Multiple recipients problem

[spyjo]

Hello,

I have a problem with sending SMS to multiple recipients, I tried with separating with , or ; but only the first number listed is receiving the message in both cases.

Here is the code:

var options = {
  replaceLineBreaks: false,
  android: {
      intent: ''
  }
};

var success = function () { alert('sent !'); };
var error = function (e) { alert('error ! '+e); };
sms.send('010000000,020000000,030000000', 'my message', options, success, error);

I tried on Android 4.4 or Android 5.0
Is there something else I can try or is this a bug ?

Thank you

[dbaq]

hey @spyjo,

could you try to use an array instead please:

 var phones = ['01000000','02000000','03000000']; 

let me know if it works.

the string parameter should work though, I need to look into it.

[agarrharr]

Should it work as a string though? I see no reason to support that. It makes sense to me that it should either be a single number as a string, or an array of strings.

[spyjo]

I tried with an array but it's the same result, only the first number receive the message

I added a debug line in www/sms.js in send():

console.log('sms.send | phone = '+phone+' , typeof phone = '+typeof(phone)+' , type tostring = '+Object.prototype.toString.call(phone));

and the result is:

I/chromium(30156): [INFO:CONSOLE(23)] "sms.send | phone = 01000000, 02000000, 03000000 , typeof phone = object , type tostring = [object Array]"

so the array of phone numbers is ok on the javascript side before being sent to the java function

[dbaq]

@Aharris88, I don't think it makes sense to maintain that neither.

@spyjo, I can confirm the issue. I will look into it.

[dbaq]

the issue comes from here https://github.com/cordova-sms/cordova-sms-plugin/blob/master/src/android/Sms.java#L139

we need to iterate over the list of numbers and call http://developer.android.com/reference/android/telephony/SmsManager.html#sendTextMessage(java.lang.String, java.lang.String, java.lang.String, android.app.PendingIntent, android.app.PendingIntent) for each.
The tricky part here, is to execute the callback only when all the messages have been sent.

[dbaq]

That raises some questions about the plugin behavior and consistency.

if you use the plugin with intent = "INTENT" and phones = ['number1', 'number2'], it is sending only one group message (like iOS)

but if intent = "" and phones = ['number1', 'number2'], it would send 2 separate messages, so inconsistency here.

IMHO, we should clearly explain the difference between a group message and a simple message to several recipients. Also explain that group messages are not available within the current intent (unless if there is a solution that I don't know).

@Aharris88, thoughts?

[spyjo]

Ok thank you for looking into it :)
Tell me if you need me to do some tests

[agarrharr]

I think it should be consistent. So it could be that sending an array of numbers with or without intent, should send a group message. But if you send an array of numbers without intent, maybe you could set an option to send them individually.

[dbaq]

Sending a group message without intent is "impossible" (I haven't found anything online about it yet)

@spyjo, what is your use case here? Group message or n times the same message?

[spyjo]

I need to send the same message to a list of contacts, without showing the default sms app, and then display one confirmation that all messages are sent.
It's not necessarily a group message I think, I'm not sure

[spyjo]

To update this issue, for now I have fixed my problem with a "for" on each number to send messages, counting error and success, and detect when I received the last callback (total success+errors = total numbers) to display my popup "SMS are sent".

For your previous question, I can confirm I do not want to send a group message, but anyway if you need it in your plugin I think that in the android dev documentation the right function is sending an MMS with sendMultimediaMessage() which seems to allow multiple recipients in group.

[dbaq]

@spyjo that's definitely what you should you for now.

what we should do here:

• update the documentation to say that an array of phone numbers will send a group message (MMS) and that's not supported for INTENT='' on android
• add MMS support Adding Support for MMS #14 to send group messages

[dbaq]

Closing this one, it will be managed in #14

[shadabs22]

how to solve same issue in ios, only message is sent to first number only.
Plz....