|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Use LiveTry to try out service capabilities |
| 3 | +description: How to use LiveTry to explore service capabilities without setting up a code project |
| 4 | +author: kevinguo-ed |
| 5 | +ms.author: kevinguo |
| 6 | +ms.service: azure-web-pubsub |
| 7 | +ms.topic: overview |
| 8 | +ms.date: 04/22/2025 |
| 9 | +--- |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +# Use LiveTry to explore Azure Web PubSub capabilities |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +**LiveTry** is a browser-based tool that helps you explore Azure Web PubSub’s real-time messaging features — no code or local setup required. With just a few clicks, you can simulate clients, join groups, and send messages using both client-side and server-side APIs. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +This guide walks you through two common messaging scenarios in LiveTry, while helping you understand important concepts like **connections**, **groups**, and **messages**. |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +--- |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## What you'll learn |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +You'll explore two messaging patterns often used in real-time applications: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +- **Server-to-group messaging**: Using the `sendToGroup` API to broadcast messages to all clients in a group. |
| 24 | +- **Client-to-group messaging**: Azure Web PubSub supports a capability that allows a client in a group to send messages directly to other clients in the same group—**without routing through your app server** — reducing latency. |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +Each scenario is accompanied by a short tutorial video to help you follow along. |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +--- |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +## Key concepts |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +Before getting started, here’s a quick refresher on core Azure Web PubSub concepts that you’ll interact with in LiveTry: |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +- **Hub**: A logical unit used to isolate and organize messaging logic. In LiveTry, all simulated clients connect to the hub you define on the **Server** tab. Because LiveTry uses your production resource, we recommend specifying a test hub name that doesn’t overlap with your production traffic. |
| 35 | +- **Connection**: A persistent WebSocket connection between a client and the Azure Web PubSub service. |
| 36 | +- **Group**: A server-managed subset of connections. Messages sent to a group are delivered only to the connections within that group. |
| 37 | +- **Messages**: The payloads exchanged between clients and the service. Messages can be broadcast to all, targeted to groups, or directed to individual connections. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +--- |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +## Scenario 1: Send a message to a group from the server |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +In this scenario, you’ll simulate server-side broadcasting using the `sendToGroup` REST API. This demonstrates how the service routes a message from your backend to all clients in a specified group. |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +### Watch the video walkthrough |
| 46 | +[!!!!MISSING!!!!] |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +### Steps (recap from video) |
| 49 | +1. In the Azure portal, navigate to your Azure Web PubSub resource. |
| 50 | +2. Open the **LiveTry** blade. |
| 51 | +3. Click **+ Add Client** to simulate multiple connections. |
| 52 | +4. Assign each client to a group (for example, `group1`). |
| 53 | +5. Under the **Server** tab in the "Publish messages" section, select **Send to group**. |
| 54 | +6. Enter the group name (`group1`), a sample message, and invoke the `sendToGroup` API. |
| 55 | +7. Switch to the **Client** tab and observe the message appear in each client's message log. |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +### What you’re learning |
| 58 | +You’re simulating a backend sending messages to a group of clients using RESTful APIs. LiveTry demonstrates how server-to-group communication works without needing to deploy a backend. Azure Web PubSub also provides server SDKs for C#, JavaScript, Java, and Python. |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +Try repeating the steps with multiple clients to visualize message broadcasting in action. LiveTry supports up to 5 concurrent simulated clients. |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +--- |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +## Scenario 2: Send a message to a group from a client |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +In this scenario, you’ll simulate a client sending a message to other clients in the same group—similar to a user posting a message in a chat room. |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +### Watch the video walkthrough |
| 69 | +[!!!!MISSING!!!!] |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +### Steps (recap from video) |
| 72 | +1. In **LiveTry**, add two or more clients and specify the same value for the `Initial Groups` field. |
| 73 | +2. For the client that will send the message, select **Allow client to send to all groups**. |
| 74 | +3. Switch to that client’s panel, specify the group name, enter a message, and click **Invoke**. |
| 75 | +4. The other clients in the group will receive the message in real time. |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +### What you’re learning |
| 78 | +This scenario showcases **client-to-group messaging**, which is ideal in applications where server round-trips introduce unnecessary latency. It's a core part of Web PubSub’s **client publish/subscribe model**. |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +--- |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +## Tips for using LiveTry |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +- Open multiple browser tabs to simulate multiple users or devices. |
| 85 | +- Try combining additional operations like `joinGroup`, `leaveGroup`, or `sendToConnection`. |
| 86 | +- Use clear group names to better organize your experiments. |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +--- |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +## Next steps |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +- Learn more about [key concepts](./key-concepts.md) in Azure Web PubSub |
| 93 | +- Follow the [Quickstart guide](./quickstarts-pubsub-among-clients.md) to build a local sample |
| 94 | +- Explore guides under "How-to guides" for common tasks when developing with Azure Web PubSub |
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