Node.js socket.ref() Method

The socket.ref() method is an inbuilt application programming interface of class Socket within dgram module which is used to get the reference of the particular socket containing all the information in it.

Syntax:

const socket.ref()

Parameters: This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value: This method returns the reference of the particular socket containing all the information in it.

Example 1: In this example, we will see the use of socket.ref() method.

Filename: index.js

Javascript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// server.ref() method

// Importing dgram module
const dgram = require('dgram');

// Creating and initializing client
// and server socket
let client = dgram.createSocket("udp4");
let server = dgram.createSocket("udp4");

// Catching the message event
server.on("message", function (msg) {

    // Displaying the client message
    process.stdout.write("UDP String: " + msg + "\n");

    // Exiting process
    process.exit();
})
    // Binding server with port
    .bind(1234, () => {

        // Getting the reference of the server
        // by using ref() method
        const size = server.ref();

        // Display the result
        console.log(size.eventNames());

    });

Output:

[ 'message' ]
UDP String: Hello

Example 2: In this example, we will see the use of socket.ref() method.

Filename: index.js

JavaScript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// server.ref() method

// Importing dgram module
const dgram = require('dgram');

// Creating and initializing client
// and server socket
let client = dgram.createSocket("udp4");
let server = dgram.createSocket("udp4");

// Catching the message event
server.on("message", function (msg) {

    // Displaying the client message
    process.stdout.write("UDP String: " + msg + "\n");

    // Exiting process
    process.exit();
});

// Catching the listening event
server.on('listening', () => {

    // Getting address information
    // for the server
    const address = server.address();

    // display the result
    console.log(`server listening
        ${address.address}: $ { address.port }`);
});

// Binding server with port address
// by using bind() method
server.bind(1234, () => {

    // Getting the reference of server
    // by using ref() method
    const size = server.ref();

    // Display the result
    console.log(size.eventNames());
});

// Client sending message to server
client.send("Hello", 0, 7, 1234, "localhost");

Output:

server listening 0.0.0.0:1234
[ 'message', 'listening' ]
UDP String: Hello

Run the index.js file using the following command:

node index.js

Reference: https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v12.x/docs/api/dgram.html#dgram_socket_ref