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Finding definitive information on ORTC seems difficult, and finding examples even more so. I need to send strings between iframes and was looking into using WebRTC but in order to support Windows Edge I have been looking into ORTC. I wanted to see if anyone had successfully used some sort of data channel with ORTC in Windows Edge. I thought ORTC was specifically for Edge but it seems to define a data channel but Edge does not implement it.

The information I have come across leads me to believe that ORTC cannot do data channels, despite the fact it is listed in their API.

RTCDataChannel defined in the API, section 11.3 http://publications.ortc.org/2016/20161202/)

The RTCDataChannel interface represents a bi-directional data channel between two peers.

But at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/dev-guide/realtime-communication/object-rtc-api I found:

Since Microsoft Edge does not implement the data channel, the RTCDataChannel and RTCSctpTransport objects are not supported.

and

Microsoft Edge currently does not support any of the DataChannel functionality currently defined in the ORTC spec.

Please offer additional resources I can research in order to have a definitive answer. Also helpful would be any resources stating whether Windows Edge will in the future be supporting this.

Cœur
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spacebread
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1 Answers1

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According to their roadmap, ORTC Data channels are "Under consideration".

Roadmap Priority: Low — We are still evaluating this technology. There may be significant spec stabilization, foundational work, or additional community input required before we can begin development.

But the real question is:
Why do you need webRTC in the first place?

You said that you need to send strings between iframes.
Are the iframes loaded on the same page?

If the answer is yes, you don't need webRTC at all. Take a look at the postMessage API instead.

Etienne Martin
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    We did end up using the [HTML Message Channel](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/MessageChannel) which includes the postMessage API. Another team had put together a POC they thought could use the RTC technology and I think they got excited about all the features it could bring to the table. But really in this instance, the HTML MessageChannel is a much better solution. Glad to see we came to the same answer! – spacebread May 16 '17 at 20:43