The RTCPeerConnection
interface represents a WebRTC connection and handles efficient streaming of data between two peers.
Warning: RTCPeerConnection and RTCSessionDescription are currently prefixed in most browsers. You should include a polyfill if you‘re using it in any work. For instance:
var PeerConnection = window.RTCPeerConnection || window.mozRTCPeerConnection || window.webkitRTCPeerConnection; var SessionDescription = window.RTCSessionDescription || window.mozRTCSessionDescription || window.webkitRTCSessionDescription; var GET_USER_MEDIA = navigator.getUserMedia ? "getUserMedia" : navigator.mozGetUserMedia ? "mozGetUserMedia" : navigator.webkitGetUserMedia ? "webkitGetUserMedia" : "getUserMedia"; var v = document.createElement("video"); var SRC_OBJECT = ‘srcObject‘ in v ? "srcObject" : ‘mozSrcObject‘ in v ? "mozSrcObject" : ‘webkitSrcObject‘ in v ? "webkitSrcObject" : "srcObject";
Basic Usage
Basic RTCPeerConnection usage involves negotiating a connection between your local machine and a remote one by generating Session Description Protocol to exchange between the two. i.e. The caller sends an offer. The called party responds with an answer. Both parties, the caller and the called party, need to set up their own RTCPeerConnection objects initially:
var pc = new RTCPeerConnection(); pc.onaddstream = function(obj) { var vid = document.createElement("video"); document.appendChild(vid); vid.srcObject = obj.stream; } // Helper functions function endCall() { var videos = document.getElementsByTagName("video"); for (var i = 0; i < videos.length; i++) { videos[i].pause(); } pc.close(); } function error(err) { endCall(); }
Initializing the call
If you are the one initiating the initial connection you would call:
// Get a list of friends from a server // User selects a friend to start a peer connection with navigator.getUserMedia({video: true}, function(stream) { pc.onaddstream({stream: stream}); // Adding a local stream won‘t trigger the onaddstream callback pc.addStream(stream); pc.createOffer(function(offer) { pc.setLocalDescription(new RTCSessionDescription(offer), function() { // send the offer to a server to be forwarded to the friend you‘re calling. }, error); }, error); }
Answering a call
On the opposite end, the friend will receive the offer from the server.
var offer = getOfferFromFriend(); navigator.getUserMedia({video: true}, function(stream) { pc.onaddstream({stream: stream}); pc.addStream(stream); pc.setRemoteDescription(new RTCSessionDescription(offer), function() { pc.createAnswer(function(answer) { pc.setLocalDescription(new RTCSessionDescription(answer), function() { // send the answer to a server to be forwarded back to the caller (you) }, error); }, error); }, error); }
Handling the answer
Back on the original machine, you‘ll receive the response, and set it as the remote connection
// pc was set up earlier when we made the original offer var offer = getResponseFromFriend(); pc.setRemoteDescription(new RTCSessionDescription(offer), function() { }, error);
Properties
This interface inherits properties from its parent element, EventTarget
.
RTCPeerConnection.iceConnectionState
Read only- Returns an enum of type
RTCIceConnectionState
that describes the ICE connection state for the connection. When this value changes, aiceconnectionstatechange
event is fired on the object. The possible values are:"new"
: the ICE agent is gathering addresses or waiting for remote candidates (or both)."checking"
: the ICE agent has remote candidates, on at least one component, and is check them, though it has not found a connection yet. At the same time, it may still be gathering candidates."connected"
: the ICE agent has found a usable connection for each component, but is still testing more remote candidates for a better connection. At the same time, it may still be gathering candidates."completed"
: the ICE agent has found a usable connection for each component, and is no more testing remote candidates."failed"
: the ICE agent has checked all the remote candidates and didn‘t find a match for at least one component. Connections may have been found for some components."disconnected"
: liveness check has failed for at least one component. This may be a transient state, e. g. on a flaky network, that can recover by itself."closed"
: the ICE agent has shutdown and is not answering to requests.
RTCPeerConnection.iceGatheringState
Read only- Returns an enum of type
RTCIceGatheringState
that describes the ICE gathering state for the connection. The possible values are:"new"
: the object was just created, and no networking has occurred yet."gathering"
: the ICE engine is in the process of gathering candidates for this connection."complete"
: the ICE engine has completed gathering. Events such as adding a new interface or a new TURN server will cause the state to go back to gathering.
RTCPeerConnection.localDescription
Read only- Returns a
RTCSessionDescription
describing the session for the local end of the connection. If it has not yet been set, it can benull
. RTCPeerConnection.peerIdentity
Read only- Returns a
RTCIdentityAssertion
, that is a couple of a domain name (idp
) and a name (name
) representing the identity of the remote peer of this connection, once set and verified. If no peer has yet been set and verified, this property will returnnull
. Once set, via the appropriate method, it can‘t be changed. RTCPeerConnection.remoteDescription
Read only- Returns a
RTCSessionDescription
describing the session for the remote end of the connection. If it has not yet been set, it can benull
. RTCPeerConnection.signalingState
Read only- Returns an enum of type
RTCSignalingState
that describes the signaling state of the local connection. This state describes the SDP offer, that defines the configuration of the connections like the description of the locally associated objects of typeMediaStream
, the codec/RTP/RTCP options, the candidates gathered by the ICE Agent. When this value changes, asignalingstatechange
event is fired on the object. The possible values are:"stable"
: there is no SDP offer/answer exchange in progress. This is also the initial state of the connection."have-local-offer"
: the local end of the connection has locally applied a SDP offer."have-remote-offer"
: the remote end of the connection has locally applied a SDP offer."have-local-pranswer"
: a remote SDP offer has been applied, and a SDP pranswer applied locally."have-remote-pranswer":
a local SDP offer has been applied, and a SDP pranswer applied remotely."closed"
: the connection is closed.
Event handlers
RTCPeerConnection.onaddstream
- Is the event handler called when the
addstream
event is received. Such an event is sent when aMediaStream
is added to this connection by the remote peer. The event is sent immediately after the callRTCPeerConnection.setRemoteDescription()
and doesn‘t wait for the result of the SDP negotiation. - 该动作是由对端的RTCpeerconnection的addstream动作产生的事件触发。
RTCPeerConnection.ondatachannel
- Is the event handler called when the
datachannel
event is received. Such an event is sent when aRTCDataChannel
is added to this connection. RTCPeerConnection.onicecandidate
- Is the event handler called when the
icecandidate
event is received. Such an event is sent when aRTCICECandidate
object is added to the script. RTCPeerConnection.oniceconnectionstatechange
- Is the event handler called when the
iceconnectionstatechange
event is received. Such an event is sent when the value oficeConnectionState
changes. RTCPeerConnection.onidentityresult
- Is the event handler called when the
identityresult
event is received. Such an event is sent when an identity assertion is generated, viagetIdentityAssertion()
, or during the creation of an offer or an answer. RTCPeerConnection.onidpassertionerror
- Is the event handler called when the
idpassertionerror
event is received. Such an event is sent when the associated identity provider (IdP) encounters an error while generating an identity assertion. RTCPeerConnection.onidpvalidationerror
- Is the event handler alled when the
idpvalidationerror
event is received. Such an event is sent when the associated identity provider (IdP) encounters an error while validating an identity assertion. RTCPeerConnection.onnegotiationneeded
- Is the event handler called when the
negotiationneeded
event, sent by the browser to inform that negotiation will be required at some point in the future, is received. RTCPeerConnection.onpeeridentity
- Is the event handler called when the
peeridentity
event, sent when a peer identity has been set and verified on this connection, is received. RTCPeerConnection.onremovestream
- Is the event handler called when the
removestream
event, sent when aMediaStream
is removed from this connection, is received. RTCPeerConnection.onsignalingstatechange
- Is the event handler called when the
signalingstatechange
event, sent when the value ofsignalingState
changes, is received.
Methods
RTCPeerConnection()
RTCPeerConnection.createOffer()
- Creates an offer that is a request to find a remote peer with a specific configuration. The two first parameters of this methods are respectively success and error callbacks, the optional third one are options the user want to have, like audio or video streams.
RTCPeerConnection.createAnswer()
- Creates an answer to the offer received by the remote peer, in a two-part offer/answer negotiation of a connection. The two first parameters are respectively success and error callbacks, the optional third one represent options for the answer to be created.
RTCPeerConnection.setLocalDescription()
- Changes the local description associated with the connection. The description defines the properties of the connection like its codec. The connection is affected by this change and must be able to support both old and new descriptions. The method takes three parameters, a
RTCSessionDescription
object to set, and two callbacks, one called if the change of description succeeds, another called if it failed. RTCPeerConnection.setRemoteDescription()
- Changes the remote description associated with the connection. The description defines the properties of the connection like its codec. The connection is affected by this change and must be able to support both old and new descriptions. The method takes three parameters, a
RTCSessionDescription
object to set, and two callbacks, one called if the change of description succeeds, another called if it failed. RTCPeerConnection.updateIce()
RTCPeerConnection.addIceCandidate()
RTCPeerConnection.getConfiguration()
RTCPeerConnection.getLocalStreams()
- Returns an array of
MediaStream
associated with the local end of the connection. The array may be empty. RTCPeerConnection.getRemoteStreams()
- Returns an array of
MediaStream
associated with the remote end of the connection. The array may be empty. RTCPeerConnection.getStreamById()
- Returns the
MediaStream
with the given id that is associated with local or remote end of the connection. If no stream matches, it returnsnull
. RTCPeerConnection.addStream()
- Adds a
MediaStream
as a local source of audio or video. If the negotiation already happened, a new one will be needed for the remote peer to be able to use it. RTCPeerConnection.removeStream()
- Removes a
MediaStream
as a local source of audio or video. If the negotiation already happened, a new one will be needed for the remote peer to stop using it. RTCPeerConnection.close()
- Abruptly closes a connection.
RTCPeerConnection.createDataChannel()
- Creates a new
RTCDataChannel
associated with this connection. The method takes a dictionary as parameter, with the configuration required for the underlying data channel, like its reliability. RTCPeerConnection.createDTMFSender()
- Creates a new
RTCDTMFSender
, associated to a specificMediaStreamTrack
, that will be able to sendDTMF phone signaling over the connection. RTCPeerConnection.getStats()
- Creates a new
RTCStatsReport
that contains and allows access to statistics regarding the connection. RTCPeerConnection.setIdentityProvider()
- Sets the Identity Provider (IdP) to the triplet given in parameter: its name, the protocol used to communicate with it (optional) and an optional username. The IdP will be used only when an assertion will be needed.
RTCPeerConnection.getIdentityAssertion()
- Initiates the gathering of an identity assertion. This has an effect only if the
signalingState
is not"closed"
. It is not expected for the application dealing with theRTCPeerConnection
: this is automatically done; an explicit call only allows to anticipate the need.
Constructor
new RTCPeerConnection(RTCConfiguration configuration, optional MediaConstraints constraints);
Note: While the PeerConnection specification reads like passing an RTCConfiguration object is required, Firefox will supply a default if you don‘t.
Methods
createOffer
void createOffer(
RTCSessionDescriptionCallback
successCallback,RTCPeerConnectionErrorCallback
failureCallback, optional MediaConstraints
constraints);
Create offer generates a blob of description data to facilitate a PeerConnection to the local machine. Use this when you‘ve got a remote Peer connection and you want to set up the local one.
Example
var pc = new PeerConnection(); pc.addStream(video); pc.createOffer(function(desc){ pc.setLocalDescription(desc, function() { // send the offer to a server that can negotiate with a remote client }); }
Arguments
- successCallback
- An
RTCSessionDescriptionCallback
which will be passed a singleRTCSessionDescription
object - errorCallback
- An
RTCPeerConnectionErrorCallback
which will be passed a singleDOMError
object - [optional] constraints
- An optional
MediaConstraints
object.
createAnswer
void createAnswer(
RTCSessionDescriptionCallback
successCallback,RTCPeerConnectionErrorCallback
failureCallback, optional MediaConstraints
constraints)")
Respond to an offer sent from a remote connection.
Example
var pc = new PeerConnection(); pc.setRemoteDescription(new RTCSessionDescription(offer), function() { pc.createAnswer(function(answer) { pc.setLocalDescription(answer, function() { // send the answer to the remote connection }) }) });
Arguments
- successCallback
- An
RTCSessionDescriptionCallback
which will be passed a singleRTCSessionDescription
object - errorCallback
- An
RTCPeerConnectionErrorCallback
which will be passed a singleDOMError
object - [optional] constraints
- An optional
MediaConstraints
object.
updateIce()
updateIce(optional RTCConfiguration
configuration, optional MediaConstraints
constraints)
The updateIce method updates the ICE Agent process of gathering local candidates and pinging remote candidates. If there is a mandatory constraint called "IceTransports" it will control how the ICE engine can act. This can be used to limit the use to TURN candidates by a callee to avoid leaking location information prior to the call being accepted. This call may result in a change to the state of the ICE Agent, and may result in a change to media state if it results in connectivity being established.
Example
addIceCandidate()
addIceCandidate (RTCIceCandidate
candidate, Function
successCallback,RTCPeerConnectionErrorCallback
failureCallback);
The addIceCandidate() method provides a remote candidate to the ICE Agent. In addition to being added to the remote description, connectivity checks will be sent to the new candidates as long as the "IceTransports" constraint is not set to "none". This call will result in a change to the connection state of the ICE Agent, and may result in a change to media state if it results in different connectivity being established.
Example
pc.addIceCandidate(new RTCIceCandidate(candidate));
createDataChannel
RTCDataChannel
createDataChannel (DOMString
label, optional RTCDataChannelInit
dataChannelDict);
Creates a data channel for sending non video or audio data across the peer connection
Example
var pc = new PeerConnection(); var channel = pc.createDataChannel("Mydata"); channel.onopen = function(event) { channel.send(‘sending a message‘); } channel.onmessage = function(event) { console.log(event.data); }