOC-Testing-Your-Sites

I just did it and it works as expected.

HTH

lidanh

Great, thanks!

Lidan.