String concatenation maintaining destination length - c

Question

I have a basic server-client program that I'm writing in C and I am stuck with an issue regarding strings and concatenation.
Basically I have some strings (in the example below just 2) that I have to put into a buffer which size is determined by:
total # of registered people * 33
Both the strings in the example have a length which is much less than the length of the buffer. I want to obtain something like this after the concatenation:
[0] [32]
people_list=Mark Amy\0;
where Mark(which is inserted secondly) is right at the start of the buffer (people_list) and Amy is 32 characters away from the start of Mark (I hope I've made myself clear).
This is because the client code was given to me and I cannot modify it. The client code takes the buffer and reads the first element, then jumps of 32 chars and reads again.
The output I get from the printf of the client is this:
connected to server
Registered people:
Mark
while I'd like this:
connected to server
Registered people:
Mark
Amy
The communication is implemented through sockets, which I have already checked, but if you wish to suggest some changes I would appreciate that.
Server code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/un.h>
#include <errno.h>
#define LENGTH 32
struct person {
char name[LENGTH+1];
struct person *next;
struct person *prev;
};
struct person *p_head = NULL;
void addPerson(char* name_p){
struct person *new = (struct person*) malloc(sizeof(struct person));
strcpy(new->name, name_p);
new->name[LENGTH]='\0';
new->next=p_head;
new->prev=NULL;
p_head=new;
}
int main(){
int fd_ser;
int fd_c;
int N=100;
char buf[N];
int times=0;
char* path="tmp/sock";
struct sockaddr_un sa;
unlink(path);
sa.sun_family=AF_UNIX;
strncpy(sa.sun_path,(char*) path, sizeof(sa.sun_path));
if((fd_ser=socket(AF_UNIX,SOCK_STREAM,0))<0){ //socket
perror((const char*) (size_t) errno);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
if ( bind(fd_ser,(struct sockaddr *)&sa, sizeof(sa))<0){
perror("bind\n");
}
listen(fd_ser,10); //listen
struct sockaddr_un addr;
int addr_size= sizeof(struct sockaddr_un);
fd_c=0;
while( (fd_c=accept(fd_ser,(struct sockaddr*) &addr, (socklen_t*)&addr_size))<0){
printf("waiting for connections...\n");
sleep(2);
}
//initialize list of people
char* Amy="Amy";
char* Mark="Mark";
addPerson(Amy);
addPerson(Mark);
//now concat the name strings in a buffer to be sent to the client
char* people_list;
unsigned int list_len;
int value;
struct person* ptr=(struct person*) malloc(sizeof(struct person));
ptr=p_head;
int offset=0;
int i=0;
while(ptr!=NULL){
i++;
people_list=realloc(people_list,i*LENGTH); //every single name has to be LENGTH characters
strcpy(&people_list[offset],ptr->name);
ptr=ptr->next;
offset=offset+LENGTH;
}
people_list[i*LENGTH]='\0';
list_len=(i*LENGTH)+1;
value=write(fd_c, &(list_len), sizeof(unsigned int));
if(value==-1){
perror("write length");
return -1;
}
int toWrite=list_len;
char *toRead=people_list;
while(toWrite>0){
value=write(fd_c, toRead, toWrite);
if(value==-1){
perror("write data");
return -1;
}
toWrite=toWrite-value;
toRead=toRead+value;
if(toRead<=people_list + list_len) break;
}
close(fd_c);
close(fd_ser);
return 0;
}
Client code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <pthread.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/un.h>
#include <assert.h>
#include <errno.h>
#define MAX_LENGTH 2048
#define LENGTH 32
int main(){
int fd_cli;
char* path="tmp/sock";
struct sockaddr_un sa;
sa.sun_family=AF_UNIX;
strncpy(sa.sun_path,(char*) path, sizeof(sa.sun_path));
if( (fd_cli = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0))==-1){
perror((const char*) (size_t) errno);
return -1;
}
while( (connect(fd_cli,(struct sockaddr*)&sa, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un))) == -1 ) {
if ( errno == ENOENT ) { sleep(1); }
else perror("connect:");
errno=0;
sleep(1);
}
printf("connected to server\n");
int value;
unsigned int len_data;
value=read(fd_cli,&(len_data),sizeof(unsigned int));
if(value==-1){
perror("read length");
return -1;
}
char* buffer=malloc(len_data*sizeof(char));
int toRead=len_data;
char *toWrite=buffer;
while(toRead>0){
value=read(fd_cli, toWrite, toRead);
if(value==-1){
perror("read buffer");
return -1;
}
toRead=toRead-value;
toWrite=toWrite+value;
if(toWrite<=buffer + len_data) break;
}
int people_n = len_data / (LENGTH+1);
assert(people_n > 0); //proceeds only if there is at least one person registered
printf("Registered people:\n");
for(int i=0,p=0;i<people_n; ++i, p+=(LENGTH+1)) {
printf(" %s\n", &buffer[p]);
}
close(fd_cli);
return 0;
}
I really hope I've explained the problem clearly! Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

It's printing only the first user (Mark) because of this line:
int people_n = len_data / (LENGTH+1);
In this example, len_data = 65, LENGTH = 32. So when you are adding 1 to LENGTH, it will return 1 (65/33 = 1.96 => you get 1). Then it only prints the first user.
Consider using Valgrind. It will help you checking the use of the memory.