Group Types

Instant Messaging (IM) supports the following group types:

• A work group (Work) is like a WeChat group. After a work group is created, users can join the group only after being invited by group members. The invitation does not need to be accepted by the invitee or approved by the group owner. This group type is the same as private group (Private) in earlier versions.
• A public group (Public) is like a QQ group. After a public group is created, the group owner can designate group admins. To join the group, a user needs to search for the group ID and send a request, and the request needs to be approved by the group owner or an admin before the user can join the group.
• A meeting group (Meeting) allows users to join and leave freely and view historical messages sent before they join the group. Meeting groups are ideal for scenarios that integrate Tencent Real-Time Communication (TRTC), such as audio/video conferencing and online education. This group type is the same as chat room (ChatRoom) in earlier versions.
• An audio-video group (AVChatRoom) allows users to join and exit freely, supports an unlimited number of members, and does not store message history. Audio-video groups can be used with Cloud Streaming Services (CSS) to support on-screen comment chat scenarios.

The following table describes the features and limitations of each group type:

Feature	Work Group (Work)	Public Group (Public)	Meeting Group (Meeting)	Audio-Video Group (AVChatRoom)
Available member roles	Group owner and ordinary member	Group owner, group admin, and ordinary member	Group owner, group admin, and ordinary member	Group owner and ordinary member
Requesting to join a group	Not supported	Supported with group owner or group admin approval required	Supported with no approval required	Supported with no approval required
Joining group via invitation by a member	Supported	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported
Group owner quitting group	Supported	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported
Who can modify group profile	Any group member	Group owner and group admin	Group owner and group admin	Group owner
Who can kick group members out of group	Group owner	Group owner and group admin. Group admin can only remove ordinary group members.		Group members cannot be removed. The same effect can be achieved by muting members.
Who can mute members	Muting members is not supported	Group owner and group admin. Group admin can only mute ordinary group members.		Group owner
Unread count	Supported	Supported	Not supported	Not supported
Viewing message history earlier than user's entry time	Not supported	Not supported	Supported	Not supported
Retaining message history in the cloud	Trial Edition: 7 days Pro Edition: 7 days by default, up to 360 days via value-added service Flagship Edition: 30 days by default, up to 360 days via value-added service			Not supported
Number of groups	Trial Edition: up to 100 existing groups, and deleted groups do not count against the quota. Pro Edition or Flagship Edition: unlimited			Trial Edition: up to 10 existing groups, and deleted groups do not count against the quota. Pro Edition: up to 50 existing groups, and deleted groups do not count against the quota. You can upgrade to unlimited number of audio-video groups by purchasing the value-added service. Flagship Edition: unlimited
Number of group members	Trial Edition: 20 per group Pro Edition: 200 per group by default, can be increased to 2,000 per group via value-added service Flagship Edition: 2,000 per group, can be increased to 6,000 per group via value-added service			Unlimited number of group members

Note：

• Group types are upgraded in the new SDK version and they are work group (Work), public group (Public), meeting group (Meeting), and audio-video group (AVChatRoom). Private group (Private) and chat room (ChatRoom) in earlier versions (which have Public, Private, ChatRoom, and AVChatRoom groups) correspond to work group (Work) and meeting group (Meeting) in the new version respectively.
• In the Pro Edition or Flagship Edition SDKAppID, the maximum net increase in group count per day is 10,000 for all group types. Free peak group count is 100,000 per month, and you will need to pay for usage not covered by the free quota.

Group Management

Creating a group

Simple API

You can quickly create a group by calling the createGroup API and specifying groupType, groupID, and groupName.

Advanced API

If you want to initialize group information (for example, group introduction, group profile photo, and initial group members) when creating a group, call the createGroup API in the V2TIMGroupManager management class. The V2TIMGroupManager management class can be obtain via V2TIMManager.getGroupManager.

// Sample code: create a work group using the advanced createGroup API 
V2TIMGroupInfo v2TIMGroupInfo = new V2TIMGroupInfo();
v2TIMGroupInfo.setGroupName("testWork");
v2TIMGroupInfo.setGroupType("Work");
v2TIMGroupInfo.setIntroduction("this is a test Work group");
List<V2TIMCreateGroupMemberInfo> memberInfoList = new ArrayList<>();
V2TIMCreateGroupMemberInfo memberA = new V2TIMCreateGroupMemberInfo();
memberA.setUserID("vinson");
V2TIMCreateGroupMemberInfo memberB = new V2TIMCreateGroupMemberInfo();
memberB.setUserID("park");
memberInfoList.add(memberA);
memberInfoList.add(memberB);
V2TIMManager.getGroupManager().createGroup(
  v2TIMGroupInfo, memberInfoList, new V2TIMValueCallback<String>() {
@Override
public void onError(int code, String desc) {
// Failed to create
}
@Override
public void onSuccess(String groupID) {
// Room created successfully
}
});

• The value of groupType is a string and can be one of “Work”, “Public”, “Meeting”, and “AVChatRoom”. To learn about the differences among group types, see Group Types.
• groupID specifies the group ID, which uniquely identifies a group. Do not create groups with the same groupID in a SDKAppID. If you set groupID to null, you will be assigned a group ID by default.
• groupName specifies the group description, which has a maximum length of 30 bytes.

Joining a group

The processes for joining groups of different types are described as follows:

Type	Work Group (Work)	Public Group (Public)	Meeting Group (Meeting)	Audio-Video Group (AVChatRoom)
How to join group	Must be invited by group member	User joins group after request is approved by group owner or admin	User can join freely	User can join freely

Scenario 1: users can join and quit the group freely

Meeting groups (Meeting) and audio-video groups (AVChatRoom) can be used for interactive scenarios where users join and exit groups frequently, such as online conferencing and show live streaming. The group joining procedure is therefore the simplest.

After a user successfully joins a group by calling joinGroup, all group members (including the joined user) receive the onMemberEnter callback.

Scenario 2: users must be invited to join the group

Resembling WeChat and WeCom groups, work groups (Work) are suitable for communication in work environments. The interaction pattern is designed to disable proactive group joining and only allows users to be invited to join the group by group members.

A group member calls inviteUserToGroup to invite a user to group, then all group members (including the inviter) receive the onMemberInvited callback.

Scenario 3: users join the group after requests are approved

Public groups (Public) are similar to the interest groups and tribes in QQ. Any user can request to join the group, but will not become a member of the group until the request is approved by the group owner or admin. While approval is required by default, the group owner or admin can call the setGroupInfo API to set the group joining option (V2TIMGroupAddOpt) to forbid anyone to join which is tighter, or to disable the approval process, which is more flexible.

• V2TIM_GROUP_ADD_FORBID: forbid anyone to join the group
• V2TIM_GROUP_ADD_AUTH: (default) group owner or admin approval is required for group joining.
• V2TIM_GROUP_ADD_ANY: disable the approval process to allow any user to join the group.

The following diagram illustrates the process of group joining that requires approval:

1. The user sends a request to join the group
   The user calls joinGroup to request to join the group.
2. The group owner or admin processes the group joining request
   After receiving the onReceiveJoinApplication callback, the group owner or admin calls the getGroupApplicationList API to get the list of group joining requests, and accepts or rejects a request with acceptGroupApplication or refuseGroupApplication.
3. The user receives the result
   The user receives the onApplicationProcessed callback in V2TIMGroupListener. If isAgreeJoin is true, the request is accepted. Otherwise, the request is rejected. If the request is accepted, all members (including the requester) receive the onMemberEnter callback.

Quitting a group

Call quitGroup to quit a group. The user who quits the group then receives the onQuitFromGroup callback and other group members receive the onMemberLeave callback.

Note：

For a public group (Public), meeting group (Meeting), or audio-video group (AVChatRoom), the group owner is not allowed to quit the group but can delete the group.

Deleting groups

Call dismissGroup to delete a group. Then all group members receive the onGroupDismissed callback.

Note：

• For a public group (Public), meeting group (Meeting), or audio-video group (AVChatRoom), the group owner can delete the group at any time.
• For a work group (Work), the group owner does not have the permission to delete the group. To delete the group, you must have your service server call the RESTful API.

Getting the list of joined groups

Call getJoinedGroupList to get a list of work groups (Work), public groups (Public), and meeting groups (Meeting) the current user has joined. Audio-video groups (AVChatRoom) will not be included in this list.

Group Profiles and Group Settings

Getting group profiles

Call getGroupsInfo to get the group profile of one or more groups at a time. To get the group profiles of multiple groups by a single call, pass in multiple groupID at a time.

Modifying group profiles

Call setGroupInfo to modify the group profile. When the modification is complete, all group members receive the onGroupInfoChanged callback.

Note：

• For work groups (Work), all group members can modify the basic group profile.
• For public groups (Public) and meeting groups (Meeting), only the group owner and admin can modify the group profile.
• For audio-video groups (AVChatRoom), only the group owner can modify the group profile.

// Sample code: modify group profile
V2TIMGroupInfo v2TIMGroupInfo = new V2TIMGroupInfo();
v2TIMGroupInfo.setGroupID("the ID of the group for which you want to modify the group profile");
v2TIMGroupInfo.setFaceUrl("http://xxxx");
V2TIMManager.getGroupManager().setGroupInfo(v2TIMGroupInfo, new V2TIMCallback() {
@Override
public void onError(int code, String desc) {
    // Failed
}
@Override
public void onSuccess() {
    // Successful
}
});

Setting the group message receiving option

Any group member can call the setGroupReceiveMessageOpt API to modify the group message receiving option. Available values are as follows:

• V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_RECEIVE_MESSAGE: messages will be received when the user is online and push notifications will be received when the user is offline.
• V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_NOT_RECEIVE_MESSAGE: no group messages will be received.
• V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_RECEIVE_NOT_NOTIFY_MESSAGE: messages will be received when the user is online and no push notification will be received when the user is offline.

The group message receiving option allows you to mute group messages:

• No group message will be received
  With the group message receiving option set to V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_NOT_RECEIVE_MESSAGE, no group message will be received, and the conversation list will not be updated.
• Group messages will be received but the user will not be notified. A badge without the unread count will be displayed on the conversation list interface

  Note：

  This mode requires the unread count feature and therefore it applies only to work groups (Work) and public groups (Public).

  With the group message receiving option set to V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_RECEIVE_NOT_NOTIFY_MESSAGE, when new group messages are received and the conversation list needs to be updated, you can get the unread count through getUnreadCount. Use getRecvOpt to verify that a red dot instead of the unread count is displayed when the group message receiving option is V2TIMGroupInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_RECEIVE_NOT_NOTIFY_MESSAGE.

Group Attributes (Custom Group Fields)

New custom group fields, also called group attributes, are designed based on API 2.0. They have the following features:

1. You can CRUD group attributes in the client instead of console.
2. You can configure up to 16 group attributes. The size of each group attribute can be up to 4 KB, and the total size of all group attributes can be up to 16 KB.
3. Only audio-video groups (AVChatRoom) support group attributes.
4. The initGroupAttributes, setGroupAttributes, and deleteGroupAttributes APIs each can be called by the SDK for up to 10 times per 5 seconds, and the 8511 error code will be called back if the limit is exceeded. The APIs each can be called by the backend for up to 5 times per second, and the 10049 error code will be called back if the limit is exceeded.
5. The getGroupAttributes API can be called by the SDK for up to 20 times per 5 seconds.

With group attributes, you can manage the seats of audio chat rooms. When a user mics on, you can set a group attribute to manage the information of the user. When the user mics off, you can delete the group attribute. Other members can get the list of group attributes to display the seat list.

Initializing group attributes

Call the initGroupAttributes API to initialize group attributes. If the group has existing group attributes, they will be deleted first.

Setting group attributes

Call the setGroupAttributes API to set group attributes. If the group attributes to set do not exist, they will be automatically added.

Deleting group attributes

Call the deleteGroupAttributes API to delete specified group attributes. If you set the keys parameter to null, all group attributes will be deleted.

Getting group attributes

Call the getGroupAttributes API to get specified group attributes. If you set the keys parameter to null, all group attributes will be returned.

Updating group attributes

If any group attribute is updated, all group attribute fields will be called back via onGroupAttributeChanged.

Group Member Management

Getting the group member list

Call getGroupMemberList to get the list of group members of a given group. The list contains profile information about individual members, such as user ID (userID), group name card (nameCard), profile photo (faceUrl), nickname (nickName), and time of joining group (joinTime).
As a group might have a large number of members (for example, 5,000+), this API supports two advanced attributes: filter and nextSeq.

Filters

When calling the getGroupMemberList API, you can specify filter to pull the information of certain roles.

Filter	Description
V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_ALL	Pull the information list of all group members
V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_OWNER	Pull the information list of the group owner
V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_ADMIN	Pull the information list of the group admin
V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_COMMON	Pull the information list of ordinary group members

// Sample code: pull the profile of the group owner using the filter parameter
int role = V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_OWNER;
V2TIMManager.getGroupManager().getGroupMemberList("testGroup", role, 0, 
  new V2TIMValueCallback<V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult>() {
@Override
public void onError(int code, String desc) {
// Message pulling failed
}
@Override
public void onSuccess(V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult v2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult) {
// Pulled successfully
}
});

Pulling paginated results with nextSeq

In many cases, it makes more sense for the user interface to display the first page of the group member list instead of the complete list. More group members can be pulled when the user clicks Next Page or pull the list to refresh. For this scenario, you can apply the method of pulling paginated results.

The getGroupMemberList API returns a maximum of 50 members at a time. You can use the pagination flag nextSeq to pull paginated group member list. In the first attempt to pull the group member list, enter 0 for nextSeq. When the first pull succeeds, getGroupMemberList’s callback result V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult contains the getNextSeq() API.

• If getNextSeq() returns 0, the complete group member list has been pulled.
• If getNextSeq() returns a value greater than 0, there remains group member information to be pulled. You can then decide whether to make another call to pull group member information based on the user’s action on the UI. In the second pull, you need to pass the getNextSeq() in the V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult returned from the previous pull as parameter to the getGroupMemberList API.

// Sample code: pull the paginated group member list using nextSeq
{
...
long nextSeq = 0;
getGroupMemberList(nextSeq);
...
}
public void getGroupMemberList(long nextSeq) {
int filterRole = V2TIMGroupMemberFullInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_MEMBER_FILTER_ALL;
V2TIMManager.getGroupManager().getGroupMemberList("testGroup", filterRole, nextSeq, 
   new V2TIMValueCallback<V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult>() {
@Override
public void onError(int code, String desc) {
    // Message pulling failed
}
    @Override
public void onSuccess(V2TIMGroupMemberInfoResult groupMemberInfoResult) {
    if (groupMemberInfoResult.getNextSeq() != 0) {
        // Make another pull
        getGroupMemberList(groupMemberInfoResult.getNextSeq());
        ...
    } else {
        // Pull ends
    }
}
});
}

Getting group member profiles

Call getGroupMembersInfo to get the profile of group members in batches. You can pass in multiple userID at a time to improve network transmission efficiency.

Modifying group member profiles

The group owner or admin can call the setGroupMemberInfo API to modify the group-related information of members, including group name card (nameCard), group member role (role), muting duration (muteUntil), and custom fields.

Muting group members

The group owner or admin can mute a group member and set muting duration (in seconds) via muteGroupMember. Muting information is stored in the muteUtil attribute field of the group member. After the group member is muted, all group members (including the muted member) receive the onMemberInfoChanged event callback.
The group owner or admin can mute the entire group via the setGroupInfo API by setting allMuted to true. There is no time limit for muting group. The group can be unmuted through setAllMuted(false) in group profile.

Removing group members

The group owner or admin can call the kickGroupMember API to remove a group member. As an audio-video group (AVChatRoom) can have unlimited members, it does not support the API. You can use muteGroupMember to achieve the same effect instead.
After the member is removed, all group members (including the kicked member) receive the onMemberKicked callback.

Changing group member roles

The group owner can call setGroupMemberRole to change the role of a member of public group (Public) or meeting group (Meeting). Roles available for changing are ordinary member and group admin.

• After a member is set as group admin, all group members (including the new admin) receive the onGrantAdministrator callback.
• After the admin role is removed for a member，all group members (including the member with admin role removed) receive the onRevokeAdministrator callback.

Transferring a group

The group owner can call transferGroupOwner to transfer the ownership of group to other group members.
After the group ownership is transferred, all group members receive the onGroupInfoChanged callback, where the type of V2TIMGroupChangeInfo is V2TIMGroupChangeInfo.V2TIM_GROUP_INFO_CHANGE_TYPE_OWNER and the value is the UserID of the new group owner.

FAQs

1. Can an audio-video group (AVChatRoom) continue to receive messages after it was disconnected and then reconnected?

Yes, but since an audio-video group (AVChatRoom) does not support storing message history in the cloud, it cannot pull the messages that were sent when it was disconnected.

2. Why doesn’t the group receive notifications when a user joins or quits the group?

Verify the group type:

• Meeting group (Meeting) does not support member change notifications.
• Audio-video group (AVChatRoom) can receive up to 40 messages per second, therefore it prioritizes the receiving and sending of high-priority messages and discards messages with the lowest priority first once the frequency limit is exceeded.

3. Why does the unread count of meeting group (Meeting) remain at 0?

Meeting group (Meeting) and audio-video group (AVChatRoom) are designed for conference and live streaming scenarios respectively, and they do not support the unread count feature.