Socket recv() receives only 1 byte of data - c

I was trying to send "-1" as an indicator from the server to the client using send() function, however the recv() function at the client side keeps receiving only 1 byte of the data (the return of recv() is 1).
Code
Server-side:
get_fd(buf, fd, stat_buf) gets a file descriptor based on the number in buf and returns -1 if the number in buf is invalid 0 if everything works fine.
if(get_fd(buf, fd, stat_buf) == -1){ // invalid file number
printf("client has given an invalid file number\n\n");
if(send(new_sockfd, "-1", 3, 0) == -1){
perror("client: send");
}
close(new_sockfd);
exit(1);
} else { // valid file number
/* code */
}
When I entered an invalid file number at the client-side, the printf() on the second line works fine and no perror() message has been seen.
Client-side:
std::memset(&buf, 0, MAXDATASIZE); // clear the buffer for it has been used previously
if((numbyte = recv(sockfd, buf, MAXDATASIZE-1, 0))==-1){
perror("client: recv");
exit(1);
}
buf[numbyte] = '\0';
printf("numbyte: %d, received: %s\n\n", numbyte, buf);
The numbyte is always 1, while printf() prints nothing for the buf as string, but when printing the buf as an int (%d) it prints a nonsense negative number, for example -333179216.

The problem was at the beginning of the connection when the server sends ( send() ) the first message to the client. You set the len to a number that is much larger than its actual length. It works fine in the beginning because there are no more communications, but the problem will appear when you try to send() through that socket again.
Code (integrity matters):
if(send(new_sockfd, "some words here...", 65535, 0) == -1){
perror("server: send");
}

Related

echo client-server in C - i have an open server that takes strings from different clients - how do i replace the old char[] in new iteration

What i'm trying to do is keeping an open server and having different clients send the server a string, the server saves the string in char rcvdmessage[16] and sents it back to the client. I'm new to C and I can't figure out why my code is acting this way
if the first client sends "Hello World", the server sends "Hello World" to the client.
If the second client sends "Bye", on the second iteration, the server will send "Byelo World".
Is there a way to clear out my rcvdmessage[16] at the beginning of each loop? I tried memset[rcvdmessage,0,16] right under the rcvdmessage initialization but then the server sents an empty char array to the client.
while(1){
// accept - creating a new socket for the accepted connection
addr_size = sizeof their_addr;
otherfd = accept(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *)&their_addr, &addr_size);
// if(otherfd == -1){
// fprintf(stderr, "failed to accept, error: %d\n", bind_check);
// perror("ERROR on accepting");
// return 1;
// } else fprintf(stderr, "success accept, %d\n", bind_check);
// receive message
char rcvdmessage[16];
int bytes_rcvd = recv(otherfd, rcvdmessage, strlen(rcvdmessage), 0);
// if(bytes_rcvd == -1){
// fprintf(stderr, "failed to receive, error: %d\n", bytes_rcvd);
// perror("ERROR on receiving");
// } else{
// printf("Rcvd %s, %d bytes\n", rcvdmessage, bytes_rcvd);
// }
// send the received message
int bytes_sent = send(otherfd, rcvdmessage, strlen(rcvdmessage), 0);
// if(bytes_sent == -1){
// fprintf(stderr, "failed to send, error: %d\n", bytes_sent);
// perror("ERROR on sending");
// } else{
// printf("Sent %s, %d bytes\n",rcvdmessage, bytes_sent);
// }
// memset(rcvdmessage, 0, strlen(rcvdmessage));
}
The strlen function is to get the length of a null-terminated byte string.
To get the full size of an array you need to use the sizeof operator:
int bytes_rcvd = recv(otherfd, rcvdmessage, sizeof rcvdmessage, 0);
// ^^^^^^
Also note that unless the data sent by your peer is really null-terminated, then using strlen in the send call is also wrong. Use the size of the received data as given by the recv function:
int bytes_sent = send(otherfd, rcvdmessage, bytes_rcvd, 0);
// ^^^^^^^^^^
Then for your problem, while the above will solve it, you have to remember that uninitialized "automatic" variables (local non-static variables) will remain uninitialized. Their values or contents will be indeterminate and seem random.
The correct way to "replace" the local variable inside the loop is what you do, simply define it where you already do. That it seems to contain old data is because of the indeterminate part, and happens because the compiler is smart enough to reuse the same memory each iteration.

Stuck in while when transfer file through socket using TCP

I write program and it works fine, but i want to rewrite it using sendfile() and now i got stuck in a loop.
Server side:
send name = ok
send md5 checksum = ok
send size = ok
send file = ko
Client side:
recv name = ok
recv md5 cecksum = ok
recv size = ok
create dir and create file = ok
write data to created file = ko
P.S In previous version of program i stuck some time to, but it depend how much i use printf why? for e.x i add one line with printf program stuck, delete it, works fine.
UPDT: rewrite code client/server
client
/* Received file name */
int rc_byte = 0;
rc_byte = recv(fd, rx_tx_file->out_name, sizeof(rx_tx_file->out_name),0);
if (rc_byte < 0){
perror("Failed to receive file name: ");
exit(-1);
} else
printf("Recv out name %s\n", rx_tx_file->out_name);
//printf("file name rc %s\n", rx_tx_file->out_name);
trimm_path_name(rx_tx_file);
/* Received md5sum */
rc_byte = recv(fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, sizeof(rx_tx_file->md5sum), 0);
if (rc_byte < 0) {
perror("Failed to receive check sum: ");
exit(-1);
} else
printf("recv md5s %s\n", rx_tx_file->md5sum);
/* Received file size */
rc_byte = recv(fd, &size, sizeof(size), 0);
if(rc_byte < 0) {
perror("Recevid size of file: ");
exit(-1);
}
printf("%d recv size\n", size);
to_read = size;
if (stat(dir, &st) == -1){
mkdir(dir, 0777);
}
send_data: (add func to server)
void send_data(int client_fd, m_file *rx_tx_file, int option, int size) {
int send_byte = 0;
int total_send = 0;
if (option == SEND_NAME) {
while (total_send < strlen(rx_tx_file->in_name)) {
send_byte = send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->in_name, sizeof(rx_tx_file->in_name),0);
if(send_byte == -1) {
perror("Failed to send file name to client: ");
exit(SEND_TO_CLIENT_ERROR);
}
total_send += send_byte;
}
}
else if (option == SEND_MD5) {
total_send = 0;
send_byte = 0;
while (total_send < strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)) {
send_byte = send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, sizeof(rx_tx_file->md5sum),0);
if(send_byte == -1){
perror("Failed to send file md5sum to client: ");
exit(-1);
}
total_send += send_byte;
}
}
else if (option == SEND_SIZE) {
send_byte = send(client_fd, &size, sizeof(size),0);
if (send_byte == -1) {
perror("Failed to send size: ");
}
}
}
server:
client_fd = accept(server_fd, (struct sockaddr*) &client_addr, &length)
/*send name of file*/
send_data(client_fd, rx_tx_file, SEND_NAME, 0);
/*send md5 sum*/
take_check_sum(rx_tx_file,rx_tx_file->file_in, 0);
send_data(client_fd, rx_tx_file, SEND_MD5, 0);
/*send size of file*/
size = stats.st_size;
send_data(client_fd, rx_tx_file, SEND_SIZE, size);
remain_data = stats.st_size;
printf("File [%s] ready to send\ncheck sum [%s]\n", rx_tx_file->in_name,rx_tx_file->md5sum);
while (((send_byte = sendfile(client_fd, file_fd, &offset, size)) > 0) && (remain_data > 0))
{
remain_data -= send_byte;
printf("remain %d", remain_data);
}
printf("Succesfully");
Since i work with one client and pass file which should send on server side through command line args, i dont need to wait in while (client_fd = accpet) i just work with one connection and close server. Now its work good. But one question is open, how i should rewrite client side to recv data in a loop. I don't know which size i should recv and because of that i cant write right condition to my while loop. THX all for helping.
TCP is a stream. It has no message boundaries. Your code won't work because of that.
First, you send the name of the file:
send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->in_name, strlen(rx_tx_file->in_name)+1,0)
then you immediately send the md5 sum and then the file size:
send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1, 0)
send(client_fd, &size, sizeof(int),0)
Since the first two strings don't have a fixed number of bytes, it's quite likely that when you try to read the file size or md5 sum from the server you also read the size of the file and maybe even some of the file data.
First, stop trying to put as much of your send and read code as you can into the conditional clause of your if and while statements.
What exactly does
if (send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1, 0) == -1) {
perror("Failed to send file md5sum to client: ");
exit(-1);
}
gain you over
ssize_t bytes_sent = send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1, 0);
if ( bytes_sent < 0 )
{
perror("Failed to send file md5sum to client: ");
exit(-1);
}
Putting all that code into the if clause gains you nothing on the send. And what if strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1 is 87 and the send() call returns 15? That's a possible return value that your code can't handle because it stuffs everything into the if clause.
ssize_t bytes_sent = send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->md5sum, strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1, 0);
if ( bytes_sent < 0 )
{
perror("Failed to send file md5sum to client: ");
exit(-1);
}
else if ( bytes_sent < strlen(rx_tx_file->md5sum)+1 )
{
// partial send...
}
That's actually better coded as a loop.
You didn't post your receive code, but if it's in the same style you not only don't gain anything, by putting everything into the if clause you again can't do any decent error detection or correction.
If your file name recv code is similar to
char filename[1024];
if (recv(fd, &filename, sizeof(filename), 0) < 0) {
perror("Failed to read file name: ");
exit(-1);
}
you can't tell what you just received. How many bytes did you just receive? You may have received the file name. You may have received only part of the file name. You may have received the file name, the md5 sum, and some of the file contents itself.
You don't know what you received, and with your code you can't tell. If you zero out the file name and md5 receive buffers and only recv up to one byte less than the size of the buffer, you at least avoid undefined behavior. But if you don't zero out the buffer, or if you read up the the last byte of the buffer, you can also wind up without a nul-terminated string for your filename or md5 sum. And when you then try to treat it as a nul-terminated string you get undefined behavior.
And if you did get extra bytes in the recv calls you make before trying to read the file data, that explains why your code gets stuck - it already read some of the file contents before getting to the loop, so the loop will never see all the content - some of it is gone.
You should avoid using strlen here in your server:
if(send(client_fd, rx_tx_file->in_name, strlen(rx_tx_file->in_name)+1,0) == -1)
Rather just send fixed length string of size sizeof(rx_tx_file->out_name) as you expect in your client
If the filename is smaller just pad it with spaces to make it of length sizeof(rx_tx_file->out_name)
You should also put each receive call in while loop, and add checks that it actually received expected number of bytes, at times recv will just return partial data, you need to post another recv to receive rest of the expected data

Server program not ending when "quit" string entered

I've got a basic linux socket program mostly running that accepts strings from the client to send to the server. When "quit" is typed, my client program ends, but the server one prints out "quit" endlessly until you kill the program. Either I'm not reading the string properly or my logic is off.
Code section...
while (1)
{
//fetch message from client and write to stdout
num_client_bytes = recv(client_sockfd, buf, LEN, 0);
if (-1 == num_client_bytes)
{
perror("server-- recv failed");
}
else
{
printf("client msg: %s", buf);
if (0 == strcmp(buf, "quit\n"))
{
break;
}
}
}
//remove local socket file and close sockets
unlink(SOCKET_NAME);
close(client_sockfd);
close(server_sockfd);
return 0;
You need to memset buf prior to recv
recv will not add '\0' at the end of string read from socket,
also you should check if recv read entire 4 bytes, then change:
strcmp(buf, "quit\n")
to
strncmp(buf, "quit\n",4)// if you are not sure client sends \n

CR/LF condition check in C

I am testing my TCP echo server, with Telnet, I can see that the client connects to the server and sends a charcter and in return the server returns a string to the client.
Now my problem is by using this recv() in a infinite loop I can only receive one character (even though the client tends to send a string).
This is how I am doing to receive the datagram from the client
TCP SERVER
while(1)
{
socket = accept(server_socket, (struct sockaddr *)&client_address, (socklen_t)&client_length);
recv(socket, recv_buffer, sizeof(recv_buffer), 0);
printf("Received string from client is %s", recv_buffer);
/*then I send my string to the client*/
send(socket, send_buffer, sizeof(send_buffer), 0);
}
Here is my problem that my recv() routine reads only one character even though the client wants to send a whole string. Is there a way how I can make this recv() routine wait before it receives all the characters from the client and then send a response to the client.
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Regards
Well, you are doing something wrong. Look at the definition of recv:
int recv(int s, void *buf, size_t len, int flags);
So it recieves len amount of bytes. You passed sizeof(recv_buffer) as the len parameter. Now I'm guessing recv_buffer is defined as a char*. Getting the sizeof of a pointer means that you get the amount of bytes necessary to store that pointer, instead of the memory it points to.
Do something like this instead:
const int buf_len = 100;
char recv_buffer[buf_len];
recv(socket, recv_buffer, buf_len, 0);
printf("Received string from client is %s", recv_buffer);
You need to build up the string you are receiving yourself in a loop, using the return value of recv() to find how many bytes you actually got. TCP/IP does not guarantee that all the data sent with one call to send() can be received with one call to recv(). And you must examine the return value of every sockets function you call to check for actual lengths sent/received, and for errors.
Your code is a disaster (sorry for being blunt, but it is best to be straight).
recv() returns the number of bytes actually read. Not only that but it will not clear the previous contents of the buffer and it will fill up right to the the end of the buffer if there is data available. All this means that you cannot treat the content of the buffer as a null terminated string.
You need to do something like:
ssize_t bytesRead = 1;
char recv_buffer[SOME_SIZE];
while (bytesRead > 0)
{
int bytesRead = recv(socket, recv_buffer, SOME_SIZE, 0);
if (bytesRead > 0)
{
// do something with the bytes. Note you cannot guarantee that the buffer contains a valid C string.
}
}
if (bytesRead == -1)
{
// report error from errno
}
else
{
// bytesRead == 0 have reached end of file (i.e. socket closed at other end)
}
There is no way to get recv to wait until the buffer is full before returning. It will wait until there are some bytes available and then return. The same applies to send by the way. You can't assume with one call to send that all of your bytes have actually been sent. You need to put send in a loop too:
ssize_t totalBytesWritten = 0;
ssize_t bytesWritten = 0;
while (bytesWritten >= 0 && totalBytesWritten < bytesToWrite)
{
bytesWritten = send(socket, sendBuffer + totalBytesWritten, bytesToWrite - totalBytesWritten, 0);
if (bytesWritten > 0)
{
totalBytesWritten += bytesWritten;
}
}
if (bytesWritten == -1)
{
// error
}

recv() functions flag for taking the while buffer in one string [windows C]

This code sends and recv s txt file perfectly but cannot do it to otehr formats like .exe or .img. Please help me with these as I need to use htonl or htons??
Take a look!!
Here is the server side recv function ::
if (socket_type != SOCK_DGRAM)
{
fi = fopen (final,"wb");
retval = recv(msgsock, recv_buf, strlen(recv_buf), 0);
/*recv_buf[retval] = '\0';
fprintf (fi,"%s",recv_buf);*/
int i;
i=atoi(recv_buf);
char *q;
q=(char *)malloc(i*sizeof(char));
retval = recv(msgsock, q, strlen(q), 0);
//printf ("%s",q);
fwrite(q,i,1,fi);
fclose(fi);
}
else
{
retval = recvfrom(msgsock,recv_buf, sizeof(recv_buf), 0, (struct sockaddr *)&from, &fromlen);
printf("Server: Received datagram from %s\n", inet_ntoa(from.sin_addr));
printf ("SOCK_DGRAM");
}
if (retval == SOCKET_ERROR)
{
fprintf(stderr,"Server: recv() failed: error %d\n", WSAGetLastError());
closesocket(msgsock);
//continue;
}
else
printf("Server: recv() is OK.\n");
if (retval == 0)
{
printf("Server: Client closed connection.\n");
closesocket(msgsock);
//continue;
}
printf("Server: Received %d bytes, data from client\n", retval);
The client side sending function :::
void send_command()
{
int bytesent;
FILE *file_out;
//file_out = fopen(file_path,"rb");
char str_all[100000];//flag [30]="end";
///////////////////////getsize//////////////
char fsize[5];
int filesize;
file_out = fopen(file_path, "rb");
fseek(file_out, 0, SEEK_END);
filesize = ftell(file_out);
rewind (file_out);
itoa (filesize,fsize,10);
/////////////////////////////////////////////
send (ConnectSocket, fsize, strlen (fsize), 0);
char *r = (char *)malloc (filesize * sizeof(char));
fread(r,filesize,1,file_out);
bytesent = send( ConnectSocket, r, strlen(r), 0 );
printf("\nClient: Bytes sent: %ld\n", bytesent);
fclose (file_out);
/*while (fscanf(file_out,"%s",&str_all) != EOF)
{
bytesent = send( ConnectSocket, str_all, strlen(str_all), 0 );
printf("\nClient: Bytes sent: %ld\n", bytesent);
//Sleep(500);
}*/
/*printf("%s",flag);
send( ConnectSocket, flag, strlen(flag), 0 );*/
WSACleanup();
//return 0;
}
OK, there are multiple issues with your program.
You are transferring binary data. The receiver is only going to see a sequence of bytes. There is no way for the receiver to know the end of the data, since all possible values of char are legal data values. If you were sending text data, you could say that a 0 signifies the end of the data, but now you can't. So, you have to decide on a "protocol" between the server and the client—the simplest is that the server sends the length of the data in the first 4 bytes (read up on ntonl() and ntohl() for how to do this portably). Then, the receiver will know exactly how many bytes to read.
You declare the receiver buffer as char *recv_buf, and similarly for recv_buf1. You don't allocate any storage for any of the two pointers, so they aren't pointing to anywhere useful. Then, your recv call is: recv(msgsock, recv_buf, sizeof(recv_buf), 0); This also has problems. The first is the one mentioned above: you don't have storage for recv_buf. The second is that after you do allocate storage for recv_buf, you are taking the size of a char pointer instead of the length of the buffer recv points to. One easy way to solve both the issues would be to declare recv_buf as: char recv_buf[SIZE]; and then use sizeof recv_buf in the recv() call.
I haven't looked at the rest of your code. You probably need a good C and network programming introduction.
I think you're confusing the null-termination of a C string with the end of a packet sent on a socket. There is no "termination" of a packet, it's just a string of bytes. Zeros are completely legal, and you pass (and receive) the length explicitly. You certainly don't need to use the out-of-band facilities to receive multiple packets. Can you be more specific about what you're asking?

Resources