tweak buffering in server.js

demo/server.js

@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@ function startServer() {
   var app = express();
   expressWs(app);
 
-  var terminals = {},
-      logs = {};
+  var terminals = {};
 
   app.use('/xterm.css', express.static(__dirname + '/../css/xterm.css'));
   app.get('/logo.png', (req, res) => {
@@ -55,10 +54,6 @@ function startServer() {
 
     console.log('Created terminal with PID: ' + term.pid);
     terminals[term.pid] = term;
-    logs[term.pid] = '';
-    term.on('data', function(data) {
-      logs[term.pid] += data;
-    });
     res.send(term.pid.toString());
     res.end();
   });
@@ -77,16 +72,26 @@ function startServer() {
   app.ws('/terminals/:pid', function (ws, req) {
     var term = terminals[parseInt(req.params.pid)];
     console.log('Connected to terminal ' + term.pid);
-    ws.send(logs[term.pid]);
+
+    // unbuffered delivery after user input
+    let userInput = false;
 
     // string message buffering
-    function buffer(socket, timeout) {
+    function buffer(socket, timeout, maxSize) {
       let s = '';
       let sender = null;
       return (data) => {
         s += data;
-        if (!sender) {
-          sender = queueMicrotask(() => {
+        if (s.length > maxSize || userInput) {
+          userInput = false;
+          socket.send(s);
+          s = '';
+          if (sender) {
+            clearTimeout(sender);
+            sender = null;
+          }
+        } else if (!sender) {
+          sender = setTimeout(() => {
             socket.send(s);
             s = '';
             sender = null;
@@ -95,15 +100,24 @@ function startServer() {
       };
     }
     // binary message buffering
-    function bufferUtf8(socket, timeout) {
+    function bufferUtf8(socket, timeout, maxSize) {
       let buffer = [];
       let sender = null;
       let length = 0;
       return (data) => {
         buffer.push(data);
         length += data.length;
-        if (!sender) {
-          sender = queueMicrotask(() => {
+        if (length > maxSize || userInput) {
+          userInput = false;
+          socket.send(Buffer.concat(buffer, length));
+          buffer = [];
+          length = 0;
+          if (sender) {
+            clearTimeout(sender);
+            sender = null;
+          }
+        } else if (!sender) {
+          sender = setTimeout(() => {
             socket.send(Buffer.concat(buffer, length));
             buffer = [];
             sender = null;
@@ -112,27 +126,23 @@ function startServer() {
         }
       };
     }
-    const send = USE_BINARY ? bufferUtf8(ws, 5) : buffer(ws, 5);
+    const send = (USE_BINARY ? bufferUtf8 : buffer)(ws, 5, 262144);
 
     // WARNING: This is a naive implementation that will not throttle the flow of data. This means
     // it could flood the communication channel and make the terminal unresponsive. Learn more about
     // the problem and how to implement flow control at https://xtermjs.org/docs/guides/flowcontrol/
     term.on('data', function(data) {
-      try {
-        send(data);
-      } catch (ex) {
-        // The WebSocket is not open, ignore
-      }
+      send(data);
     });
     ws.on('message', function(msg) {
       term.write(msg);
+      userInput = true;
     });
     ws.on('close', function () {
       term.kill();
       console.log('Closed terminal ' + term.pid);
       // Clean things up
       delete terminals[term.pid];
-      delete logs[term.pid];
     });
   });
 

src/common/input/WriteBuffer.ts

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export class WriteBuffer {
       this._bufferOffset = 0;
 
       // If this is the first write call after the user has done some input,
-      // parse it immediately in an upcoming microtask to minimize reduce input,
+      // parse it immediately to minimize input latency,
       // otherwise schedule for the next event
       if (this._didUserInput) {
         this._didUserInput = false;