Converting each user ID to a number and then adding them together will likely lead to collisions. As a simple example, think of the many ways you can add up to the number 5: 0+5, 1+4, 2+3.
This answer builds upon @NimnaPerera's answer.
Method 1: <uid>_<uid>
If your app doesn't plan on using large groups, you can make use of the <uid>_<uid> format. To make sure the two user IDs are ordered in the same way, you can sort them first and then combine them together using some delimiter.
A short way to achieve this is to use:
const docId = [uid1, uid2].sort().join("_");
If you wanted to have a three-way group chat, you'd just add the new userID in the array:
const docId = [uid1, uid2, uid3].sort().join("_");
You could also turn this into a method for readability:
function getChatIdForMembers(userIds) {
return userIds.sort().join("_");
}
Here's an example of it in action:
const uid1 = "apple";
const uid2 = "banana";
const uid3 = "carrot";
[uid1, uid2].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana"
[uid1, uid3].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_carrot"
[uid2, uid1].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana"
[uid2, uid3].sort().join("_"); // returns "banana_carrot"
[uid3, uid1].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_carrot"
[uid3, uid2].sort().join("_"); // returns "banana_carrot"
// chats to yourself are permitted
[uid1, uid1].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_apple"
[uid2, uid2].sort().join("_"); // returns "banana_banana"
[uid3, uid3].sort().join("_"); // returns "carrot_carrot"
// three way chat
[uid1, uid2, uid3].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
[uid1, uid3, uid2].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
[uid2, uid1, uid3].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
[uid2, uid3, uid1].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
[uid3, uid1, uid2].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
[uid3, uid2, uid1].sort().join("_"); // returns "apple_banana_carrot"
Method 2: Member list properties
If you intend on supporting group chats, you should use automatic document IDs (see CollectionReference#add()) and store a list of chat members as one of it's fields as introduced in @NimnaPerera's answer for better use of queries.
I recommend two fields:
"members" - an array containing each chat member's ID. This allows you to query the /chats collection for chats that contain the given user."membersAsString" - a string, built from sorting "members" and joining them using "_". This allows you to query the /chats collection for chats that contain the exact list of members.
"chats/{chatId}": {
"members": string[], // list of users in this chat
"membersAsString": string, // sorted list of users in this chat, delimited using "_"
/* ... */
}
To find all chats that I am a part of:
const myUserId = firebase.auth().currentUser.uid;
const myChatsQuery = firebase.firestore()
.collection("chats")
.where("members", "array-contains", myUserId);
myChatsQuery.onSnapshot(querySnapshot => {
// do something with list of chat documents
});
To find all three-way chats between Apple, Banana and I:
const myUserId = firebase.auth().currentUser.uid;
const members = [myUserId, "banana", "apple"];
const membersAsString = members.sort().join("_");
const groupChatsQuery = firebase.firestore()
.collection("chats")
.where("membersAsString", "==", membersAsString);
groupChatsQuery.onSnapshot(querySnapshot => {
// do something with list of chat documents
// normally this would return 1 result, but you may get
// more than one result if a user gets added/removed a chat
});
A normal flow, would be to:
- Get a list of the relevant chats
- For each chat, get the most recent message
- Based on the most recent message, sort the chats in your UI
