client can't read after connection with server in tcp - c

Question

I wrote function for read and write for a tcp program . I output in server side but I can't get read on client side . my code
read function :
int read_data (int sd , char **data_buf)
{
int in_length,length,size,bytesread;
char *temp_buf;
size = read(sd,&in_length,sizeof(in_length));/*send entire length of data*/
if( 0 > size )
{
printf("Error on reading from socket\n");
exit(1);
}
length = ntohl(in_length);
printf("Total length coming : %d\n",length);
*data_buf =(char *)malloc((length+1)*sizeof(char));
temp_buf =(char *)malloc((length+1)*sizeof(char));
while(length> 0)
{
bytesread = read(sd,temp_buf,4);
strcat(*data_buf,temp_buf);
temp_buf = temp_buf + bytesread;
length = length - bytesread;
}
return 1;
}
and my write functions as :
int write_data (int sd , char *buffer)
{
int length,len_buff,bytesread,size;
len_buff = strlen(buffer);/*total length of string*/
printf("string == %s\n",buffer);
length = htonl(len_buff);/*convert to host to n/w*/
printf("Total length send =%d\n",len_buff);
size = write(sd,&length,sizeof(length));/*write total size to server */
if( 0 > size)
{
printf("error\n");
exit(0);
}
while(length > 0)
{
bytesread = write(sd,buffer,4);/*write 4 bytes to server*/
buffer = buffer + bytesread;
length = length - bytesread;
}
return 1;
}
client program :
///.............code for socket and connections.................//
ret = write_data(sd,user_string);/*write entire datas to server*/
value_from_server = read_data(sd,&data_buf);
server side program :
value_from_client = read_data(connfd,&data_buf);
printf("the value from client : %s\n",data_buf);
index = string_function(data_buf,&store_buf);
printf("after string process : %s\n",store_buf);
write_data(connfd,store_buf);
printf("i am waiting for next string\n");
connfd is the new socket for communication with client . reading and writing function work perfectly on server side . writing function work on client side . but reading from server not work in client program . ant mistake on my code ?

Answer 1

bytesread = read(sd,temp_buf,4);
Why read 4 bytes always inside the loop? You should be reading the remaining number of bytes to be read. The socket is blocking and hence will be stuck if the server is done sending but client still tries reading 4 bytes to arrive in the last iteration.
Have print statements inside the loop to know the bytes read in each iteration and see if client is blocked with read

Answer 2

Your code has several logic errors.
size = read(sd,&in_length,sizeof(in_length));/*send entire length of data*/
if( 0 > size )
{
printf("Error on reading from socket\n");
exit(1);
}
length = ntohl(in_length);
Here you are assuming you read four bytes, rather than fewer, or end of stream. You must check for end of stream (zero return value), and you must loop until you get the four bytes.
while(length> 0)
{
bytesread = read(sd,temp_buf,4);
strcat(*data_buf,temp_buf);
temp_buf = temp_buf + bytesread;
length = length - bytesread;
}
Here again you are ignoring the possibility of end of stream or an error. It should be:
while ((bytesread = read(sd,temp_buf, length)) > 0)
{
temp_buf += bytes_read;
length -= bytesread;
}
if (bytesread < 0)
{
perror("read 2");
}
else if (length > 0)
{
// end of stream before all expected bytes were received ...
}
else
{
// The OK case
}
Your sending code is suboptimal:
while(length > 0)
{
bytesread = write(sd,buffer,4);/*write 4 bytes to server*/
buffer = buffer + bytesread;
length = length - bytesread;
}
There's no point in chunking into 4-byte writes. It should be:
while (length > 0)
{
bytesread = write(sd, buffer, length);
buffer = buffer + bytesread;
length = length - bytesread;
}
and of course the misnamed bytesread variable should be called byteswritten. In fact you can rely on this loop only executing once. Again it should be followed by a test of byteswritten == -1 to check for errors.

Answer 3

Your functions have logic errors in them.
The reading loop is reading exactly 4 bytes on each iteration. If the length of the data being read is not an even multiple of 4, read() will block on the last iteration waiting for data that does not arrive. The reading loop is also assuming that read() returns a null-terminated buffer, but that is not the case, so strcat() will attempt to copy data from surrounding memory and will either copy garbage or crash with a segfault. Also, the reading function is not null-terminating the data buffer it returns to the caller, but the caller assumes it is null-terminated.
The writing loop is writing exactly 4 bytes on each iteration. If the length of the data is not an even multiple of 4, write() will attempt to write data from surrounding memory on the last iteration, and will either send garbage or crash with a segfault.
You are also not doing adequate error handling in either function.
Try something more like this instead:
void read_raw_bytes (int sd, void *data, int length)
{
int bytes_read;
char *data_ptr;
data_ptr = (char*) data;
while( length > 0 )
{
bytes_read = read(sd, data_ptr, length);
if( bytes_read < 0 )
{
printf("Error on reading from socket\n");
exit(1);
}
if( bytes_read == 0 )
{
printf("Disconnected while reading from socket\n");
exit(1);
}
data_ptr += bytes_read;
length -= bytes_read;
}
}
void write_raw_bytes (int sd, void *data, int length)
{
int bytes_sent;
char *data_ptr;
data_ptr = (char*) data;
while( length > 0 )
{
bytes_sent = write(sd, data_ptr, length);
if( bytes_sent < 0 )
{
printf("Error on writing to socket\n");
exit(0);
}
data_ptr += bytes_sent;
length -= bytes_sent;
}
}
int read_data (int sd, char **data_buf)
{
int length;
read_raw_bytes (sd, &length, sizeof(length)); /*send entire length of data*/
length = ntohl(length);
printf("Total length coming : %d\n", length);
*data_buf = (char *) malloc((length+1)*sizeof(char));
if (*data_buf == NULL)
{
printf("Error on allocating memory\n");
exit(1);
}
read_raw_bytes (sd, *data_buf, length);
(*data_buf)[length] = 0;
return 1;
}
int write_data (int sd, char *buffer)
{
int length, len_buff;
len_buff = strlen(buffer); /*total length of string*/
printf("string == %s\n", buffer);
printf("Total length send =%d\n", len_buff);
length = htonl(len_buff); /*convert to host to n/w*/
write_raw_bytes (sd, &length, sizeof(length)); /*write total size to server */
write_raw_bytes (sd, buffer, len_buff);
return 1;
}