File transfer in Multiparty chat

[Anirban Dutta]

Hi,

Can i set up a file transfer for multiparty chat ? I mean file transfer demo works fine between two connected peers. Is it possible to put a file in a room so that everyone can download at the same time? Maybe it could appear as torrent ?

[Eric Davies]

We've done it before. Our Tawk application was originally based on the multiparty chat demo and supported peer-to-peer file transfer. The actual user interface you use is a programming detail.

Doing a torrent style downloader is possible but would require a fairly skilled programmer.

[Anirban Dutta]

I'm sorry. I have edited my question. Apart from user interface or making it torrent like, I should want to know if i can make it work as torrents work. I mean if i could put a file in a ongoing conference, and everyone could have download it simultaneously ?

One to one works fine. As far as i know, webrtc support arbitrary data between peers. Does easyrtc have that feature ?

[Eric Davies]

The basic question is "can every client have a data channel to every other client in a room". The answer is yes. You can try this with the data channel messaging demo. I think Webrtc supports up to 100 data channels per client.

Beyond that, it would be up to you to read in a file on one client, partition it into pieces, label the pieces, and then send  the pieces to the other peers, and coordinate the ensuing communication in such a way that it behaved like a torrent.

[Uzair Ahmed]

Can you provide the source code of how you managed it? Having only one file upload box, and allowing that to be shared with everyone.