Hermes

Client-side messaging channel for sending data from one browser tab to another with the same origin. Think of it as a PubSub module that can send messages across multiple browser tabs.

To see a demo of Hermes in action, open this page in multiple browser tabs.

Usage

Get a copy of hermes.js or dist/hermes.min.js and include it in your code:

<script src="/path/to/hermes.js"></script>

Hermes also supports AMD, so it can also be included this way:

require(["path/to/hermes"], function (hermes) {});

Hermes exposes an object named hermes which contains the API methods.

API

• send(topic, data, [includeSelf=false]): Send data to other browser tabs subscribed to a specified topic.

  • topic: The name of the topic in which the data will be sent to.
  • data: The data to be sent. This needs to be a JSON-serializable object.
  • includeSelf (optional, default=false): A boolean indicating whether the data should also be sent to the current tab.

  hermes.send("some-topic", "hello world"); // just other tabs
  hermes.send("some-topic", { title: "awesome" }, "current"); // just current tab
  hermes.send("some-topic", { title: "awesome" }, "all"); // all tabs

• on(topic, callback): Add a callback function for a specified topic.

  • topic: The name of the topic to subscribe to.
  • callback: The callback function, which accepts a single argument representing the data that was sent originally.

  hermes.on("some-topic", function (data) {});

• off(topic, [callback]): Remove a callback function for a specified topic.

  • topic: The name of the topic to unsubscribe from.
  • callback (optional): The callback function to remove, or don't provide in order to remove all callback functions for the topic topic.

  hermes.off("some-topic", callbackFunction);
  hermes.off("some-topic");

License

MIT License