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Explanation of Echo Server

The document outlines a C program that sets up a TCP server capable of accepting connections from clients. It includes necessary header files for input/output, string manipulation, memory management, and socket operations, and defines a constant for buffer size. The server listens for connections, handles up to five clients, reads data from them, and includes error handling for various operations.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
21 views3 pages

Explanation of Echo Server

The document outlines a C program that sets up a TCP server capable of accepting connections from clients. It includes necessary header files for input/output, string manipulation, memory management, and socket operations, and defines a constant for buffer size. The server listens for connections, handles up to five clients, reads data from them, and includes error handling for various operations.

Uploaded by

wilsonntipapa
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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#include <stdio.h>: This includes the standard input-output library header file.

It provides functions like


printf() and scanf() for input and output operations.

#include <string.h>: This includes the string manipulation library header file. It provides functions like
strcpy(), strcat(), and strlen() for various string operations.

#include <stdlib.h>: This includes the standard library header file. It provides functions like malloc(),
calloc(), and free() for memory management, as well as other utility functions.

#include <unistd.h>: This includes the POSIX standard header file for Unix operating systems. It provides
access to various POSIX system calls and constants.

#include <arpa/inet.h>: This includes the header file for internet operations in the C language. It
provides functions and structures for handling IP addresses and ports, including functions like
inet_addr() and structures like struct sockaddr_in.

#include <sys/socket.h>: This includes the socket-related header file. It provides functions and structures
for creating and manipulating network sockets, including functions like socket(), bind(), listen(), and
structures like struct sockaddr.

#define BUF_SIZE 1024: This line is a preprocessor directive that defines a constant BUF_SIZE with a
value of 1024. It's commonly used to make the code more readable and maintainable by assigning a
meaningful name to a constant value.

void error_handling(char *message);: This is a function prototype declaration. It declares a function


named error_handling that takes a single argument, which is a pointer to a character array (string). The
function returns nothing (void). This function is likely used for handling errors.

int main(int argc, char *argv[]): This is the main function where the program execution begins. It takes
two arguments: argc, which stands for "argument count" and represents the number of command-line
arguments passed to the program, and argv, which stands for "argument vector" and is an array of
strings containing the command-line arguments.

int serv_sock, clnt_sock;: Declaration of two integer variables serv_sock and clnt_sock, which
presumably represent server and client sockets respectively.

char message[BUF_SIZE];: Declaration of a character array message with a size of BUF_SIZE. This array is
likely to be used for storing messages received or sent by the server.

int str_len, i;: Declaration of two integer variables str_len and i, which are probably used for string
lengths and loop indices respectively.

struct sockaddr_in serv_adr; and struct sockaddr_in clnt_adr;: Declaration of two structures serv_adr
and clnt_adr, which are used to hold socket address information. These are typically used in networking
programs with sockets.

socklen_t clnt_adr_sz;: Declaration of a variable clnt_adr_sz of type socklen_t, which presumably holds
the size of the client address.

if(argc!=2): This condition checks if the program is invoked with exactly two command-line arguments,
where argc is the count of command-line arguments and argv is an array containing those arguments. If
the condition is not met (i.e., if the number of arguments is not 2), it prints a usage message indicating
how to use the program (usage : %s<port>\n, where %s is replaced by argv[0], which is the program
name followed by "<port>"), and then exits the program with an exit status of 1, indicating an error.

serv_sock=socket(PF_INET,SOCK_STREAM,0);: This line creates a socket for communication. It specifies


the address domain (PF_INET, which indicates IPv4), the type of socket (SOCK_STREAM, which indicates
a TCP socket for stream-oriented communication), and the protocol (0, which typically represents the
default protocol for the specified combination of address domain and socket type). If the socket creation
fails (serv_sock==-1), it is likely to invoke an error handling function (not provided in this snippet) to
handle the error.

memset (&serv_adr,0,sizeof(serv_adr));: This line initializes the memory block pointed to by serv_adr
with zeros. serv_adr is a structure of type sockaddr_in, which is used to specify the address for the bind()
function.

serv_adr.sin_family=AF_INET;: This line sets the address family of the server address structure to
AF_INET, which indicates the IPv4 address family.

serv_adr.sin_addr.s_addr=htonl(INADDR_ANY);: This line sets the IP address of the server to


INADDR_ANY, meaning the server will accept connections on any available network interface. The htonl()
function converts the IP address from host byte order to network byte order.

serv_adr.sin_port=htons(atoi(argv[1]));: This line sets the port number of the server. It takes the second
command-line argument (argv[1]), converts it to an integer using atoi() (ASCII to integer), and then
converts it from host byte order to network byte order using htons() (host to network short).

if (bind(serv_sock,(struct sockaddr*)&serv_adr,sizeof(serv_adr))==-1): This line binds the socket to the


server address specified in serv_adr. If binding fails, it's likely to invoke an error handling function (not
provided in this snippet) to handle the error.

if(listen(serv_sock,5)==-1): This line puts the server socket in the listening state, allowing it to accept
incoming connections. The second argument, 5, specifies the maximum length of the queue of pending
connections. If listening fails, it's likely to invoke an error handling function (not provided in this snippet)
to handle the error.

for loop: This loop runs five times, incrementing the variable i from 0 to 4.

accept() function: This function is used to accept a connection from a client. It takes three arguments:
the server socket descriptor serv_sock, a pointer to a structure clnt_adr containing the client's address,
and a pointer to the size of the client's address clnt_adr_sz. The result of accept() is stored in clnt_sock.

Error handling: If accept() returns -1, indicating an error, the error_handling() function is called with the
message "accept(), error".

If the accept() call is successful, it prints a message indicating that a client has connected.

while loop: This loop reads data from the client socket (clnt_sock) into the buffer message until read()
returns 0, indicating that the client has closed the connection. Inside this loop, the close() function is
called to close the client socket.
After the while loop, the code returns to the for loop and repeats the process until i reaches 5.

Outside the for loop, the server socket (serv_sock) is closed using the close() function.

Finally, the function returns 0.

error_handling() function: This function takes a string message as an argument, prints it to the standard
error stream (stderr), appends a newline character, and exits the program with an exit status of 1.

Overall, this code sets up a server that accepts connections from clients, reads data from them, and
closes the connection after reading data from each client. It runs a total of 5 iterations, accepting
connections from 5 different clients. If any errors occur during the process, it prints an error message
and exits.

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