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Contacts

After logging in to Chat, users can start adding contacts and chatting with each other. They can also manage these contacts, for example, by adding, retrieving and removing contacts. They can also add the specified user to the block list to stop receiving messages from that user.

This page shows how to use the Chat SDK to implement contact management.

Understand the tech​

The Chat SDK uses ChatContactManager to add, remove and manage contacts. Followings are the core methods:

  • addContact: Adds a contact.
  • acceptInvitation: Accepts the contact invitation.
  • declineInvitation: Declines the contact invitation.
  • deleteContact: Deletes a contact.
  • getAllContactsFromServer: Retrieves a list of contacts from the server.
  • getAllContactsFromDB: Retrieves all contacts from the local database.
  • addUserToBlockList: Adds the specified user to the block list.
  • removeUserFromBlockList: Removes the specified user from the block list.
  • getBlockListFromServer: Retrieves a list of blocked users from the server.

Prerequisites​

Before proceeding, ensure that you meet the following requirements:

  • You have integrated the Chat SDK, initialized the SDK and implemented the functionality of registering accounts and login. For details, see Chat SDK quickstart.
  • You understand the API call frequency limits as described in Limitations.

Implementation​

This section shows how to manage contacts with the methods provided by the Chat SDK.

Add a contact​

This section uses user A and user B as an example to describe the process of adding a peer user as a contact.

User A call addContact to add user B as a contact:

// The user ID that you want to add as a contact
String userId = "foo";
// Reasons for adding the user as a contact
String reason = "Request to add a friend.";
try{
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.addContact(userId, reason);
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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When user B receives the contact invitation, accept or decline the invitation.

  • To accept the invitation

    // The user ID that sends the contact invitation
    String userId = "bar";
    try{
    await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.acceptInvitation(userId);
    } on ChatError catch (e) {
    }
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  • To decline the invitation

    // The user ID that sends the contact invitation
    String userId = "bar";
    try{
    await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.declineInvitation(userId);
    } on ChatError catch (e) {
    }
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User A uses ContactEventHandler to listen for contact events.

  • If user B accepts the invitation, onContactInvited is triggered.

    class _ContactPageState extends State<ContactPage> {
    @override
    void initState() {
    super.initState();
    // Adds the contact event handler.
    ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.addEventHandler(
    "UNIQUE_HANDLER_ID",
    ContactEventHandler(
    onContactInvited: (userId, reason) {},
    ),
    );
    }
    @override
    void dispose() {
    // Removes the contact event handler.
    ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.removeEventHandler("UNIQUE_HANDLER_ID");
    super.dispose();
    }
    }
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  • If user B declines the invitation, onFriendRequestDeclined is triggered.

    class _ContactPageState extends State<ContactPage> {
    @override
    void initState() {
    super.initState();
    // Adds the contact event handler.
    ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.addEventHandler(
    "UNIQUE_HANDLER_ID",
    ContactEventHandler(
    onFriendRequestDeclined: (userId) {},
    ),
    );
    }
    @override
    void dispose() {
    // Removes the contact event handler.
    ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.removeEventHandler("UNIQUE_HANDLER_ID");
    super.dispose();
    }
    }
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Retrieve the contact list​

You can retrieve the contact list from the server and from the local database. Refer to the following sample code:

// Call getAllContactsFromServer to retrieve the contact list from the server.
List<String> contacts = await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.getAllContactsFromServer();

// Call getAllContactsFromDB to retrieve the contact list from the local database.
List<String> contacts = await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.getAllContactsFromDB();
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Delete a contact​

Call deleteContact to delete the specified contact. To prevent mis-operation, we recommend adding a double check process before deleting the contact.

// The user ID
String userId = "tom";
// Whether to keep the conversation when deleting the contact
bool keepConversation = true;
try {
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.deleteContact(
userId,
keepConversation,
);
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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Add a user to the block list​

Call addUserToBlockList to add the specified user to the block list. Once you add a user to the block list, you can no longer receive messages from this user.

Users can add any other chat user to their block list, regardless of whether this other user is a contact or not. A contact added to the block list remains in the contact list.
// The user ID
String userId = "tom";
try {
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.addUserToBlockList(userId);
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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Retrieve the block list​

To get the block list from the local device, call getBlockListFromDB.

try {
List<String> list =
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.getBlockListFromDB();
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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You can also retrieve the block list from the server by calling getBlockListFromServer.

try {
List<String> list =
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.getBlockListFromServer();
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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Remove a user from the block list​

To remove the specified user from the block list, call removeUserFromBlockList.

String userId = "tom";
try {
await ChatClient.getInstance.contactManager.removeUserFromBlockList(userId);
} on ChatError catch (e) {
}
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