# Smack: Chat - Jive Software

Messaging using Chat and GroupChat

Sending messages back and forth is at the core of instant messaging. Two classes aid in sending and recieiving messages:

- `org.jivesoftware.smack.Chat` -- used to send messages between two people.
- `org.jivesoftware.smack.GroupChat` -- used to join a chat room to send messages between many people.

Both the Chat and GroupChat classes use the `org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.Message` packet class to send messages. In certain circumstances, you may wish to bypass the higher-level Chat and GroupChat classes to send and listen for messages directly.

Chat

A chat creates a new thread of messgaes (using a thread ID) between two users. The following code snippet demonstrates how to create a new Chat with a user and then send them a text message:

    // Assume we've created an XMPPConnection name "connection".
    Chat newChat = connection.createChat("jsmith@jivesoftware.com");
    newChat.sendMessage("Howdy!");

The `Chat.sendMessage(String)` method is a convenience method that creates a Message object, sets the body using the String parameter, then sends the message. In the case that you wish to set additional values on a Message before sending it, use the `Chat.createMessage()` and `Chat.sendMessage(Message)` methods, as in the following code snippet:

    // Assume we've created an XMPPConnection name "connection".
    Chat newChat = connection.createChat("jsmith@jivesoftware.com");
    Message newMessage = newChat.createMessage();
    newMessage.setBody("Howdy!");
    message.setProperty("favoriteColor", "red");
    newChat.sendMessage(newMessage);

The Chat object allows you to easily listen for replies from the other chat participant. The following code snippet is a parrot-bot -- it echoes back everything the other user types.

    // Assume we've created an XMPPConnection name "connection".
    Chat newChat = connection.createChat("jsmith@jivesoftware.com");
    newMessage.setBody("Hi, I'm an annoying parrot-bot! Type something back to me.");
    while (true) {
        // Wait for the next message the user types to us.
        Message message = newChat.nextMessage();
        // Send back the same text the other user sent us.
        newChat.sendMessage(message.getBody());
    }

The code above uses the `Chat.nextMessage()` method to get the next message, which will wait indefinitely until another message comes in. There are other methods to wait a specific amount of time for a new message, or you can add a listener that will be notified every time a new message arrives.

GroupChat

A group chat connects to a chat room on a server and allows you to send and receive messages from a group of people. Before you can send or receive messages, you must join the room using a nickname. The following code snippet connects to a chat room and sends a message.

    // Assume we've created an XMPPConnection name "connection".
    GroupChat newGroupChat = connection.createGroupChat("test@jivesoftware.com");
    // Join the gropu chat using the nickname "jsmith".
    newGroupChat.join("jsmith");
    // Send a message to all the other people in the chat room.
    newGroupChat.sendMessage("Howdy!");

In general, sending and receiving messages in a group chat works very similarly to the `Chat` class. Method are also provided to get the list of the other users in the room.