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Sending data over NetworkStream using multiple threads

I'm trying to build a command line chat room where the server is handling the connections and repeating input from one client back to all the other clients.
Currently the server is able to take in input from multiple clients, but can only send information back to those clients individually. I think my problem is that each connection is being handled on an individual thread. How would I allow for the threads to communicate with each other or be able to send data to each thread?
Server code:
namespace ConsoleApplication
{
class TcpHelper
{
private static object _lock = new object();
private static List<Task> _connections = new List<Task>();
private static TcpListener listener { get; set; }
private static bool accept { get; set; } = false;
private static Task StartListener()
{
return Task.Run(async () =>
{
IPAddress address = IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1");
int port = 5678;
listener = new TcpListener(address, port);
listener.Start();
Console.WriteLine($"Server started. Listening to TCP clients at 127.0.0.1:{port}");
while (true)
{
var tcpClient = await listener.AcceptTcpClientAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Client has connected");
var task = StartHandleConnectionAsync(tcpClient);
if (task.IsFaulted)
task.Wait();
}
});
}
// Register and handle the connection
private static async Task StartHandleConnectionAsync(TcpClient tcpClient)
{
// start the new connection task
var connectionTask = HandleConnectionAsync(tcpClient);
// add it to the list of pending task
lock (_lock)
_connections.Add(connectionTask);
// catch all errors of HandleConnectionAsync
try
{
await connectionTask;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// log the error
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
finally
{
// remove pending task
lock (_lock)
_connections.Remove(connectionTask);
}
}
private static async Task HandleConnectionAsync(TcpClient client)
{
await Task.Yield();
{
using (var networkStream = client.GetStream())
{
if (client != null)
{
Console.WriteLine("Client connected. Waiting for data.");
StreamReader streamreader = new StreamReader(networkStream);
StreamWriter streamwriter = new StreamWriter(networkStream);
string clientmessage = "";
string servermessage = "";
while (clientmessage != null && clientmessage != "quit")
{
clientmessage = await streamreader.ReadLineAsync();
Console.WriteLine(clientmessage);
servermessage = clientmessage;
streamwriter.WriteLine(servermessage);
streamwriter.Flush();
}
Console.WriteLine("Closing connection.");
networkStream.Dispose();
}
}
}
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Start the server
Console.WriteLine("Hit Ctrl-C to close the chat server");
TcpHelper.StartListener().Wait();
}
}
}
Client Code:
namespace Client2
{
public class Program
{
private static void clientConnect()
{
TcpClient socketForServer = new TcpClient();
bool status = true;
string userName;
Console.Write("Input Username: ");
userName = Console.ReadLine();
try
{
IPAddress address = IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1");
socketForServer.ConnectAsync(address, 5678);
Console.WriteLine("Connected to Server");
}
catch
{
Console.WriteLine("Failed to Connect to server{0}:999", "localhost");
return;
}
NetworkStream networkStream = socketForServer.GetStream();
StreamReader streamreader = new StreamReader(networkStream);
StreamWriter streamwriter = new StreamWriter(networkStream);
try
{
string clientmessage = "";
string servermessage = "";
while (status)
{
Console.Write(userName + ": ");
clientmessage = Console.ReadLine();
if ((clientmessage == "quit") || (clientmessage == "QUIT"))
{
status = false;
streamwriter.WriteLine("quit");
streamwriter.WriteLine(userName + " has left the conversation");
streamwriter.Flush();
}
if ((clientmessage != "quit") && (clientmessage != "quit"))
{
streamwriter.WriteLine(userName + ": " + clientmessage);
streamwriter.Flush();
servermessage = streamreader.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine("Server:" + servermessage);
}
}
}
catch
{
Console.WriteLine("Exception reading from the server");
}
streamreader.Dispose();
networkStream.Dispose();
streamwriter.Dispose();
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
clientConnect();
}
}
}

The main thing wrong in your code is that you make no attempt to send data received from one client to the other connected clients. You have the _connections list in your server, but the only thing stored in the list are the Task objects for the connections, and you don't even do anything with those.
Instead, you should maintain a list of the connections themselves, so that when you received a message from one client, you can then retransmit that message to the other clients.
At a minimum, this should be a List<TcpClient>, but because you are using StreamReader and StreamWriter, you'll want to initialize and store those objects in the list as well. In addition, you should include a client identifier. One obvious choice for this would be the name of the client (i.e. what the user enters as their name), but your example doesn't provide any mechanism in the chat protocol to transmit that identification as part of the connection initialization, so in my example (below) I just use a simple integer value.
There are some other irregularities in the code you posted, such as:
Starting a task in a brand new thread, just to execute a few statements that get you to the point of initiating an asynchronous operation. In my example, I simply omit the Task.Run() part of the code, as it's not needed.
Checking the connection-specific task when it's returned for IsFaulted. Since it's unlikely any I/O will actually have occurred by the time this Task object is returned, this logic has very little use. The call to Wait() will throw an exception, which will propagate to the main thread's Wait() call, terminating the server. But you don't terminate the server in the event of any other error, so it's not clear why you'd want to do that here.
There's a spurious call to Task.Yield(). I have no idea what you're trying to accomplish there, but whatever it is, that statement isn't useful. I simply removed it.
In your client code, you only attempt to receive data from the server when you've sent data. This is very wrong; you want clients to be responsive and receive data as soon as it's sent to them. In my version, I included a simple little anonymous method that is called immediately to start a separate message-receiving loop that will execute asynchronously and concurrently with the main user input loop.
Also in the client code, you were sending the "…has left…" message after the "quit" message that would cause the server to close the connection. This means that the server would never actually receive the "…has left…" message. I reversed the order of the messages so that "quit" is always the last thing the client ever sends.
My version looks like this:
Server:
class TcpHelper
{
class ClientData : IDisposable
{
private static int _nextId;
public int ID { get; private set; }
public TcpClient Client { get; private set; }
public TextReader Reader { get; private set; }
public TextWriter Writer { get; private set; }
public ClientData(TcpClient client)
{
ID = _nextId++;
Client = client;
NetworkStream stream = client.GetStream();
Reader = new StreamReader(stream);
Writer = new StreamWriter(stream);
}
public void Dispose()
{
Writer.Close();
Reader.Close();
Client.Close();
}
}
private static readonly object _lock = new object();
private static readonly List<ClientData> _connections = new List<ClientData>();
private static TcpListener listener { get; set; }
private static bool accept { get; set; }
public static async Task StartListener()
{
IPAddress address = IPAddress.Any;
int port = 5678;
listener = new TcpListener(address, port);
listener.Start();
Console.WriteLine("Server started. Listening to TCP clients on port {0}", port);
while (true)
{
var tcpClient = await listener.AcceptTcpClientAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Client has connected");
var task = StartHandleConnectionAsync(tcpClient);
if (task.IsFaulted)
task.Wait();
}
}
// Register and handle the connection
private static async Task StartHandleConnectionAsync(TcpClient tcpClient)
{
ClientData clientData = new ClientData(tcpClient);
lock (_lock) _connections.Add(clientData);
// catch all errors of HandleConnectionAsync
try
{
await HandleConnectionAsync(clientData);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// log the error
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
finally
{
lock (_lock) _connections.Remove(clientData);
clientData.Dispose();
}
}
private static async Task HandleConnectionAsync(ClientData clientData)
{
Console.WriteLine("Client connected. Waiting for data.");
string clientmessage;
while ((clientmessage = await clientData.Reader.ReadLineAsync()) != null && clientmessage != "quit")
{
string message = "From " + clientData.ID + ": " + clientmessage;
Console.WriteLine(message);
lock (_lock)
{
// Locking the entire operation ensures that a) none of the client objects
// are disposed before we can write to them, and b) all of the chat messages
// are received in the same order by all clients.
foreach (ClientData recipient in _connections.Where(r => r.ID != clientData.ID))
{
recipient.Writer.WriteLine(message);
recipient.Writer.Flush();
}
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Closing connection.");
}
}
Client:
class Program
{
private const int _kport = 5678;
private static async Task clientConnect()
{
IPAddress address = IPAddress.Loopback;
TcpClient socketForServer = new TcpClient();
string userName;
Console.Write("Input Username: ");
userName = Console.ReadLine();
try
{
await socketForServer.ConnectAsync(address, _kport);
Console.WriteLine("Connected to Server");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Failed to Connect to server {0}:{1}", address, _kport);
return;
}
using (NetworkStream networkStream = socketForServer.GetStream())
{
var readTask = ((Func<Task>)(async () =>
{
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(networkStream))
{
string receivedText;
while ((receivedText = await reader.ReadLineAsync()) != null)
{
Console.WriteLine("Server:" + receivedText);
}
}
}))();
using (StreamWriter streamwriter = new StreamWriter(networkStream))
{
try
{
while (true)
{
Console.Write(userName + ": ");
string clientmessage = Console.ReadLine();
if ((clientmessage == "quit") || (clientmessage == "QUIT"))
{
streamwriter.WriteLine(userName + " has left the conversation");
streamwriter.WriteLine("quit");
streamwriter.Flush();
break;
}
else
{
streamwriter.WriteLine(userName + ": " + clientmessage);
streamwriter.Flush();
}
}
await readTask;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Exception writing to server: " + e);
throw;
}
}
}
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
clientConnect().Wait();
}
}
There is still a lot you'll need to work on. You'll probably want to implement proper initialization of chat user names on the server side. At the very least, for real-world code you'd want to do more error checking, and make sure the client ID is generated reliably (if you only want positive ID values, you can't have more than 2^31-1 connections before it rolls back over to 0).
I also made some other minor changes that weren't strictly necessary, such as using the IPAddress.Any and IPAddress.Loopback values instead of parsing strings, and just generally simplifying and cleaning up the code here and there. Also, I'm not using a C# 6 compiler at the moment, so I changed the code where you were using C# 6 features so that it would compile using C# 5 instead.
To do a full-blown chat server, you still have your work cut out for you. But I hope that the above gets you back on the right track.

Identify an incoming file through NetworkStream C#

I am making a client/server chat application using TcpClient and TcpListener classes. It should be able to transfer text messages and files between client and server. I am able to handle text messages by making a thread for each separate client and then making a secondary thread for receiving incoming message making primary thread reserved for sending messages. Now if I would be able to identify that incoming message is a file and not a text message then I know how to handle it using NetworkStream and FileStream. But I am unable to do so. Code to handle incoming file is here. Also please tell me if there are any limitations using NetworkStream for FTP.

Answer: Build your own protocol.
By building your own good communication protocol you can control all data/message flow.
For example;
1-User wants to send a file to server
2-Client sends a command to inform the server that it will send a file.Like ;
#File#filename;filesize;
3-Server sends a ready message back to client #FileAccepted#
4-Server begins to listen buffer packages and when it receives writes them to an stream.
5-When client receives {#FileAccepted#} command begins to send packages to server. Be sure their buffer sizes are same.
6-When all bytes complete client sends #FileEnd# in diffrent buffer (i use 256 for commands and 1024 for file transfer)
7-When server receives 256 byte command looks if its the #FileEnd# command and is true flushes file stream and closes connection.
I recomment you use Async
Listen for connections on server like this
server.BeginAcceptTcpClient(ServerAcceptEnd,server);
And when a connection is present
public void ServerAcceptEnd(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(!ar.IsCompleted)
{
//Something went wrong
AcceptServer();
return;
}
try
{
var cli = servertc.EndAcceptTcpClient(ar);
if(cli.Connected)
{
//Get the first Command
cli.GetStream().BeginRead(serverredbuffer,0,serverredbuffer.Length,ServerFirstReadEnd,cli);
}
else
{
//Connection was not successfull log and wait
AcceptServer();
}
}
catch(Exceiption ex)
{
//An error occur log and wait for new connections
AcceptServer();
}
}
When first command received ;
public void ServerFirstReadEnd(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(!ar.IsCompleted)
{
//Something went wrong
AcceptServer();
return;
}
try
{
TcpClient cli = (TcpClient)ar.AsyncState;
int read = cli.GetStream().EndRead(ar);
string req = toString(serverredbuffer);
if(req.StartsWith("#File#"))
{
//File Received
string filename = req.Replace("#File#","");
string[] spp = filename.Split(';');
filename = spp[0];
serverreceivetotalbytes = Convert.ToInt64(spp[1]);
cli.GetStream().Write(toByte("#FileAccepted#",256),0,256);
cli.GetStream().BeginRead(serverreceivebuffer,0,1024,ServerReadFileCyle,cli)
}
else
{
//Message Received
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
//An error occur log and wait for new connections
AcceptServer();
}
}
File receive method ;
public void ServerReadFileCyle(IAsyncResult ar)
{
TcpClient cli = (TcpClient)ar.AsyncState;
if(ar.IsCompleted)
{
int read = cli.GetStream().EndRead(ar);
if(read == 256)
{
try
{
string res = toString(serverreceivebuffer);
if(res == "#FileEnd#")
read = 0;
}
catch
{
}
}
if(read > 0)
{
serverfile.Write(serverreceivebuffer,0,read);
cli.GetStream().BeginRead(serverreceivebuffer,0,1024,ServerReadFileCyle,cli);
}
else
{
serverfile.Flush();
serverfile.Dispose();
AcceptServer();
}
}
}
This part was server side.And for client side;
When sending a file first send a information to server for file and then wait for a response from server.
try
{
System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog ofd = new System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog();
ofd.Multiselect = false;
ofd.FileName="";
if(ofd.ShowDialog() == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK)
{
filesendpath = ofd.FileName;
senderfilestream = System.IO.File.Open(filesendpath,System.IO.FileMode.Open);
sendertotalbytes = senderfilestream.Length;
filesendcommand = "#File#" + System.IO.Path.GetFileName(filesendpath) + ";" + senderfilestream.Length;
senderfilestream.Position = 0;
sendertc.BeginConnect(ip.Address,55502,FileConnect,null);
}
else
{
//No file selected
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
//Error connecting log the error
}
If connection is successfull , then send the file command and wait for response ;
public void FileConnect(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(ar.IsCompleted)
{
sender.EndConnect(ar);
if(sender.Connected)
{
sender.GetStream().Write(toByte(filesendcommand,256),0,256);
sender.GetStream().BeginRead(ComputerNameBuffer,0,256,FileSendCyleStarter,null);
}
}
}
When response received look if it is successfull an accepted;
public void FileSendCyleStarter(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(ar.IsCompleted)
{
if(sender.Connected)
{
string kabul = toString(ComputerNameBuffer);
if(kabul == "#FileAccepted#")
{
senderfilestream.BeginRead(filesendbuffer,0,1024,FileSendCyle,null);
}
}
}
}
Sending a file has three steps;
1-Read a chunk for a start
2-Then send the chunk to server.if its completed send #FileEnd# command and skip step 3
3-Read next chunk of file
4-Return step 2 if file isnt completed
Step 1 :
senderfilestream.BeginRead(filesendbuffer,0,1024,FileSendCyle,null);
Step 2-4 :
public void FileSendCyle(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(ar.IsCompleted)
{
if(sendertc.Connected)
{
int read = senderfilestream.EndRead(ar);
if(read > 0)
{
sendertc.GetStream().BeginWrite(filesendbuffer,0,read,FileSendCyle2,null);
}
else
{
sendertc.GetStream().Write(toByte("#FileEnd#",256),0,256);
}
}
}
}
Step 3 :
public void FileSendCyle2(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if(ar.IsCompleted)
{
if(sendertc.Connected)
{
sendertc.GetStream().EndWrite(ar);
senderfilestream.BeginRead(filesendbuffer,0,1024,FileSendCyle,null);
}
}
}
In abowe example there are two methods called toString() and toByte().I used them for converting strings to bytes and bytes to strings.Here are them ;
public string toString(byte[] buffer)
{
return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buffer).Replace("\0","");
}
public byte[] toByte(string str,int bufferlenght)
{
byte[] buffer = new byte[256];
Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(str,0,str.Length,buffer,0);
return buffer;
}
The code abowe example isn't perfect and need lots of error handling and flow controls.I write theese to give you an idea and a jump start.
Hope any part of it helps anybody ^_^

Writing and reading using socket

This is my code
using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net.Sockets;
public class s_TCP : MonoBehaviour {
internal Boolean socketReady = false;
TcpClient mySocket;
NetworkStream theStream;
StreamWriter theWriter;
StreamReader theReader;
String Host = "198.57.44.231";
Int32 Port = 1337;
string channel = "testingSona";
void Start () {
setupSocket();
//string msg = "__SUBSCRIBE__"+channel+"__ENDSUBSCRIBE__";
string msg = "Sending By Sona";
writeSocket(msg);
readSocket();
}
void Update () {
//readSocket();
}
public void setupSocket() {
try {
mySocket = new TcpClient(Host, Port);
theStream = mySocket.GetStream();
theWriter = new StreamWriter(theStream);
theReader = new StreamReader(theStream);
socketReady = true;
}
catch (Exception e) {
Debug.Log("Socket error: " + e);
}
}
public void writeSocket(string theLine) {
if (!socketReady)
return;
String foo = theLine + "\r\n";
theWriter.Write(foo);
theWriter.Flush();
}
public String readSocket() {
if (!socketReady)
return "";
if (theStream.DataAvailable){
string message = theReader.ReadLine();
print(message);print(12345);
return theReader.ReadLine();
}
else{print("no value");
return "";
}
}
public void closeSocket() {
if (!socketReady)
return;
theWriter.Close();
theReader.Close();
mySocket.Close();
socketReady = false;
}
}
Connection created. But message not writing into server and reading
How can i do it

I think you have taken this code from http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/15422/unity-project-and-3rd-party-apps.html, but I think there is an error in this code. I'll repeat here what I posted there.
The following code does not work correctly:
public String readSocket() {
if (!socketReady)
return "";
if (theStream.DataAvailable)
return theReader.ReadLine();
return "";
}
This caused me a headache for quite few hours. I think that checking DataAvailable on the stream is not a reliable way to check if there is data to be read on the streamreader. So you do not want to check for DataAvailable. However, if you just remove that, then the code will block on ReadLine when there is no more to read. So instead, you need to set a timeout for reading from the stream, so that you won't wait longer than (say) a millisecond:
theStream.ReadTimeout = 1;
And then, you can use something like:
public String readSocket() {
if (!socketReady)
return "";
try {
return theReader.ReadLine();
} catch (Exception e) {
return "";
}
}
This code isn't perfect, I still need to improve it (e.g., check what kind of exception was raised, and deal with it appropriately). And maybe there's a better way overall to do this (I experimented with using Peek(), but the -1 it returns I suspect is for when the socket closes, and not just when there is no more data to read for now). However, this should solve problems with the posted code, like those I was having. If you're finding data is missing from the server, then it's probably sitting in your reader stream, and won't be read until new data is sent from the server and stored in the stream such that theStream.DataAvailable returns true.

Chat service application

I am making a chat service for a game,
I am using a TCP listener an client for the account information, some sort of login service. I'm wondering if i can keep the socked the client connected to the server with, to check if he is still online, and keep sending him messages if he has new messages.
I already tried making a list of sockets for the login queue, but it disconnected the previous socket to to server as soon as i accepted a new socket.
byte[] usernameByte = new byte[100];
int usernameRecieved = s.Receive(usernameByte);
//guiController.setText(System.DateTime.Now + " Recieved Login...");
byte[] passByte = new byte[100];
int passRecieved = s.Receive(passByte);
//guiController.setText(System.DateTime.Now + " Recieved Password...");
string username = "";
string password = "";
for (int i = 0; i < usernameRecieved; i++)
username += (Convert.ToChar(usernameByte[i]));
for (int i = 0; i < passRecieved; i++)
password += (Convert.ToChar(passByte[i]));
if (DomainController.getInstance().checkAccount(username, password))
{
ASCIIEncoding asen = new ASCIIEncoding();
s.Send(asen.GetBytes("true"));
s.Send(asen.GetBytes("U are succesfully logged in, press enter to continue"));
guiController.setText(serverName,System.DateTime.Now+"");
guiController.setText(serverName, "Sent Acknowledgement - Logged in");
}
else
{
ASCIIEncoding asen = new ASCIIEncoding();
s.Send(asen.GetBytes("false"));
s.Send(asen.GetBytes("U are NOT logged in, press enter to continue"));
guiController.setText(serverName, System.DateTime.Now + "");
guiController.setText(serverName, "\nSent Acknowledgement - Not logged in");
}
This is the code i currently use to check the account information the user send me. Right after i send this the user dropd the connection and i move on to the next one.
I have tried making 1 list of seperate sockets and processing them one by one, but that failed because the previous socket's connection dropped, even tho it were 2 different machines that tried to connect.
Does anyone have a sollution / a way to save sockets, that I can use to make the program keep all the connections alive? so i can send a message from user 1 to user 2, and just use the socket they connected with? or do i need to add an id every time they make a connection?
EDIT
The client Code: (this is just a test client)
while (true)
{
TcpClient tcpclnt = new TcpClient();
Console.WriteLine("Connecting.....");
tcpclnt.Connect("xx.xxx.xxx.xx", 26862);
// use the ipaddress as in the server program
while(!(checkResponse(tcpclnt.GetStream())))
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
Console.WriteLine("Connected");
Console.Write("Enter the string to be transmitted : ");
String str = Console.ReadLine();
if (str == "")
{
str = " ";
}
Stream stm = tcpclnt.GetStream();
ASCIIEncoding asen = new ASCIIEncoding();
byte[] ba = asen.GetBytes(str);
Console.WriteLine("Transmitting.....");
stm.Write(ba, 0, ba.Length);
Console.Write("Enter the string to be transmitted : ");
String str2 = Console.ReadLine();
if (str2 == "")
{
str2 = " ";
}
Stream stm2 = tcpclnt.GetStream();
ASCIIEncoding asen2 = new ASCIIEncoding();
byte[] ba2 = asen2.GetBytes(str2);
Console.WriteLine("Transmitting.....");
stm.Write(ba2, 0, ba2.Length);
if (str == "false")
{
blijvenWerken = false;
}
byte[] bb = new byte[100];
int k = stm.Read(bb, 0, 100);
for (int i = 0; i < k; i++)
Console.Write(Convert.ToChar(bb[i]));
byte[] bb2 = new byte[100];
int k2 = stm.Read(bb2, 0, 100);
Console.Write("\n");
for (int i = 0; i < k2; i++)
Console.Write(Convert.ToChar(bb2[i]));
Console.WriteLine("\n");
tcpclnt.Close();
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
Server getting the sockets:
This bit of code is on the loginserver, its because i can only accept 1 socket every time to keep the connection alive, that i put queueCount on a maximum of 1.
I want to be able to make a list of Sockets that i accepted to add to a User account.
while (loginServerOn)
{
if (queueCount < 1)
{
if (loginServer.getLoginListener().Pending())
{
loginQueue.Add(loginServer.getSocket());
ASCIIEncoding asen = new ASCIIEncoding();
Socket s = loginQueue.First();
try
{
s.Send(asen.GetBytes("true"));
queueCount++;
}
catch
{
loginQueue.Remove(s);
}
}
}
}
The function that returns the accepted socket.
public Socket getSocket()
{
return myList.AcceptSocket();
}
EDIT: Essence of the question
I want to add the socked or client recieved to my Account object, so every connection has an Account its linked to, when i want to send a message to a certain account, it should send a message to the socked or client bound to that account, can you help/show me how i can achieve this?

This is still c# and sockets but my approach is different to yours.
I went with the concept of a "connectedCleint" which is similar in purpose to what you've called an account.
I have a class called ServerTerminal which is responsible for accepting and top level management of socket connections. In this i've got:
public Dictionary<long, ConnectedClient> DictConnectedClients =
new Dictionary<long, ConnectedClient>();
So this is my list of connected clients indexed by the sockethandle.
To accept connections i've got a routine:
public void StartListen(int port)
{
socketClosed = false;
IPEndPoint ipLocal = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, port);
listenSocket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork,
SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
//bind to local IP Address...
//if ip address is allready being used write to log
try
{
listenSocket.Bind(ipLocal);
}
catch (Exception excpt)
{
// Deal with this.. write your own log code here ?
socketClosed = true;
return;
}
//start listening...
listenSocket.Listen(100); // Max 100 connections for my app
// create the call back for any client connections...
listenSocket.BeginAccept(new AsyncCallback(OnClientConnection), null);
}
So when a client connects it then fires off:
private void OnClientConnection(IAsyncResult asyn)
{
if (socketClosed)
{
return;
}
try
{
Socket clientSocket = listenSocket.EndAccept(asyn);
ConnectedClient connectedClient = new ConnectedClient(clientSocket, this, _ServerTerminalReceiveMode);
//connectedClient.MessageReceived += OnMessageReceived;
connectedClient.Disconnected += OnDisconnection;
connectedClient.dbMessageReceived += OndbMessageReceived;
connectedClient.ccSocketFaulted += ccSocketFaulted;
connectedClient.StartListening();
long key = clientSocket.Handle.ToInt64();
if (DictConnectedClients.ContainsKey(connectedClient.SocketHandleInt64))
{
// Already here - use your own error reporting..
}
lock (DictConnectedClients)
{
DictConnectedClients[key] = connectedClient;
}
// create the call back for any client connections...
listenSocket.BeginAccept(new AsyncCallback(OnClientConnection), null);
}
catch (ObjectDisposedException excpt)
{
// Your own code here..
}
catch (Exception excpt)
{
// Your own code here...
}
}
The crucial part of this for you is:
// create the call back for any client connections...
listenSocket.BeginAccept(new AsyncCallback(OnClientConnection), null);
This sets up the serverterminal to receive new connections.
Edit:
Cut down version of my connectedclient:
public class ConnectedClient
{
private Socket mySocket;
private SocketIO mySocketIO;
private long _mySocketHandleInt64 = 0;
// These events are pass through; ConnectedClient offers them but really
// they are from SocketIO
public event TCPTerminal_ConnectDel Connected
{
add
{
mySocketIO.Connected += value;
}
remove
{
mySocketIO.Connected -= value;
}
}
public event TCPTerminal_DisconnectDel Disconnected
{
add
{
mySocketIO.Disconnected += value;
}
remove
{
mySocketIO.Disconnected -= value;
}
}
// Own Events
public event TCPTerminal_TxMessagePublished TxMessageReceived;
public delegate void SocketFaulted(ConnectedClient cc);
public event SocketFaulted ccSocketFaulted;
private void OnTxMessageReceived(Socket socket, TxMessage myTxMessage)
{
// process your message
}
private void OnMessageSent(int MessageNumber, int MessageType)
{
// successful send, do what you want..
}
public ConnectedClient(Socket clientSocket, ServerTerminal ParentST)
{
Init(clientSocket, ParentST, ReceiveMode.Handler);
}
public ConnectedClient(Socket clientSocket, ServerTerminal ParentST, ReceiveMode RecMode)
{
Init(clientSocket, ParentST, RecMode);
}
private void Init(Socket clientSocket, ServerTerminal ParentST, ReceiveMode RecMode)
{
ParentServerTerminal = ParentST;
_myReceiveMode = RecMode;
_FirstConnected = DateTime.Now;
mySocket = clientSocket;
_mySocketHandleInt64 = mySocket.Handle.ToInt64();
mySocketIO = new SocketIO(clientSocket, RecMode);
// Register for events
mySocketIO.TxMessageReceived += OnTxMessageReceived;
mySocketIO.MessageSent += OnMessageSent;
mySocketIO.dbMessageReceived += OndbMessageReceived;
}
public void StartListening()
{
mySocketIO.StartReceiving();
}
public void Close()
{
if (mySocketIO != null)
{
mySocketIO.Close();
mySocketIO = null;
}
try
{
mySocket.Close();
}
catch
{
// We're closing.. don't worry about it
}
}
public void SendMessage(int MessageNumber, int MessageType, string Message)
{
if (mySocket != null && mySocketIO != null)
{
try
{
mySocketIO.SendMessage(MessageNumber, MessageType, Message);
}
catch
{
// mySocketIO disposed inbetween check and call
}
}
else
{
// Raise socket faulted event
if (ccSocketFaulted != null)
ccSocketFaulted(this);
}
}
}
}
Some useful links:
This is where I started:
http://vadmyst.blogspot.com.au/2008/01/how-to-transfer-fixed-sized-data-with.html
http://vadmyst.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/part-2-how-to-transfer-fixed-sized-data.html
And..
C# Sockets and Multithreading
Cause a connected socket to accept new messages right after .BeginReceive?
http://nitoprograms.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/tcpip-net-sockets-faq.html
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/83102/C-SocketAsyncEventArgs-High-Performance-Socket-Cod
I can't post my entire solution just now; there is a flaw in my server code I need to debug; plus there are parts which my employer may not want published. But i based my code on what Vadym had for variable length messages.

When a server gets ready to accept TCP connections, it creates a new TCP socket, Bind() it to a port and uses the Listen() method. When a connection request comes in, the Listen() method returns a new socket that the server and client use for communication. The server and client can pass data back and forth using Send() and Receive() at this point. If the client disconnects, the server's Receive() terminates with 0 bytes of data.
If you want to wait for another connection request once you've accepted the first connection (i.e., while you are interacting with the first client) this can be done. At this point, you'll need to use something like threads or asynchronous methods so you can handle more than one connection. Basically, you will be able to Accept() connection requests from your listening socket.
Mike

C# Networking : Server hangs after receiving more than 65535 bytes

UPDATE:
Due to problems with the admins here on Stackoverflow, I have posted a very trimmed-down version of the same problem on MSDN forum. This text below used MyNetworking.dll, but that is not the problem. Here is a very slimmed Client-Server thing and the problem is exactly the same. Feel free to try it out =)
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/netfxnetcom/thread/d3d33eb9-7dce-4313-929e-a8a63d0f1e03
/UPDATE
So, I have a strange error.
Normally, we have a DLL that handles our networking. Lets call that MyNetworking.dll. We use it everywhere in our servers and clients and have done so for 5 years. I haven't had a problem with it, until now.
I have an "XMLPoller", that reads XML from a MySQL database, serializes that into a byte[] array and sends it over the network. These particular XML messages is 627 bytes in serialized form.
The XMLPoller connects to a port on a "remote server" (that happens to be localhost) and sends the packets, one at a time. At exactly packet nbr 105 the connection is closed. 104 packets are sent from XMLPoller and received by the Server. 104 x 627 = 65208 bytes. But packet 105, when the total number of bytes sent would be 65835 the connection is closed with this error:
System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host. ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.EndReceive(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.EndRead(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
This is the error on the server. However, I have stepped through the XMLPoller (client), and I see when the last 627 bytes are sent (thus sending up til 65835 bytes) and I see no errors on the client, it passes sending without problems.
UPDATE 20:15 SWEDISH TIME
I also get this error in the Client when I debug a little more:
Unable to read data from the transport connection: An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine.
I think I have confirmed that it is in the Client the error exists. I am stepping through the code and before any Exceptions are caught on the server, I get an exception on the Client as stated above.
/ENDUPDATE
It seems to me that the Server never receives it, getting the error above. The server gets the connection closed because of something happening on the Client. However, the error on the client is in TCPInput; the stream reading data is dead for some reason?
I am not buffering anything in MyNetworking.dll.
When I get a new connection on a Socket (on the Server), I do this code:
public void setConnected(Socket thisClient)
{
NetworkStream stream = new NetworkStream(thisClient);
socket = thisClient;
output = new TCPOutput(stream, outputHandler,this);
remoteIP = this.socket.RemoteEndPoint.ToString();
changeState(State.Connected);
try
{
stream.BeginRead(inputBuffer, 0, 5000, new AsyncCallback(OnDataReceived), null);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
this.disconnect();
}
}
and then, the OnDataReceived method (where the data is actually received):
public void OnDataReceived(IAsyncResult asyn)
{
int nbrRead = 0;
byte[] tmp = null;
try
{
nbrRead = stream.EndRead(asyn);
tmp = new byte[nbrRead];
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// *** HERE IS WHERE THE EXCEPTION IS CAUGHT ***
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Log(0, "Bla1", e.ToString());
this.disconnect();
}
if (nbrRead > 0)
{
try
{
Array.Copy(inputBuffer, 0, tmp, 0, nbrRead);
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Log(0, "Bla2", e.ToString());
this.disconnect();
}
preProcessMessage(tmp);
try
{
stream.BeginRead(inputBuffer, 0, 5000, new AsyncCallback(OnDataReceived), new object());
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Log(0, "Bla3", e.ToString());
this.disconnect();
}
}
else
this.disconnect();
}
Right now Im sort of clueless as to what is going on... Any ideas?
UPDATE 1:
Client code for sending data:
public bool sendData(byte[] data)
{
if(this.state == State.Connected)
{
if (data != null && data.Length > 0)
{
try
{
//data = Crypto.Encrypt("a1s2d3", data);
outputStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("ClientHandler.sendData> " + e.ToString());
}
//parent.outDataLog(data.Length);
}
}
return true;
}
Update 2
I tried to do a Flush on the outgoing stream from the client - no effect:
public bool sendData(byte[] data)
{
if(this.state == State.Connected)
{
if (data != null && data.Length > 0)
{
try
{
//data = Crypto.Encrypt("a1s2d3", data);
outputStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
outputStream.Flush();
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("ClientHandler.sendData> " + e.ToString());
}
//parent.outDataLog(data.Length);
}
}
return true;
}
UPDATE 3: Posting more code as per request
This code is old and not the pretties in the world, I know. But it has been working very well for 5 years so =)
ClientHandler.cs (what the actual Client is using for sending etc)
using System;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Net;
using System.Threading;
namespace tWorks.tNetworking.tNetworkingCF
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for connectionHandler.
/// </summary>
public class ClientHandler
{
#region Fields (17) 
string address;
Connector connector;
DataHandler dataHandler;
int id;
TCPInput input;
int interval;
string localAddress;
IPEndPoint localPoint;
int localPort;
NetworkStream outputStream;
public TTCPClientInterface parent;
int port;
tWorks.tNetworking.Protocol.Protocol protocol;
bool reconnect;
string remoteIP;
Socket socket;
public State state;
#endregion Fields 
#region Enums (1) 
public enum State {Disconnected,Connecting,Connected}
#endregion Enums 
#region Constructors (4) 
public ClientHandler(int id, TTCPClientInterface parent, Socket socket, tWorks.tNetworking.Protocol.Protocol protocol)
{
this.id=id;
this.parent = parent;
this.protocol = protocol;
dataHandler = new DataHandler(protocol, this);
setConnected(socket);
}
public ClientHandler(int id, TTCPClientInterface parent, Protocol.Protocol protocol)
{
this.id=id;
this.parent = parent;
this.protocol = protocol;
dataHandler = new DataHandler(protocol, this);
state = State.Disconnected;
}
public ClientHandler(int id, TTCPClientInterface parent, Socket socket)
{
this.id=id;
this.parent = parent;
setConnected(socket);
}
public ClientHandler(int id, TTCPClientInterface parent)
{
this.id=id;
this.parent = parent;
this.protocol = null;
changeState(State.Disconnected);
}
#endregion Constructors 
#region Delegates and Events (4) 
// Delegates (2) 
public delegate void ConnectionLostDelegate(string message);
public delegate void exceptionDelegate(Exception ex);
// Events (2) 
public event exceptionDelegate ConnectionFailed;
public event ConnectionLostDelegate ConnectionLostEvent;
#endregion Delegates and Events 
#region Methods (17) 
// Public Methods (16) 
public void connect(string address, int port, int retryInterval, bool reestablish)
{
System.Random rand = new Random();
localPort = rand.Next(40000, 60000);
IPAddress localIP = Dns.GetHostEntry(Dns.GetHostName()).AddressList[0]; // new IPAddress(Dns.GetHostByName(Dns.GetHostName()).AddressList[0].Address);
connect(address, port, retryInterval, reestablish, localIP.ToString(), localPort);
}
/// <summary>
/// Will connect to the address and port specified. If connection failed a new attempt will be made according to the Interval parameter.
/// If connection is lost attempts to reastablish it will be made if Reestablish is set to true.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="address"></param>
/// <param name="port"></param>
/// <param name="retryInterval"></param>
/// <param name="reestablish"></param>
public void connect(string address, int port, int retryInterval, bool reestablish, string localAddress, int localPort)
{
this.reconnect = reestablish;
this.address = address;
this.port = port;
this.interval = retryInterval;
this.localAddress = localAddress;
this.localPort = localPort;
changeState(State.Connecting);
connector = new Connector(address, port, this, interval, localPoint, reestablish);
connector.Connect();
}
public void disconnect()
{
reconnect = false;
if (connector != null)
{
connector.stopConnecting();
}
setDisconnected();
}
public void dispose()
{
}
public void failedConnect(Exception e)
{
if (ConnectionFailed != null)
ConnectionFailed(e);
}
public int getID()
{
return this.id;
}
public string getIP()
{
return remoteIP;
}
public bool isConnected()
{
return this.state == State.Connected;
}
public void outDataLog(int nbrBytes)
{
parent.outDataLog(nbrBytes, id);
}
public void preProcessMessage(byte[] data)
{
//data = Crypto.Decrypt("a1s2d3", data);
if(protocol != null)
dataHandler.addData(data);
else
processMessage(data);
}
public void processMessage(byte[] data)
{
parent.processMessage(data,this);
}
public bool sendData(byte[] data)
{
if(this.state == State.Connected)
{
if (data != null && data.Length > 0)
{
try
{
//data = Crypto.Encrypt("a1s2d3", data);
outputStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
outputStream.Flush();
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("ClientHandler.sendData> " + e.ToString());
}
//parent.outDataLog(data.Length);
}
}
return true;
}
public void setConnected(Socket thisClient)
{
socket = thisClient;
outputStream = new NetworkStream(thisClient);
input = new TCPInput(outputStream, this);
remoteIP = this.socket.RemoteEndPoint.ToString();
changeState(State.Connected);
}
public void setDisconnected()
{
try
{
if (this.state == State.Connected)
{
changeState(State.Disconnected);
//socket.Shutdown(SocketShutdown.Both);
socket.Close();
}
}
catch { }
if (reconnect)
this.connect(address, port, interval, true, localAddress, localPort);
}
public void stopConnect()
{
connector.stopConnecting();
changeState(State.Disconnected);
}
public override string ToString()
{
string returnString = "(D)";
if(this.state == State.Connected)
returnString = this.getIP();
return returnString;
}
// Private Methods (1) 
private void changeState(State state)
{
if (this.state == State.Connected && state == State.Disconnected)
{
if (ConnectionLostEvent != null)
ConnectionLostEvent("Uppkoppling bröts.");
}
this.state = state;
parent.connStateChange(this);
}
#endregion Methods 
}
}
This is TCPInput.cs that is listening on incoming data and forwarding that to the ClientHandler (seen above):
using System;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Net;
using System.Threading;
namespace tWorks.tNetworking.tNetworkingCF
{
public class TCPInput
{
NetworkStream stream;
ClientHandler client;
public TCPInput(NetworkStream nS, ClientHandler client)
{
stream = nS;
this.client = client;
Thread t = new Thread(new ThreadStart(run));
t.IsBackground = true;
t.Name = "TCPInput";
t.Start();
}
public void run()
{
bool continueRead = true;
byte[] readBuffer = new byte[32768];
byte[] receivedBuffer = null;
int nbrBytesRead = 0;
int receivedBufferPos = 0;
while(continueRead)
{
try
{
nbrBytesRead = 0;
nbrBytesRead = stream.Read(readBuffer, 0, 10000);
receivedBuffer = new byte[nbrBytesRead];
}
catch (Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("TCPInput> Exception when stream.Read: " + e.ToString());
continueRead = false;
}
if(nbrBytesRead > 0)
{
try
{
Array.Copy(readBuffer, 0, receivedBuffer, receivedBufferPos, nbrBytesRead);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("TCPInput> Exception when Array.Copy: " + e.ToString());
continueRead = false;
}
client.preProcessMessage(receivedBuffer);
}
else
{
// *** I can break here, the nbrOfBytes read is 0 when this whole thing explodes =)
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("TCPInput> Number of bytes read == 0! Setting continueRead = false");
continueRead = false;
}
}
client.setDisconnected();
}
}
}

The problem is in your other code, the 'client'. It closes the connection after sending all the 'packets'. You must wait until the server has received all of them. A simple approach, beyond negotiating it explicitly, is to wait for the server to close the connection.

That number ("thus sending up til 65835 bytes") is magically close to 2^16-1 (65535) -- looks like just one packet over!
(I'm assuming it's just the larger size that made things go kaboom! -- this can be tested reliably.)
I suspect there is an unsigned 16-bit variable used (in the library) where you need something with more range. Perhaps you can "empty" the internals of the library periodically or perform the operation in multiple connection? (Okay, just trying to throw out some 'quick hack' ideas :-)

So, after much testing and discussing with my partner-in-crime we found out that instead of using port 21 and taking for example port 22 - the problem goes away.
I have no idea why it behaves like this, but it does...

You post raises questions for me. Like why are you choosing well known ports for this service? I don't believe in coincidences and suspect your use of the term "partner-in-crime" may have more truth then I would care to be associated with.
Then also I am wondering why you assume a Windows bug and not one in the MyNetowrking.dll. Sure, you have been using this for five years. But it still hasn't had the level of vetting that Microsoft gives their code.