connection-oriented client.c

A connection-oriented client

This example shows how to create a socket client program to connect to a connection-oriented server in a connection-oriented design.

The client of the service (the client program) must request the service of the server program. You can use this example to write your own client application.

Note: By using the examples, you agree to the terms of the Code license and disclaimer information.

/**************************************************************************/
/* This sample program provides a code for a connection-oriented client.  */
/**************************************************************************/

/**************************************************************************/
/* Header files needed for this sample program                            */
/**************************************************************************/
#include "stdio.h"
#include "string.h"
#include "sys/types.h"
#include "sys/socket.h"
#include "netinet/in.h"
#include "arpa/inet.h"
#include "netdb.h" 

/**************************************************************************/
/* Constants used by this program                                         */
/**************************************************************************/
#define SERVER_PORT     3005
#define BUFFER_LENGTH    250
#define FALSE              0
#define SERVER_NAME     "ServerHostName"

/* Pass in 1 parameter which is either the */
/* address or host name of the server, or  */
/* set the server name in the #define      */
/* SERVER_NAME.                             */
void main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
   /***********************************************************************/
   /* Variable and structure definitions.                                 */
   /***********************************************************************/
   int    sd=-1, rc, bytesReceived;
   char   buffer[BUFFER_LENGTH];
   char   server[NETDB_MAX_HOST_NAME_LENGTH];
   struct sockaddr_in serveraddr;
   struct hostent *hostp;

   /***********************************************************************/
   /* A do/while(FALSE) loop is used to make error cleanup easier.  The   */
   /* close() of the socket descriptor is only done once at the very end  */
   /* of the program.                                                     */
   /***********************************************************************/
   do
   {
      /********************************************************************/
      /* The socket() function returns a socket descriptor, which represents   */
      /* an endpoint.  The statement also identifies that the INET        */
      /* (Internet Protocol) address family with the TCP transport        */
      /* (SOCK_STREAM) will be used for this socket.                      */
      /********************************************************************/
      sd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
      if (sd < 0)
      {
         perror("socket() failed");
         break;
      }

      /********************************************************************/
      /* If an argument was passed in, use this as the server, otherwise  */
      /* use the #define that is located at the top of this program.      */
      /********************************************************************/
      if (argc > 1)
         strcpy(server, argv[1]);
      else
         strcpy(server, SERVER_NAME);

      memset(&serveraddr, 0, sizeof(serveraddr));
      serveraddr.sin_family      = AF_INET;
      serveraddr.sin_port        = htons(SERVER_PORT);
      serveraddr.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(server);
      if (serveraddr.sin_addr.s_addr == (unsigned long)INADDR_NONE)
      {
         /*****************************************************************/
         /* The server string that was passed into the inet_addr()        */
         /* function was not a dotted decimal IP address.  It must        */
         /* therefore be the hostname of the server.  Use the             */
         /* gethostbyname() function to retrieve the IP address of the    */
         /* server.                                                       */
         /*****************************************************************/

         hostp = gethostbyname(server);
         if (hostp == (struct hostent *)NULL)
         {
            printf("Host not found --> ");
            printf("h_errno = %d\n", h_errno);
            break;
         }

         memcpy(&serveraddr.sin_addr,
                hostp->h_addr,
                sizeof(serveraddr.sin_addr));
      }

      /********************************************************************/
      /* Use the connect() function to establish a connection to the      */
      /* server.                                                          */
      /********************************************************************/
      rc = connect(sd, (struct sockaddr *)&serveraddr, sizeof(serveraddr));
      if (rc < 0)
      {
         perror("connect() failed");
         break;
      }

      /********************************************************************/
      /* Send 250 bytes of a's to the server                              */
      /********************************************************************/
      memset(buffer, 'a', sizeof(buffer));
      rc = send(sd, buffer, sizeof(buffer), 0);
      if (rc < 0)
      {
         perror("send() failed");
         break;
      }

      /********************************************************************/
      /* In this example we know that the server is going to respond with */
      /* the same 250 bytes that we just sent.  Since we know that 250    */
      /* bytes are going to be sent back to us, we can use the          */
      /* SO_RCVLOWAT socket option and then issue a single recv() and     */
      /* retrieve all of the data.                                        */
      /*                                                                  */
      /* The use of SO_RCVLOWAT is already illustrated in the server      */
      /* side of this example, so we will do something different here.    */
      /* The 250 bytes of the data may arrive in separate packets,        */
      /* therefore we will issue recv() over and over again until all     */
      /* 250 bytes have arrived.                                          */
      /********************************************************************/
      bytesReceived = 0;
      while (bytesReceived < BUFFER_LENGTH)
      {
         rc = recv(sd, & buffer[bytesReceived],
                   BUFFER_LENGTH - bytesReceived, 0);
         if (rc < 0)
         {
            perror("recv() failed");
            break;
         }
         else if (rc == 0)
         {
            printf("The server closed the connection\n");
            break;
         }

         /*****************************************************************/
         /* Increment the number of bytes that have been received so far  */
         /*****************************************************************/
         bytesReceived += rc;
      }

   } while (FALSE);

   /***********************************************************************/
   /* Close down any open socket descriptors                              */
   /***********************************************************************/
   if (sd != -1)
      close(sd);
}

Parent topic: Creating a connection-oriented socket

Related reference

Using AF_INET address family

Example: A connection-oriented server