Direct Calling

This section will guide you to start the call/conference directly with the session id of your choice. The session id is the most important parameter as all the users joining the same session id will be connected to the same call/conference.

Implementation

The most important class that will be used in the implementation is the CallSettings class. This class allows you to set the various parameters for the call/conference. In order to set the various parameters of the CallSettings class, you need to use the CallSettingsBuilder class. Below are the various options available with the CallSettings class.

The mandatory parameter is the sessionId for the call/conference. You can use the setSessionId() method of the CallSettingsBuilder to set the session Id of the call.

A basic example of how to start a direct call:

Javascript

let sessionID = "SESSION_ID";
let audioOnly = false;
let deafaultLayout = true;

let callListener = new CometChat.OngoingCallListener({
  	onUserJoined: user => {
        console.log("user joined:", user);
    },
    onUserLeft: user => {
        console.log("user left:", user);
    },
    onUserListUpdated: userList => {
			console.log("user list:", userList);
    },
    onCallEnded: call => {
      console.log("Call ended:", call);
    },
    onError: error => {
        console.log('Call Error: ', error);
    },
		onAudioModesUpdated: (audioModes) => {
        console.log("audio modes:", audioModes);
    },
  	onCallSwitchedToVideo: (sessionId, callSwitchInitiatedBy, callSwitchAcceptedBy) => {
        console.log("call switched to video:", {sessionId, callSwitchInitiatedBy, callSwitchAcceptedBy});
    },
  	onUserMuted: (userMuted, userMutedBy) => {
    	console.log("user muted:", {userMuted, userMutedBy});
    }
});

let callSettings = new CometChat.CallSettingsBuilder()
                    .enableDefaultLayout(deafaultLayout)
                    .setSessionID(sessionID)
                    .setIsAudioOnlyCall(audioOnly)
                    .setCallEventListener(callListener)
                    .build();

render(){
   return(
      <View style={{height: '100%', width: '100%', position: 'relative'}}>
          <CometChat.CallingComponent callsettings= {callSettings} />
       </View>
   );
}

Typescript

let sessionID: string = "SESSION_ID";
let audioOnly: boolean = false;
let deafaultLayout: boolean = true;

let callListener = new CometChat.OngoingCallListener({
    onUserJoined: (user: CometChat.User) => {
        console.log("user joined:", user);
    },
    onUserLeft: (user: CometChat.User) => {
        console.log("user left:", user);
    },
    onUserListUpdated: (userList: CometChat.User[]) => {
        console.log("user list:", userList);
    },
    onCallEnded: (call: CometChat.Call) => {
        console.log("Call ended:", call);
    },
    onError: (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
        console.log('Call Error: ', error);
    },
    onAudioModesUpdated: (audioModes: CometChat.AudioMode[]) => {
        console.log("audio modes:", audioModes);
    }
});

let callSettings = new CometChat.CallSettingsBuilder()
    .enableDefaultLayout(deafaultLayout)
    .setSessionID(sessionID)
    .setIsAudioOnlyCall(audioOnly)
    .setCallEventListener(callListener)
    .build();

render(){
   return(
      <View style={{height: '100%', width: '100%', position: 'relative'}}>
          <CometChat.CallingComponent callsettings= {callSettings} />
       </View>
   );
}

The setAudioOnlyCall() method allows you to set if the call is supposed to be an audio call or an audio-video call. If set to true, the call will be an audio-only call else when set to false the call will be an audio-video call. The default is false, so if not set, the call will be an audio-video call.

Parameter	Description
callSettings	Object of CallSettings class.
OngoingCallListener	CometChat.OngoingCallListener where the real-time events will be received.

The OngoingCallListener provides you with the below callback methods:

Callback Method	Description
onUserJoined(User user)	This method is called when any other user joins the call. The user details can be obtained from the User object provided.
onUserLeft(User user)	This method is called when a user leaves the call. The details of the user can be obtained from the provided User object.
onError()	This method is called when there is some error in establishing the call.
onCallEnded()	This method is called when the call is successfully ended. The call details can be obtained from the Call object provided.
onUserListUpdated(userList)	This method is triggered every time a participant joins or leaves the call providing the list of users active in the call.
onAudioModesUpdated(audioModes)	This callback is triggered if any new audio output source is available or becomes unavailable.
onCallSwitchedToVideo(sessionId, callSwitchInitiatedBy, callSwitchAcceptedBy)	This callback is triggered when an audio call is converted into a video call.
onUserMuted(userMuted, userMutedBy)	This callback is triggered when a user is muted in the call.

Settings

The CallSettings class is the most important class when it comes to the implementation of the Calling feature. This is the class that allows you to customize the overall calling experience. The properties for the call/conference can be set using the CallSettingsBuilder class. This will eventually give you and object of the CallSettings class which you can pass to the startCall() method to start the call.

The mandatory parameters that are required to be present for any call/conference to work are:

1. sessionId - The unique session Id for the call/conference session.

The options available for customization of calls are:

Setting	Description
enableDefaultLayout(defaultLayout: boolean)	If set to true enables the default layout for handling the call operations. If set to false it hides the button layout and just displays the Call View. Default value = true
showEndCallButton(showEndCallButton: boolean)	If set to true it displays the EndCallButton in Button Layout. if set to false it hides the EndCallButton in Button Layout. Default value = true
showPauseVideoButton(showPauseVideoButton: boolean)	If set to true it displays the PauseVideoButton in Button Layout. if set to false it hides the PauseVideoButton in Button Layout. Default value = true
showMuteAudioButton(showMuteAudioButton: boolean)	If set to true it displays the MuteAudioButton in Button Layout. if set to false it hides the MuteAudioButton in Button Layout. Default value = true
showSwitchCameraButton(showSwitchCameraButton: boolean)	If set to true it displays the SwitchCameraButton in Button Layout. if set to false it hides the SwitchCameraButton in Button Layout. Default value = true
showAudioModeButton(showAudioModeButton: boolean)	If set to true it displays the AudioModeButton in Button Layout. if set to false it hides the AudioModeButton in Button Layout. Default value = true
setIsAudioOnlyCall(audioOnly: boolean)	If set to true, the call will be strictly an audio call. If ser to false, the call will be an audio-video call. Default value = false
setMode(mode: string)	CometChat provides 3 options for the calling UI. 1. CometChat.CALL_MODE.DEFAULT 2. CometChat.CALL_MODE.SPOTLIGHT 3. CometChat.CALL_MODE.SINGLE Default value = CometChat.CALL_MODE.DEFAULT
startWithAudioMuted(audioMuted: boolean)	This ensures the call is started with the audio muted if set to true. Default value = false
startWithVideoMuted(videoMuted: boolean)	This ensures the call is started with the video paused if set to true. Default value = false
setDefaultAudioMode(audioMode: string)	This method can be used if you wish to start the call with a specific audio mode. The available options are 1. CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.SPEAKER = "SPEAKER" 2. CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.EARPIECE = "EARPIECE" 3. CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.BLUETOOTH = "BLUETOOTH" 4. CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.HEADPHONES = "HEADPHONES"
showSwitchToVideoCallButton(switchCall: boolean)	This method shows/hides the switch to video call button. If set to true it will display the switch to video call button. If set to false it will hide the switch to video call button. Default value = true
setAvatarMode(avatarMode: string)	This method sets the mode of avatar. The avatar mode can be circle, square or fullscreen. Default value = circle
setMainVideoContainerSetting(containerSettings: MainVideoContainerSetting)	This method can be used to customize the main video container. You can read more about this here.
enableVideoTileClick(enableVideoTileClick: boolean)	This method can be used to enable/disable video tile click functionality in Spotlight mode. Default value = true
enableVideoTileDrag(enableVideoTileDrag: boolean)	This method can be used to enable/disable video tile drag functionality in Spotlight mode. Default value = true

In case you wish to achieve a completely customized UI for the Calling experience, you can do so by embedding default android buttons to the screen as per your requirement and then use the below methods to achieve different functionalities for the embedded buttons.

For the use case where you wish to align your custom buttons and not use the default layout provided by the SDK you can embed the buttons in your layout and use the below methods to perform the corresponding operations:

Switch Camera

You can call the switchCamera() Method to toggle between camera sources.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.switchCamera();

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.switchCamera();

Mute Audio

You can call muteAudio(mute: boolean) Method to mute your Audio Stream to the end-user.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.muteAudio(true);

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.muteAudio(true);

if set to true the Audio Stream is muted and if set to false Audio Stream is transmitted.

Pause Video

You can call pauseVideo(pause: boolean) Method to pause Video Stream to the end-user.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.pauseVideo(true);

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.pauseVideo(true);

if set to true the Video Stream is muted and if set to false Video Stream is transmitted.

Set Audio Mode

You can call the setAudioMode(mode: string) to set the output of the audio stream.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
let earPieceMode = CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.EARPIECE;
callController.setAudioMode(earPieceMode);

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
let earPieceMode: string = CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.EARPIECE;
callController.setAudioMode(earPieceMode);

The audio mode string can have either one of the below 4 values:

• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.SPEAKER = "SPEAKER"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.EARPIECE = "EARPIECE"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.BLUETOOTH = "BLUETOOTH"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.HEADPHONES= "HEADPHONES"

Switch To Video Call

You can use the switchToVideoCall() method to switch from audio call to video call.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.switchToVideoCall();

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.switchToVideoCall();

End Call

You can use the CometChat.endCall() method of the CometChat class to end the call.

Javascript

CometChat.endCall("SESSION_ID_FOR_THE_CALL").then(
	call => {
		console.log('call ended', call);
	}, error => {
		console.log('error', error);
	}
);

Typescript

let sessionId: string = "SESSION_ID_FOR_THE_CALL"
CometChat.endCall(sessionId).then(
    (call: CometChat.Call) => {
        console.log('call ended', call);
    }, (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
        console.log('error', error);
    }
);

Get the list of available audio modes

This method will return the list of available audio modes. Based on the list received, you can set the audio mode for the ongoing call using the setAudioMode() method.

Javascript

let callController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();
callController.getAudioOutputModes().then(
    modes => {
      console.log('getAudioOutputModes :: modes', modes);
    }, error => {
      console.log('getAudioOutputModes :: error', error);
    }
);

Typescript

let callController: CometChat.CallController = CometChat.CallController.getInstance();

callController.getAudioOutputModes().then(
    (modes: CometChat.AudioMode[]) => {
      console.log('getAudioOutputModes :: modes', modes);
    }, (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
      console.log('getAudioOutputModes :: error', error);
    }
);

The AudioMode class has the below properties:

1. mode - The mode can be either one of the below values:

• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.SPEAKER = "SPEAKER"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.EARPIECE = "EARPIECE"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.BLUETOOTH = "BLUETOOTH"
• CometChat.AUDIO_MODE.HEADPHONES= "HEADPHONES"

2. isSelected - This is a boolean value that indicates if the audio mode is the active mode.

Please Note

The CometChat.getActiveCall() method in case of Direct Calling will return null and all the details related to the call session will have to be saved and maintained at your end.

Call Participant Count

In order to get the number of participants in any call, you can use the getCallParticipantCount() method. This method takes the session id for the call and returns the number or participants that are active in the call.

Javascript

let sessionId = "CALL_SESSION_ID";
let callType = "DIRECT";

CometChat.getCallParticipantCount(sessionId, callType).then(
	count => {
		console.log("Participants count =", count);
	}, error => {
		console.log("Some error occurred =", error);
	}
);

Typescript

let sessionId: string = "CALL_SESSION_ID";
let callType: string = "DIRECT";

CometChat.getCallParticipantCount(sessionId, callType).then(
    (count: number) => {
        console.log("Participants count =", count);
    }, (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
        console.log("Some error occurred =", error);
    }
);