Re: Server Push

I used to work for a fairly major chat site that used software by iChat to push slides -- and I'll be darned if I could figure out how they did it. Some weird quirk of HTTP, I'd think. Anyway -- getting a basic socket server up in running in the language of your choice and using something like flash as a front-end is actually not that hard. It seems to me that, in a lot of cases, PHP is the wrong tool for the job when there are others out there that do it really well. -- jon George Lantz wrote:

I am just looking for some different techniques on how server push is done on PHP: I am fascinated by the PHP Live! Support Solution (http://www.phplivesupport.com). I would like to try to replicate this functionality just to see how it works and maybe use it on my own website. Does anyone know how they accomplished server push and real time chat? I am aware or some different techniques such as <meta> refreshing (which is really more client pull). I highly doubt this is how they accomplished this. There is also sockets, which opens a possible security concern, so I doubt they use that either. I was thinking of using web service based on nuSOAP that simply checks the database for new "messages". That closes the port because it is a web service. But can this be done? Is there anyone that is familiar with what method was used for real time chat/server Push? ESPECIALLY in PHP Live!? I would really like to here some different thoughts and techniques. I have looked at some open source versions, but the ones I looked at all used <meta> refresh. (They where also very slow). Thanks everyone! -George-