Server polling with AngularJS

Solution 1:

You should be calling the tick function in the callback for query.

function dataCtrl($scope, $timeout, Data) {
    $scope.data = [];

    (function tick() {
        $scope.data = Data.query(function(){
            $timeout(tick, 1000);
        });
    })();
};

Solution 2:

More recent versions of angular have introduced $interval which works even better than $timeout for server polling.

var refreshData = function() {
    // Assign to scope within callback to avoid data flickering on screen
    Data.query({ someField: $scope.fieldValue }, function(dataElements){
        $scope.data = dataElements;
    });
};

var promise = $interval(refreshData, 1000);

// Cancel interval on page changes
$scope.$on('$destroy', function(){
    if (angular.isDefined(promise)) {
        $interval.cancel(promise);
        promise = undefined;
    }
});

Solution 3:

Here is my version using recursive polling. Which means it'll wait for the server response before initiating the next timeout. Also, when an error occur it'll continue polling but in a more relaxed manor and according to the duration of the error.

Demo is here

Written more about it in here

var app = angular.module('plunker', ['ngAnimate']);

app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope, $http, $timeout) {

    var loadTime = 1000, //Load the data every second
        errorCount = 0, //Counter for the server errors
        loadPromise; //Pointer to the promise created by the Angular $timout service

    var getData = function() {
        $http.get('http://httpbin.org/delay/1?now=' + Date.now())

        .then(function(res) {
             $scope.data = res.data.args;

              errorCount = 0;
              nextLoad();
        })

        .catch(function(res) {
             $scope.data = 'Server error';
             nextLoad(++errorCount * 2 * loadTime);
        });
    };

     var cancelNextLoad = function() {
         $timeout.cancel(loadPromise);
     };

    var nextLoad = function(mill) {
        mill = mill || loadTime;

        //Always make sure the last timeout is cleared before starting a new one
        cancelNextLoad();
        $timeout(getData, mill);
    };


    //Start polling the data from the server
    getData();


        //Always clear the timeout when the view is destroyed, otherwise it will   keep polling
        $scope.$on('$destroy', function() {
            cancelNextLoad();
        });

        $scope.data = 'Loading...';
   });