How to use C replicator api

Mobile Couchbase Lite
1

Hi,

I’m trying to understand how replication works using couchbase-lite-core. So far my understanding tells me that couchbase-lite-core servers both as a local store and a way to communicate with a cloud server. I just don’t understand if I really need to have a sync gateway in the middle. I find a lot of information but nothing very pratical. I know there are probably a lot of concepts and information that I’m still missing but at this point my questions are:

  • how do I sync a local couchbase-lite-core database with a server?
    a) do I use the serverUrl as the remoteUrl
    b) do I need to first setup a sync-gateway which will serve as proxy between the local database and the server database?
    c) is there any example on how to do that solely with C api?

I have already tried establish a connection. I have ran docker containers with both docker/couchbase-sandbox & docker/couchbase-sync-gateway and tried to create a replicator on the C api with their urls. Both failed with the message:

21:44:33.315045| WARNING: Caught unexpected C++ logic_error("No default C4SocketFactory registered; call c4socket_registerFactory())")
Unable to create Replicator for: No default C4SocketFactory registered; call c4socket_registerFactory())

Feeling kind of lost… Any tips?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Nuno

2

The defacto example of using LiteCore is Couchbase Lite itself.

a) This is the same as the Couchbase Lite setup: Use the URL and database path with the “ws” or “wss” scheme (i.e. ws:///)
b) Yes, you must use sync gateway
c) Not directly no, Couchbase Lite is basically “the example”

3

You do. That’s the main purpose of Sync Gateway: to act as a replication endpoint.

Both failed with the message:

As the error message says, you need to call c4socket_registerFactory. C4SocketFactory represents a networking implementation. We use different networking libraries on different platforms, so there’s an abstraction layer.

For cross-platform use and testing we have a factory in LiteCore; call RegisterC4CivetWebSocketFactory() (declared in CivetWebSocket.hh) to register it. This function isn’t exported by the DLL so you’ll need to be statically linking with LiteCore to use it.

Note: CivetWebSocketFactory doesn’t support TLS/SSL.

4

Jens, thanks for the reply and for the extra info. I have been able to successfully register C4CivetWebSocketFactory. I have a sync-gateway running and it seems to be connecting successfully:

23:09:40.333388| [DB]: {Shared#1}==> litecore::DataFile::Shared 0x7facc0d465c0 @0x7facc0d465c0
23:09:40.333435| [DB]: {Shared#1} instantiated on /private/tmp/database/db.sqlite3
23:09:40.333449| [DB]: {DB#2}==> litecore::SQLiteDataFile /tmp/database/db.sqlite3 @0x7facc0d49970
23:09:40.333460| [DB]: {DB#2} Opening database
23:09:40.334893| [DB]: {DB#3}==> litecore::SQLiteDataFile /tmp/database/db.sqlite3 @0x7facc0d51450
23:09:40.334913| [DB]: {DB#3} Opening database
23:09:40.335657| [Sync]: {Repl#4}==> litecore::repl::Replicator /tmp/database/ ->ws://192.68.0.150:4984/test/_blipsync @0x7facc0d55e18
23:09:40.335673| [Sync]: {Repl#4} Push=continuous, Pull=continuous, Options={{}}
QString IC4Database::getAllDocuments(const QString &, int)
document body "{\"internal_created\":\"2019-02-07T23:08:09\"}" 0x7facc0d59568 "0000001" "1-5f94707dcae67bf0518d58e31b59cee2d2ba2a59"
document body "{\"internal_created\":\"2019-02-07T23:08:17\"}" 0x7facc0d59888 "0000002" "1-61f17ac4245cb90f8c9d9267d3208a76c9fe23aa"
document body "{\"internal_created\":\"2019-02-07T23:08:30\"}" 0x7facc0d57778 "0000003" "1-4047e95605811f0567e8149d34e50f656650295d"
Row count: 3
23:09:40.338296| [Sync]: {Repl#4} No local checkpoint 'cp-AfinoD8r6CJRdiOeODQ3vBXIjcE='

Thank you! Another milestone achieved. I still need to learn about working with the sync gateway, and then with the server it self. There is a lot of information to absorve and I can’t seem to find a complete and comprehensive, straight to the point, quick start guide covering the full process.

Thank you once again! Best regards

5

Congrats! BTW, I just finished writing a high-level guide to the Fleece API which should be useful when you’re working with document properties.

6

Thanks Jens. I will definitely take a look at it. Best!