//Cross-tested this with the Twilio API and the RingCentral API, and async messaging is the way to go.
async void SendMessage(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string tonumber = phoneLabel.Text;
string chatmessage = chatTextbox.Text;
IChatModel chatModel = null;
TextChatModel textModel = null;
//Each IChatModel is specifically built for a single purpose. For that reason, if you want to display a text item AND and image, you'd make two IChatModels for
//their respective purposes. AttachmentChatModel and ImageChatModel, however, can really be used interchangeably.
if (attachment != null && attachmenttype.Contains("image"))
{
chatModel = new ImageChatModel()
{
Author = user,
Image = Image.FromStream(new MemoryStream(attachment)),
ImageName = attachmentname,
Inbound = false,
Read = true,
Time = DateTime.Now,
};
}
else if (attachment != null)
{
chatModel = new AttachmentChatModel()
{
Author = user,
Attachment = attachment,
Filename = attachmentname,
Read = true,
Inbound = false,
Time = DateTime.Now
};
}
if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(chatmessage) && chatmessage != chatplaceholder)
{
textModel = new TextChatModel()
{
Author = user,
Body = chatmessage,
Inbound = false,
Read = true,
Time = DateTime.Now
};
}
try
{
/*
*
* INSERT SENDING LOGIC HERE. Again, this is just a UserControl, not a complete app. For the Ringcentral API, I was able to reduce this section
* down to a single method.
*
*/
if (chatModel != null)
{
AddMessage(chatModel);
CancelAttachment(null, null);
}
if (textModel != null)
{
AddMessage(textModel);
chatTextbox.Text = string.Empty;
}
}
catch (Exception exc)
{
//If any exception is found, then it is printed on the screen. Feel free to change this method if you don't want people to see exceptions.
textModel = new TextChatModel()
{
Author = user,
Body = "The message could not be processed. Please see the reason below.\r\n" + exc.Message,
Inbound = false,
Read = true,
Time = DateTime.Now
};
AddMessage(textModel);
}
}
public ChatItem(IChatModel chatModel)
{
InitializeComponent();
if (chatModel == null)
{
chatModel = new TextChatModel()
{
Author = "System",
Body = "No chat messages were found regarding this client.",
Inbound = true,
Time = DateTime.Now
};
}
ChatModel = chatModel;
if (chatModel.Inbound)
{
bodyPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Left;
authorLabel.Dock = DockStyle.Left;
bodyPanel.BackColor = Color.FromArgb(100, 101, 165);
bodyTextBox.BackColor = Color.FromArgb(100, 101, 165);
}
else
{
bodyPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Right;
authorLabel.Dock = DockStyle.Right;
bodyTextBox.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right;
}
//Fills in the label.
if (chatModel.Time > DateTime.Today)
{
authorLabel.Text = $"{chatModel.Author ?? "System"}, {chatModel.Time.ToShortTimeString()}";
}
else
{
authorLabel.Text = $"{chatModel.Author ?? "System"}, {chatModel.Time.ToShortDateString()}";
}
switch (chatModel.Type)
{
case "text":
var textmodel = chatModel as TextChatModel;
bodyTextBox.Text = textmodel.Body.Trim();
break;
case "image":
var imagemodel = chatModel as ImageChatModel;
bodyTextBox.Visible = false;
bodyPanel.BackgroundImage = imagemodel.Image;
bodyPanel.BackColor = Color.GhostWhite;
bodyPanel.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Stretch;
break;
case "attachment":
var attachmentmodel = chatModel as AttachmentChatModel;
bodyPanel.BackColor = Color.OrangeRed;
bodyTextBox.BackColor = Color.OrangeRed;
bodyTextBox.Text = "Click to download: " + attachmentmodel.Filename;
bodyTextBox.Click += DownloadAttachment;
break;
default:
break;
}
}