WritableStream.getWriter()

The getWriter() method of the WritableStream interface returns a new instance of WritableStreamDefaultWriter and locks the stream to that instance. While the stream is locked, no other writer can be acquired until this one is released.

Syntax

var writer = writableStream.getWriter();

Parameters

None.

Return value

A WritableStreamDefaultWriter object instance.

Exceptions

TypeError

The stream you are trying to create a writer for is not a WritableStream.

Examples

The following example illustrates several features of this interface. It shows the creation of the WritableStream with a custom sink and an API-supplied queuing strategy. It then calls a function called sendMessage(), passing the newly created stream and a string. Inside this function it calls the stream's getWriter() method, which returns an instance of WritableStreamDefaultWriter. A forEach() call is used to write each chunk of the string to the stream. Finally, write() and close() return promises that are processed to deal with success or failure of chunks and streams.

const list = document.querySelector('ul');

function sendMessage(message, writableStream) {
  // defaultWriter is of type WritableStreamDefaultWriter
  const defaultWriter = writableStream.getWriter();
  const encoder = new TextEncoder();
  const encoded = encoder.encode(message, { stream: true });
  encoded.forEach((chunk) => {
    defaultWriter.ready
      .then(() => {
        return defaultWriter.write(chunk);
      })
      .then(() => {
        console.log("Chunk written to sink.");
      })
      .catch((err) => {
        console.log("Chunk error:", err);
      });
  });
  // Call ready again to ensure that all chunks are written
  //   before closing the writer.
  defaultWriter.ready
    .then(() => {
      defaultWriter.close();
    })
    .then(() => {
      console.log("All chunks written");
    })
    .catch((err) => {
      console.log("Stream error:", err);
    });
}

const decoder = new TextDecoder("utf-8");
const queuingStrategy = new CountQueuingStrategy({ highWaterMark: 1 });
let result = "";
const writableStream = new WritableStream({
  // Implement the sink
  write(chunk) {
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(2);
      var view = new Uint16Array(buffer);
      view[0] = chunk;
      var decoded = decoder.decode(view, { stream: true });
      var listItem = document.createElement('li');
      listItem.textContent = "Chunk decoded: " + decoded;
      list.appendChild(listItem);
      result += decoded;
      resolve();
    });
  },
  close() {
    var listItem = document.createElement('li');
    listItem.textContent = "[MESSAGE RECEIVED] " + result;
    list.appendChild(listItem);
  },
  abort(err) {
    console.log("Sink error:", err);
  }
}, queuingStrategy);

sendMessage("Hello, world.", writableStream);

You can find the full code in our Simple writer example.

Specifications

Browser compatibility