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Chat SDKs Android v4
Chat SDKs Android
Chat SDKs
Android
Version 4

Create a message thread

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When a user replies to a message in a channel, it creates a message thread, which refers to a collection of messages consisting of a parent message and its replies. Message threading lets users ask questions, give feedback, or add context to a specific message without disrupting the flow of conversation. It can have the following elements.

  • A message can have a thread of replies.

  • A message that has a thread of replies is a parent message.

  • A parent message and its threaded replies are collectively called a message thread.

  • Every message within a thread, whether it's parent or reply, is a threaded message.

  • A message that doesn't have any replies is an unthreaded message.

Message threading has the following limitations.

  • Only 1-depth threads are supported, meaning you can only add reply messages to non-reply messages. You can't add a reply to a reply message.

  • Message threading is limited to text and file messages. You can't send admin messages as replies or add replies to admin messages.

You can reply to a message in a channel through the sendUserMessage() or sendFileMessage() method. To do so, you should create a UserMessageCreateParams or a FileMessageCreateParams object and then specify the parentMessageId property of the object. Sending reply messages works the same way as sending regular messages to a channel except that replies have an additional parentMessageId property.


Reply with a text message

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When replying to a message through the sendUserMessage() method, you should specify and pass a UserMessageCreateParams object to the method as a parameter. The UserMessageCreateParams class is derived from the BaseMessageCreateParams class and can access all the methods and properties of BaseMessageCreateParams.

// Create a UserMessageCreateParams object.
val params = UserMessageCreateParams().apply {
    parentMessageId = PARENT_MESSAGE_ID
    message = MESSAGE_TEXT
    replyToChannel = false
}

// Pass the params to the parameter of the sendUserMessage() method.
channel.sendUserMessage(params) { message, e ->
    if (e != null) {
        // Handle error.
    }

    // A reply to a specific message is successfully sent as a text message.
}

UserMessageCreateParams

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To see the comprehensive list of all available methods and properties, see UserMessageCreateParams.

Property nameTypeDescription

parentMessageId

Long

Specifies the unique ID of a parent message which has a thread of replies. If the message sent through the sendUserMessage() method is a parent message, the value of this property is set to 0. If the message is a reply to a parent message, the value is the message ID of the parent message.

message

String

Specifies the message to send.

replyToChannel

Boolean

Determines whether to send the message to the channel as well. To use this property, the value of parentMessageId must be specified. (Default: false)


Reply with a file message

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When replying with a file message through the sendFileMessage() method, you should specify and pass a FileMessageCreateParams object to the method as a parameter. The FileMessageCreateParams class is derived from the BaseMessageCreateParams class and can access all the methods and properties of BaseMessageCreateParams.

// Create a FileMessageCreateParams object.
val params = FileMessageCreateParams().apply {
    parentMessageId = PARENT_MESSAGE_ID
    file = FILE
    fileName = FILE_NAME
    mimeType = MIME_TYPE
    fileSize = FILE_SIZE
}

// Pass the params to the parameter in the sendFileMessage() method.
channel.sendFileMessage(params) { message, e ->
    if (e != null) {
        // Handle error.
    }

    // A reply to a specific message is successfully sent as a file message.
}

FileMessageCreateParams

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To see the comprehensive list of all available methods and properties, see FileMessageCreateParams.

Property nameTypeDescription

parentMessageId

Long

Specifies the unique ID of a parent message which has a thread of replies. If the message sent through the sendFileMessage() method is a parent message, the value of this property is set to 0. If the message is a reply to a parent message, the value is the message ID of the parent message.

file

File

Specifies the binary file data. When the value of file is specified, the value of fileUrl can't be specified. (Default: null)

fileName

String

Specifies the file name. (Default: null)

mimeType

String

Specifies the file MIME type. (Default: null)

fileSize

Int

Specifies the file size. (Default: null)

When replying with more than two images or videos through the sendMultipleFilesMessage() method, you should specify and pass a MultipleFilesMessageCreateParams object to the method as a parameter. Just like FileMessageCreateParams, the MultipleFilesMessageCreateParams class is derived from the BaseMessageCreateParams class and can access all the methods and properties of BaseMessageCreateParams. To learn more about how to send a multiple file message, see the Send a message page.

// Create a MultipleFilesMessageCreateParams object.
val params = MultipleFilesMessageCreateParams(uploadableFileInfoList).apply {
    parentMessageId = PARENT_MESSAGE_ID
}

// Pass the params to the parameter in the sendMultipleFilesMessage() method.
channel.sendMultipleFilesMessage(params) { message, e ->
    if (e != null) {
        // Handle error.
    }

    // A reply to a specific message is successfully sent as a multiple file message.
}

Event handler for message threading

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When a reply is created in a channel, the onMessageReceived() and onThreadInfoUpdated() methods of the channel event handler in client apps are called. When a reply is deleted from a thread, the onThreadInfoUpdated() event handler is invoked. In both cases, onThreadInfoUpdated() takes a ThreadInfoUpdateEvent object as an argument that has the latest information about the thread. Apply the object to the parent message object through the parentMessage.applyThreadInfoUpdateEvent() method.

override fun onThreadInfoUpdated(channel: BaseChannel, threadInfoUpdateEvent: ThreadInfoUpdateEvent) {
    // Look for a message that has threadInfoUpdateEvent.targetMessageId.
    // Apply the event to the message.
    parentMessage.applyThreadInfoUpdateEvent(threadInfoUpdateEvent)
}

List of parameters

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Parameter nameTypeDescription

channel

BaseChannel

Specifies the channel that has the message thread.

threadInfoUpdateEvent

ThreadInfoUpdateEvent

Specifies a ThreadInfoUpdateEvent object that has the latest information about the thread.