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Version: v4

Send a Message

Using CometChat, you can send three types of messages:

  1. A Text Message, the most common and standard message type.
  2. A Media Message, for sending photos, videos and files.
  3. A Custom Message, for sending completely custom data using JSON structures.
  4. A Interactive Messages, for sending end-user interactive messages of type form, card and custom Interactive

You can also send metadata along with a text or media message. Think, for example, if you'd want to share the user's location with every message, you can use the metadata field.

Text Message​

In other words, as a sender, how do I send a text message?

To send a text message to a single user or group, you need to use the sendMessage() method and pass a TextMessage object to it.

Add Metadata​

To send custom data along with a text message, you can use the setMetadata method and pass a JSONObject to it.

JSONObject metadata = new JSONObject();
metadata.put("latitude", "50.6192171633316");
metadata.put("longitude", "-72.68182268750002");
textMessage.setMetadata(metadata);

Add Tags​

To add a tag to a message you can use the setTags() method of the TextMessage Class. The setTags() method accepts a list of tags.

List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();
tags.add("pinned");
textMessage.setTags(tags);

Once the text message object is ready, you need to use the sendMessage() method to send the text message to the recipient.

private String receiverID = "UID";
private String messageText = "Hello CoemtChat!";
private String receiverType = CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER;

TextMessage textMessage = new TextMessage(receiverID, messageText, receiverType);

CometChat.sendMessage(textMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<TextMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(TextMessage textMessage) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Message sent successfully: " + textMessage.toString());
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Message sending failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
  }
});

The TextMessage class constructor takes the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
receiverIDUID of the user or GUID of the group receiving the messageRequired
messageTextThe text messageRequired
receiverTypeThe type of the receiver- CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER (user) or CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_GROUP (group)Required

When a text message is sent successfully, the response will include a TextMessage object which includes all information related to the sent message.

Media Message​

In other words, as a sender, how do I send a media message like photos, videos & files?

To send a media message to any user or group, you need to use the sendMediaMessage() method and pass a MediaMessage object to it.

Add Metadata​

To send custom data along with a media message, you can use the setMetadata method and pass a JSONObject to it.

JSONObject metadata = new JSONObject();
metadata.put("latitude", "50.6192171633316");
metadata.put("longitude", "-72.68182268750002");
mediaMessage.setMetadata(metadata);

Add Caption(Text along with Media Message)​

To send a caption with a media message, you can use setCaption method and pass text to it.

mediaMessage.setCaption("Message Caption");

Add Tags​

To add a tag to a message you can use the setTags() method of the MediaMessage Class. The setTags() method accepts a list of tags.

List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();
tags.add("pinned");
mediaMessage.setTags(tags);

There are 2 ways you can send Media Messages using the CometChat SDK:

  1. By providing the File : You can directly share the file object while creating an object of the MediaMessage class. When the media message is sent using the sendMediaMessage() method, this file is then uploaded to CometChat servers and the URL of the file is sent in the success response of the sendMediaMessage() function.
private String receiverID = "UID";
private String messageType = CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_IMAGE;
private String receiverType = CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER;
private String filePath = "/storage/emulated/0/Download/CometChat.jpg";

MediaMessage mediaMessage = new MediaMessage(receiverID, new File(filePath), messageType, receiverType);

CometChat.sendMediaMessage(mediaMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<MediaMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(MediaMessage mediaMessage) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Media message sent successfully: " + mediaMessage.toString());
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Media message sending failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
  }
});

The MediaMessage class constructor takes the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
receiverIdThe UID or GUID of the recipientRequired
fileThe file object to be sentRequired
messageTypeThe type of the message that needs to be sent. Options:
1. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_IMAGE (image)
2. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_VIDEO (video)
3. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_AUDIO (audio)
4. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_FILE (file)		Required
receiverTypeThe type of the receiver to whom the message is to be sent. Options: CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER (user) or CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_GROUP (group)Optional
  1. By providing the URL of the File: The second way to send media messages using the CometChat SDK is to provide the SDK with the URL of any file that is hosted on your servers or any cloud storage. To achieve this you will have to make use of the Attachment class that is available in the MediaMessage class. For more information, you can refer to the below code snippet:
String receiverId = "recipient_UID";

MediaMessage mediaMessage = new MediaMessage(receiverId, CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_IMAGE, CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER);

Attachment attachment = new Attachment();
attachment.setFileName("test");
attachment.setFileExtension("png");
attachment.setFileUrl("https://pngimg.com/uploads/mario/mario_PNG125.png");

mediaMessage.setAttachment(attachment);

CometChat.sendMediaMessage(mediaMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<MediaMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(MediaMessage mediaMessage1) {
      Log.i(TAG, "onSuccess");
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.e(TAG, e.getMessage());
  }
});

When a media message is sent successfully, the response will include a MediaMessage object which includes all information related to the sent message.

If you wish to send a caption or some text along with the Media Message, you can use the caption field provided by the MediaMessage class. To set the caption you can use the setCaption() method and at the receiver end, you can obtain the caption using the getCaption() method. As with text messages, the metadata field can be used with media messages as well. Any additional information can be passed along with the media message as a JSONObject.

Multiple Attachments in a Media Message​

Starting version 3.0.9 & above the SDK supports sending of multiple attachments in a single media message. As in case for single attachment in a media message, there are two ways you can send Media Messages using the CometChat SDK:

  1. By providing an array of files: You can now share a List of files while creating an object of the MediaMessage class. When the media message is sent using the sendMediaMessage() method, the files are uploaded to the CometChat servers & the URL of the files are sent in the success response of the sendMediaMessage() method.
String receiverId = "superhero1";

List<File> files = new ArrayList<File>();
files.add(new File("/storage/emulated/0/Download/1.jpg"));
files.add(new File("/storage/emulated/0/Download/2.jpg"));
files.add(new File("/storage/emulated/0/Download/3.jpg"));

MediaMessage mediaMessage = new MediaMessage(receiverId, files, fileType, CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER);

CometChat.sendMediaMessage(mediaMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<MediaMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(MediaMessage mediaMessage) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Message Sent Successfully")
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.d(TAG, "Message Sending Failed with exception : " + e.getMessage());
  }
});

The MediaMessage class constructor takes the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
receiverIdThe UID or GUID of the recipient.
filesAn array of files.
messageTypeThe type of the message that needs to be sent which in this case can be:
1. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_IMAGE
2. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE___TYPE___VIDEO
3. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE___TYPE___AUDIO
4. CometChatConstants.MESSAGE___TYPE__FILE
receiverTypeThe type of the receiver to whom the message is to be sent.
1. CometChatConstants.RECEIVER__TYPE__USER
2. CometChatConstants.RECEIVER__TYPE__GROUP
  1. By providing the URL of the multiple files: The second way to send multiple attachments using the CometChat SDK is to provide the SDK with the URL of multiple files that is hosted on your servers or any cloud storage. To achieve this you will have to make use of the Attachment class. For more information, you can refer to the below code snippet:
String receiverId = "superhero1";

MediaMessage mediaMessage = new MediaMessage(receiverId, CometChatConstants.MESSAGE_TYPE_IMAGE, CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER);

List<Attachment> attachments = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
    Attachment attachment = new Attachment();
    attachment.setFileName("test");
    attachment.setFileExtension("png");
    attachment.setFileUrl("https://pngimg.com/uploads/mario/mario_PNG125.png");
    attachment.setFileMimeType("image/png");
    attachments.add(attachment);
}

mediaMessage.setAttachments(attachments);

CometChat.sendMediaMessage(mediaMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<MediaMessage>() {
    @Override
    public void onSuccess(MediaMessage mediaMessage) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message Sent Successfully")
    }

    @Override
    public void onError(CometChatException e) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Message Sending Failed with exception : " + e.getMessage());
    }
});

When a media message is sent successfully, the response will include a MediaMessage object which includes all information related to the sent message.

You can use the setMetadata(), setCaption() & setTags() methods to add metadata, caption and tags respectively in exactly the same way as it is done while sending a single file or attachment in a Media Message.

Custom Message​

In other words, as a sender, how do I send a custom message like location co-ordinates?

CometChat allows you to send custom messages which are neither text nor media messages.

In order to send a custom message, you need to use the sendCustomMessage() method.

The sendCustomMessage() methods takes an object of the CustomMessage which can be obtained using the below constructor.

CustomMessage customMessage = new CustomMessage(receiverId, receiverType,customType, customData)

The above constructor, helps you create a custom message with the message type set to whatever is passed to the constructor and the category set to custom.

The parameters involved are:

  1. receiverId - Unique id of the user or group to which the message is to be sent.
  2. receiverType - Type of the receiver i.e user or group
  3. customType - custom message type that you need to set
  4. customData - The data to be passed as the message in the form of a JSONObject.

You can also use the subType field of the CustomMessage class to set a specific type for the custom message. This can be achieved using the setSubtype() method.

Add Tags​

To add a tag to a message you can use the setTags() method of the CustomMessage Class. The setTags() method accepts a list of tags.

List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();
tags.add("pinned");
customMessage.setTags(tags);

Once the object of CustomMessage class is ready you can send the custom message using the sendCustomMessage() method.

private String UID = "UID";
private String customType = "LOCATION";

JSONObject customData = new JSONObject();
customData.put("latitude", "19.0760");
customData.put("longitude", "72.8777");

CustomMessage customMessage = new CustomMessage(UID, CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER, customType, customData);

CometChat.sendCustomMessage(customMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<CustomMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(CustomMessage customMessage) {
      Log.d(TAG, customMessage.toString());
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.d(TAG, e.getMessage());
  }
});

The above sample explains how custom messages can be used to share the location with a user. Similarly, you can send custom messages to groups.

On success, you will receive an object of CustomMessage class.

Update Conversation​

How can I decide whether the custom message should update the last message of a conversation?

By default, a custom message will update the last message of a conversation. If you wish to not update the last message of the conversation when a custom message is sent, please use shouldUpdateConversation(boolean value) method of the Custom Message.

private String UID = "UID";
private String customType = "LOCATION";

JSONObject customData = new JSONObject();
customData.put("latitude", "19.0760");
customData.put("longitude", "72.8777");

CustomMessage customMessage = new CustomMessage(UID, CometChatConstants.RECEIVER_TYPE_USER, customType, customData);
customMessage.shouldUpdateConversation(false);

CometChat.sendCustomMessage(customMessage, new CometChat.CallbackListener<CustomMessage>() {
  @Override
  public void onSuccess(CustomMessage customMessage) {
      Log.d(TAG, customMessage.toString());
  }

  @Override
  public void onError(CometChatException e) {
      Log.d(TAG, e.getMessage());
  }
});
info

It is also possible to send interactive messages from CometChat , to know more click here