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Java - TCP/IP - Server can't send message back to Client?

I want to send an object from my client to my localhost server to add to database, and send result back whether the object was sent successfully or not. The object was sent successfully, but my server doesn't send the result back to client, and causes my client frame form hanged due to waiting for response from server. I don't know what's wrong with my code. Can you tell me some ways to fix this?
Here is the function to send the result:
public void sendResult(String result) {
try {
Socket clientSocket = myServer.accept();
System.out.println("Connected to client");
ObjectOutputStream os = new ObjectOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
os.writeObject(result);
System.out.println("Result sent");
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
Where the send result function is called:
public void service() {
try {
if (receiveStudent() != null) {
Student std = receiveStudent();
if (dao.addStudent(std)) {
System.out.println("OK");
sendResult("OK");
} else {
System.out.println("FAILED");
sendResult("FAILED");
}
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
In addition, in the Service function, the console printed "OK", which means the if condition was satisfied.
receive student method:
public Student receiveStudent() {
Student s = new Student();
try {
Socket clientSocket = myServer.accept();
System.out.println("Connect to client successfully");
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(clientSocket.getInputStream());
Object o = ois.readObject();
if (o instanceof Student) {
s = (Student) o;
return s;
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}

Because of myServer.accept() in sendResult(), the server is again waiting for an incoming client connection while this already happened in receiveStudent(). Reuse that connection.
Share the client socket you've obtained in receiveStudent() by, e.g., turning it into a field.
public Student receiveStudent() {
...
try {
clientSocket = myServer.accept();
...
} catch (Exception ex) {
...
}
...
}
and then reuse that socket in sendResult() to send the result to the client.
public static void sendResult(String result) {
try {
...
ObjectOutputStream os = new ObjectOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
...
} catch (Exception ex) {
...
}
}

If you want to send a String as object why don't you just use something like this:
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOutputStream(), true); //for sending String messages
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream())); //for getting String messages
... and then when you need to send you do it like this:
out.println(textToServer"); // send to server - don't forget LN in println.
out.flush(); // to clean buffer
It should do what you need to be done.
And make sure that your client class is waiting to get that InputStream you're sending, don't forget that, since maybe it's the problem in the Client side.
Maybe Client is not accepting that incoming Socket regardless if it's ObjectInputStream or BufferedReader that will accept the incoming socket object.
You could provide us a Client class so we can see if there's missing acceptance of incoming socket.
At the end of the method make sure you close your streams and sockets.
out.close();
in.close();
socket.close();
For more details check this, this and this. I hope I was helpful :)

You're calling accept() twice. This is meaningless. You need to:
Accept the connection. This returns a Socket.
Read the request and create the response.
Send the response, via the same Socket you accepted at (1).
You also want to create a new thread per accepted socket, and you also want to do all I/O in that thread, including creating the ObjectInputStream and ObjectOutputStream. Otherwise your server isn't properly multi-threaded and multi-client.

simple multi-threaded server chat using java

I'm creating a java chat server that handles multi clients I use this simple code for server
public class Server extends Thread {
ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
Socket socket = null;
private int unique_id;
ArrayList<Clients> cl;
public Server(int port) {
try {
serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port);
cl = new ArrayList<>();
this.start();
} catch (Exception e){
System.out.println("Error 5");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
#Override
public void run(){
System.out.println("Server Start");
while (true){
try {
socket = serverSocket.accept();
Clients t = new Clients(socket); // add it to thread
cl.add(t);
t.start();
System.out.println("Connected " + String.valueOf(cl.size())); // printed ok
}catch (Exception e){
System.out.println("Error 4");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public synchronized void SendToAll(String s){ // this function used by client when one of client socket send a message then server send it to all
System.out.println("Sended is excuted"); // excuted normal each time i send a message from client but not send to all
for (int i = 0; i < cl.size(); i++){
cl.get(i).WriteToSocket(s);
}
}
public static void main(String args[]){
int port = 5002;
Server server = new Server(port); // start server
//server.run(); // start connections wait for it
}
class Clients extends Thread { // class extends thread
public Socket socket = null;
DataInputStream input = null; // read input
DataOutputStream output = null; // read output
public int myid = 0; // unique id for each client
public Clients(Socket soc) {
socket = soc;
try {
input = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
output = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
myid = ++unique_id;
System.out.println("Client Start Thread"); // printed ok !
} catch (IOException e){
System.out.println("Error 1");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void WriteToSocket(String s) { // used to write a message to this socket
try {
output.write(s.getBytes());
}catch (IOException e){
System.out.println("Error 2");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
#Override
public void run() { // run thread function wait for messages from clients
while (true){
try {
String s = input.readLine();
if (s.contains("quite")) {
socket.close();
input.close();
output.close();
cl.remove(this);
this.stop();
}
if (!s.isEmpty()) {
SendToAll(s);// when message come and not empty it use server function to send them to all clients
}
}catch (IOException e){
System.out.println("Error 3");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}
everything works fine when clients connect the server accept the connection and the client thread started
but the problem when I sent a message from the client it didn't received by the server I try my client application in java too with Qt c++ server and it works ?
so what did I do wrong here make the server can't receive the message ?
this my first time in network programming using java
Edit
I solve the NullPointerException the problem was that when client log out I didn't remove his socket from the ArrayList solved by making client before close send message contains quite so when I see it i remove his socket from array list Another Quetiosn Here i don't know how this message sentthe System.out.println() that is in the SendToAll function printed to the screen each time client send a message but why the message not send again to all clients ? actually the main problem is that server can't send the message to all clients in the array list after message comes from one client the problem not solved stell found
Client Code class
public class ClientSocket extends Thread {
public Socket socket = null;
public DataInputStream input = null;
public DataOutputStream output = null;
MainChat chat = null;
public ClientSocket(String ip, int port,MainChat ch) {
try {
socket = new Socket(ip,port);
input = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
output = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
chat = ch;
this.start();
}catch (IOException e){
}
}
#Override
public void run() {
while (true){
try {
String s = input.readLine();
if (!s.isEmpty()){
chat.WriteToScreen(s.trim());
}
}catch (IOException e){
}
}
}
public void WriteToSocket(String s) throws IOException{
output.write(s.getBytes());
}
}
Edit
when i use this code in main the SendToAll function send the message to all clients !! why when i use it from clients class using Thread it not sended to all ?
public static void main(String args[]){
int port = 5002;
Server server = new Server(port); // start server
//server.run(); // start connections wait for it
while (true) {
String s = in.next();
server.SendToAll(s + "\n"); // message sended to all client !!
}
}

The problem is that readLine reads until it finds a line terminator of end of file. This is why it works with other server in QT C++ but not with the Java server.
Please see here:
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/io/DataInput.html#readLine()
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/io/DataInputStream.html#readLine()
Please note that readLine in DataInputStream is deprecated. You should use BufferedReader to read a line (with readLine) as indicated in the DataInputStream link.
So, add '\n' to the end of the string sent and it will work.

I solve the problem, I am sorry for that it was my fault I forget to add \n in sendToAll function so this what cause the problem so no \n the clients can't read the line because I use readLine in DataInputStream
anyway I try another method to read bytes instead of readLine it's I think it's better especially when you receive UTF-8 char and after that changes from bytes to String

app get stuck at serverSocket.accept() and gives bind exception address already in use on the second call for the thread

I have two problems with an app that i have built for socket communication, first I'll try to explain what the app does and then I'll go into the details of those two problems.
First I click on a button, which starts a thread, which sends a multicast massage "group address" through a UDP socket. Once any of the devices receive the massage, they will send a response through TCP socket and my device will act as a server to the one that sent the response. So after debugging I found out the first problem which is clientSocket = serverSocket.accept(); sometimes gets stuck and the app will block everything and keep executing it, which might happen because the udp massage might never arrive at the destination which means there is no client for the tcp server that I've created.
First question: Is there any way to make the serverSocket.accept(); non-blocking or set a time out? I've tried serverSocket.setTimeSoOut() method, but that didn't work. Maybe this problem comes from something other than the UDP message?
The second problem is that if I press the button that calls the thread twice it will throw a BindException address already in use: Which will happen because of the re execution of serverSocket.bind(new InetSocketAddress(4125));. Is there any way to fix/avoid that?
Here are the threads that I'm using:
This one is called after I press the button:
private class ChatClientThread extends Thread {
DatagramSocket socket;
String sentence;
String modifiedSentence;
BufferedReader inFromUser;
DataOutputStream outToServer;
BufferedReader inFromServer;
Socket clientSocket;
ServerSocket serverSocket;
#Override
public void run() {
/*Socket socket = null;
DataOutputStream dataOutputStream = null;
DataInputStream dataInputStream=null;*/
clientSocket=null;
try {
String data="NewTask_"+EmpPhoneNumber;
serverSocket=new ServerSocket();
serverSocket.setReuseAddress(true);
serverSocket.bind(new InetSocketAddress(4125));
socket = new DatagramSocket(52276);
socket.setBroadcast(true);
InetAddress group = InetAddress.getByName(
"224.0.1.2");
DatagramPacket packet = new DatagramPacket(data.getBytes(), data.length(),
group, 52276);
socket.send(packet);
while(true){
clientSocket = serverSocket.accept();
ConnectThread ct=new ConnectThread(clientSocket);
ct.start();
}
} catch (UnknownHostException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
final String eString = e.toString();
TicketDetails.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Toast.makeText(TicketDetails.this, eString, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
});
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
final String eString = e.toString();
TicketDetails.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Toast.makeText(TicketDetails.this, eString, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
});
} finally {
TicketDetails.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
}
});
}
}
}
this one is called from the above thread as you can see:
private class ConnectThread extends Thread {
Socket socket;
String sentence;
String modifiedSentence;
BufferedReader inFromUser;
DataOutputStream outToServer;
BufferedReader inFromServer;
ConnectThread(Socket socket){
this.socket= socket;
}
#Override
public void run() {
DataInputStream dataInputStream = null;
DataOutputStream dataOutputStream = null;
Socket socket2 = null;
DataOutputStream dataOutputStream2= null;
DataInputStream dataInputStream2=null;
try {
while(true){
inFromUser = new BufferedReader( new InputStreamReader(System.in));
outToServer = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
inFromServer = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));
sentence = inFromUser.readLine();
modifiedSentence = inFromServer.readLine();
socket2 = new Socket(socket.getInetAddress().getHostAddress(), 4125);
dataOutputStream2 = new DataOutputStream(
socket2.getOutputStream());
String[] parts = modifiedSentence.split("_");
String partGive = parts[0].substring(4); // 004
String partEmpId = parts[1];
if(partGive.equals("GiveMeATask")&&Integer.parseInt(partEmpId)==empId){
dataOutputStream2.writeUTF(" "+"SolveProblemOrder_2");
dataOutputStream2.flush();
}
System.out.println("FROM SERVER: " + modifiedSentence);
if(modifiedSentence!=null) break;}
outToServer.close();
inFromServer.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (dataInputStream != null) {
try {
dataInputStream.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
if (dataOutputStream != null) {
try {
dataOutputStream.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}

Those are two very commmon problems. I'll answer the two in reverse order.
The button you are talking about is creating a ServerSocket and binding it to a specific port. In your case, the port is 4125. From looking at your code, you don't seem to be closing that serversocket anywhere. When you click the button a second time, a second instance of ServerSocket tries to bind to the same port - but that port is still in use by the first ServerSocket. In that case, you get a bind exception. One port cannot be used by more than one ServerSocket. The solution would be to close the existing ServerSocket before creating a new one using serverSocket.close();
If you read the documentation, it clearly states what ServerSocket.accept() does: "[...] The method blocks until a connection is made." This is the "getting stuck" that you described. The thread that executes that code is put into a waiting position and continues only when a connection is made, then returns that new connection. The classic approach is to start a new thread that waits for incoming connections so that your main thread continues to execute and your whole application does not "freeze". Another approach would be a non-blocking framework that encapsulates all that overhead away from you, one of those is Apache MINA.
I would highly suggest to look into small example projects that deal with basic client/server behaviour as you will most likely deal with threads here.

First problem: It is very likely that your application is not receiving the UDP packages. If serverSocket.accept() doesn't get any clients it'll wait indefinitely for someone to connect. You could avoid this by using yet another thread that just accepts connections to avoid freezing your application. Another way would be to use Java's NIO classes that provide non-blocking IO for pretty much anything. That would require you to use ServerSocketChannel and related classes. (Quick googling also gave me this guide which seems fairly easy to follow).
Second problem: You need to close your ServerSocket once you're done using it. Otherwise the port will never be free again to be used by another ServerSocket.
Alternatively you could just leave the Socket open and remember that you already openend it (e.g. with a boolean field in your class).

Getting Null String when reading from a socket

I am trying to write a client-server system using Sockets in java, however I cannot seem to read data sent from the server to the client.
Here is the code for the client:
public class ClientSocket
{
Socket clientSocket = null;
PrintWriter out = null;
BufferedReader in = null;
// establish a connection to All Care's server application through socket 4444 (adjust localhost to reflect the IP address that the server
// is being run from)
public ClientSocket()
{
try
{
clientSocket = new Socket("localhost", 4445);
out = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream()));
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Could not connect to All Care Server Application");
}
}
public void closeClientSocket()
{
try
{
clientSocket.close();
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Could not close connection to All Care Server Application");
}
}
public String getMessageFromServer()
{
try
{
String input = in.readLine();
return input;
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Could not read message from server");
}
return "No Data";
}
public void sendMessageToServer(String message)
{
out.write(message);
}
}
And here is the Server code:
public class ArFileServer {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
boolean listening = true;
try
{
serverSocket = new ServerSocket(4445);
// infinite loop to continually listen for connection requests made by clients
while (listening)
{
new ClientConnection(serverSocket.accept()).start();
if (serverSocket != null)
{
System.out.println("Connection to client established");
}
}
serverSocket.close();
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Error could not create socket connection to port");
}
}
}
public class ClientConnection extends Thread
{
private Socket socket = null;
public ClientConnection(Socket socket)
{
super("ClientConnection");
this.socket = socket;
}
// the thread that runs after a connection to the server has been accepted
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(socket.getOutputStream());
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));
sendMessagetoClient(out, "CONNECTION SUCCESS");
// check login credentials sent from client to the server
// if valid send back their encrypted password, otherwise output a login error message
// wait for user input and then do various processes based on their requests
in.close();
out.close();
socket.close();
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Client socket connection error");
}
}
// sends a message to the client
void sendMessagetoClient(PrintWriter out, String message)
{
out.write(message);
}
// listens for a message from the client
String getMessageFromClient(BufferedReader in)
{
try
{
String input = in.readLine();
return input;
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Could not read message from client");
}
return "No Data";
}
And here is the line of code im using to see if the data is being sent.
System.out.println(clientSocket.getMessageFromServer());

In your sendMessageToClient() method, you need to flush:
void sendMessagetoClient(PrintWriter out, String message)
{
out.write(message);
out.flush();
}
Or, when you create the PrintWriter, use the constructor with autoflush:
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(socket.getOutputStream(),true);
And when you write, instead of out.write(message) use printf() or println().

There are several problems here.
You are reading lines but you aren't writing lines.
You aren't checking the result of readLine() for null, which means the peer has closed the connection, which means you must do likewise.
You aren't flushing the PrintWriter after you write.
You are closing things in the wrong order. You must close the output writer/stream you have attached to the socket. Doing that flushes it and then closes the input stream/reader and the socket. Doing this in the wrong order loses the flush. Once you've closed the output you don't need the other two closes.
You are using PrintWriter, which swallows exceptions, across a network, where you need to know about exceptions and errors in communication, and you aren't checking for errors either. Use a BufferedWriter.

in the clint code you are not connecting with server socket.
for clint socket connection
socket soc= new socket ("server host ip",port);

Opening read/write streams multiple times from a Socket

In a class where I have ServerSocket listening for incoming connections, following is the code:
while(isRunning)
{
try
{
Socket s = mysocketserver.accept();
acknowledgeClient(s);
new ClientHandler(s).start(); //Start new thread to serve the client, and get back to accept new connections.
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
And following is acknowledgeClient(Socket s) code.
ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(s.getInputStream);
ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(s.getOutStream);
String msg = in.readObject().toString();
System.out.println(msg+" is Connected"); //Show who's connected
out.writeObject("success"); //Respond with success.
in.close();
out.close();
The run() method of the ClientHandler.
try
{
in = new ObjectInputStream(client.getInputStream());
out = new ObjectOutputstream(client.getOutputStream());
String msg = "";
while(!msg.equalsIgnoreCase("bye"))
{
msg = in.readObject().toString();
System.out.println("Client Says - "+msg);
out.writeObject("success");
}
in.close();
out.close();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
And following is the way how client program communicates with this Echo Server.
try
{
int count = 10;
client = new Socket("localhost",8666);
in = new ObjectInputStream(client.getInputStream());
out = new ObjectOutputstream(client.getOutputStream());
out.writeObject("Foo");
System.out.println("Connection Status : "+in.readObject().toString());
while(count>0)
{
out.writeObject("Hello!");
String resp = in.readObject().toString(); //Getting EOFException here.
System.out.println("Sent with :"+resp);
count--;
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
out.close();
in.close();
client.close();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
As you might have noticed that, after the client is acknowledged after connection, I close the read/write streams, and from new thread which is serving the client, I'm opening the stream again, and from the server reading/writing from the connected socket is started, but as soon as I attempt to read server's response on sending Hello! by client, it crashes with EOFException instead of getting success.
I know the causes for which EOF occurs but not getting the clue that why is it happening here, I'm not attempting to read socket that has nothing in its stream (it should have success as written by server).
Is it too early that client is attempting to read socket before server has printed Hello! on its end and written success as response?
P.S. : I know its not a good way to ask question by putting so much code, we're expected here to get answers of the issue and understand it rather than having our problem fixed by others and get away. So, I've provided this much code to show all aspects from the problem.

I studied the source code of ObjectInputStream, and it appears that the reference to the original input stream s.getInputStream() is stored inside the ObjectInputStream.
When you close the ObjectInputStream, s.getInputStream() is closed as well.
Once an input stream is closed, it cannot be opened again. Thus, you get an EOFException, which indicates that you are at the end of the stream (since the stream could not be opened again).
You should do something like this to acknowledge the client.
Inside the run() method of the ClientHandler:
try {
// acknowledge client
ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(s.getInputStream());
ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(s.getOutStream());
String msg = in.readObject().toString();
System.out.println(msg+" is Connected"); //Show who's connected
out.writeObject("success"); //Respond with success.
// end acknowledge client
String msg = "";
while(!msg.equalsIgnoreCase("bye"))
{
msg = in.readObject().toString();
System.out.println("Client Says - "+msg);
out.writeObject("success");
}
in.close();
out.close();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
If you want to isolate the acknowledge code in a seperate method, just be sure to maintain a proper reference to the same ObjectInputStream without closing the stream, then pass the reference around.

I'm opening the stream again, and from the server reading/writing from the connected socket is started,
Once a stream is close, you can't open it again. In fact you can't use two Object stream on the same stream this way at all.
Instead you should create an object stream for input and output once and only once and not close it until you have finished.

Well take a look at this program, i wrote it to understand multiple clients and server communication, your question is answered in this program.
The Client side code
public class ClientWala {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{
Boolean b = true;
Socket s = new Socket("127.0.0.1", 4444);
System.out.println("connected: "+s.isConnected());
OutputStream output = s.getOutputStream();
PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter(output,true);
// to write data to server
while(b){
if (!b){
System.exit(0);
}
else {
pw.write(new Scanner(System.in).nextLine());
}
}
// to read data from server
InputStream input = s.getInputStream();
InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(input);
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(isr);
String data = null;
while ((data = br.readLine())!=null){
// Print it using sysout, or do whatever you want with the incoming data from server
}
}
}
Server Side code
public class ServerTest {
ServerSocket s;
public void go() {
try {
s = new ServerSocket(44457);
while (true) {
Socket incoming = s.accept();
Thread t = new Thread(new MyCon(incoming));
t.start();
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
class MyCon implements Runnable {
Socket incoming;
public MyCon(Socket incoming) {
this.incoming = incoming;
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter(incoming.getOutputStream(),
true);
InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(
incoming.getInputStream());
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(isr);
String inp = null;
boolean isDone = true;
System.out.println("TYPE : BYE");
System.out.println();
while (isDone && ((inp = br.readLine()) != null)) {
System.out.println(inp);
if (inp.trim().equals("BYE")) {
System.out
.println("THANKS FOR CONNECTING...Bye for now");
isDone = false;
s.close();
}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
try {
s.close();
} catch (IOException e1) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e1.printStackTrace();
}
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new ServerTest().go();
}
}

Closing any input stream or output stream or reader or writer around a socket stream closes the socket, and by implication the other streams, readers, and writers.
Use the same streams, readers, writers for the life of the socket.