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Java can't get a continuous reading/writing to a socket

I'm studying electronic engineering but for my internship I've been asked to make a program that must communicate via a socket to a certain ip and port. The program has a main class which is the GUI and I made another class for the connection which runs parallel using a Thread. The problem is that when I click the "Connect" button that I have on my GUI, it only receives or sends once the data, despite having a while loop. To further receive and send data I must spam-click my connect and disconnect button.
public class ConnectionSocket implements Runnable {
private final int port;
private final String ipAddr;
private final Observer observador;
private DataInputStream in;
private DataOutputStream out;
private Socket sc = null;
private boolean inputAvailable = false;
public boolean lastInput = false;
private String nextOutputMessage;
private boolean disconnect=false;
private Observable observable;
public ConnectionSocket(String ip, int p , Observer panel) {
this.ipAddr = ip;
this.port = p;
this.observador = panel;
}
#Override
public void run() {
this.observable = new Observable();
observable.addPropertyChangeListener(observador);
this.observable.notifyData("Message Connected");
System.out.print("\n**********************\nConectado\n**********************\n");
while (!disconnect) {
try {
try {
sc = new Socket(this.ipAddr , this.port);
}
catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("Socket TimeOut");
}
if(sc != null) {
out = new DataOutputStream(sc.getOutputStream());
in = new DataInputStream(sc.getInputStream());
}
while(!disconnect){
if (sc != null) {
try {
if(in.available() != 0) {
receiveData();
}
else {
inputAvailable = false;
}
}
catch(IOException ex) {
System.out.println("***Read or write error***");
System.out.println(ex.toString());
}
}
}
if ( sc != null ) {
try { sc.close(); }
catch ( IOException e ) {}
}
} catch (IOException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(ConnectionSocket.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
//Close the socket
cutConnection();
System.out.print("\n**********************\nDesconectado\n**********************\n");
}
public void sendNewData(String msg) throws IOException { //this method receives data from the GUI//
nextOutputMessage = msg;
sendData();
}
private synchronized void sendData() throws IOException {
System.out.println("Panel: " + nextOutputMessage);
out.writeByte((byte) Integer.parseInt(nextOutputMessage));
}
private synchronized void receiveData() throws IOException {
if(!inputAvailable)System.out.print("CUBE: ");
inputAvailable = true;
while(in.available() != 0) {
byte dat = (byte) in.read();
this.observable.notifyData(Character.toString((char) dat));
System.out.print((char) dat);
}
}
public void cutConnection() {
try {
disconnect = true;
if(this.in != null) {
this.in.close();
}
if(this.out != null) {
this.out.close();
}
if(this.sc != null) {
this.sc.close();
}
} catch (IOException ex) {
this.sc = null;
}
}
}
I use two additional classes which use PropertyChangeListener to send the data received to the GUI, otherwise it just blocks it.
I receive and send data as ASCII code.
This is the method in the GUI class which starts the thread (the connection)
private void connect(String ip, int port) {
jButton_connect.setText("Desconectar");
labelMessage("Conectando...");
observerPanel = new Observer(this);
connection = new ConnectionSocket(ip , port, observerPanel);
Thread t = new Thread(connection);
t.start();
}
So basically I would appreciate any hint about what I'm doing wrong, because I can't really find any solution suitable for my needs. BTW any solution that includes getting rid of the double while loop would be great, as it consumes a lot of cpu in that point. Feel free to criticise any stupid thing I made because I had to learn java from zero to do this so it's probably not really good.
Thanks in advance
Edit 1: Does the sc = new Socket(this.ipAddr , this.port); sentence need to be called in the loop or once it's called it permanently bounds to that ip and port? I only need to connect to a specific ip and port. Thanks

Java - Multithread Server to serve multiple concurrent clients

I've been trying to make the code below to have multiple clients communicate with the same server.
Currently, it works one client at a time with the server but it seems to be that when the second client opens, code stops at new ObjectInputStream(connection.getInputStream()); in the Class 3 (client) - see below.
I've tried making the inputstream object transient to be shared in different threads but it didn't work, nor with making runClient method synchronized.
If I were to implement Serializable in the client class using serialVersionUID, how can I make multithreading work with the same server or is there any better way..?
Class 1 - server main
public class EchoServer {
private ServerSocket server;
private int portNum;
public static final int DEFAULT_PORT = 8081;
public EchoServer(int portNum) {
this.portNum = portNum;
}
public void runServer() {
System.out.println("Echo Server started...");
try {
server = new ServerSocket(portNum);
Socket connection = server.accept();
new Thread(new ClientHandler(connection)).run();
} catch(IOException ex) {
System.err.println("Error encountered! Port is likely already in use! Exiting program...");
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
if (args.length > 0) {
(new EchoServer(Integer.parseInt(args[0]))).runServer();
} else {
(new EchoServer(DEFAULT_PORT)).runServer();
}
}
}
Class 2
public class ClientHandler implements Runnable {
private ObjectOutputStream output;
private ObjectInputStream input;
private String message;
/** Integer to hold the message number. */
private int messagenum;
private Socket connection;
public ClientHandler(Socket connection) {
this.connection = connection;
}
#Override
public void run() {
do{
handleRequest();
} while (true);
}
public void handleRequest() {
try {
output = new ObjectOutputStream(this.connection.getOutputStream());
input = new ObjectInputStream(this.connection.getInputStream());
do {
try {
message = (String) input.readObject();
System.out.println(messagenum +" Output> " +message);
} catch (EOFException | SocketException e) {
message = null;
}
if (message != null) {
output.writeObject(messagenum +" FromServer> " +message);
output.flush();
++messagenum;
}
} while (message != null);
input.close();
output.close();
this.connection.close();
} catch (IOException | ClassNotFoundException ex) {
System.err.println("Error encountered! Exiting program...");
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Class 3 - client main
public class EchoClient implements Serializable {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private Socket connection;
private ObjectOutputStream output;
private transient ObjectInputStream input;
private String message = "";
private static String serverName;
public static final String DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME = "localhost";
private static int portNum;
BufferedReader keyboard = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
public EchoClient(String serverName, int portNum) {
this.serverName = serverName;
this.portNum = portNum;
}
public synchronized void runClient() {
try {
connection = new Socket(InetAddress.getByName(serverName), portNum);
output = new ObjectOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
input = new ObjectInputStream(connection.getInputStream());
do {
System.out.print("Input> ");
message = keyboard.readLine();
if (message != null){
output.writeObject(message);
output.flush();
message = (String) input.readObject();
System.out.println(message);
}
} while (message != null);
input.close();
output.close();
connection.close();
} catch (IOException ioException) {
ioException.printStackTrace();
} catch (ClassNotFoundException exception) {
exception.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
switch (args.length) {
case 2:
(new EchoClient(args[0], Integer.parseInt(args[1]))).runClient();
break;
case 1:
(new EchoClient(DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME, Integer.parseInt(args[0]))).runClient();
break;
default:
(new EchoClient(DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME, server.EchoServer.DEFAULT_PORT)).runClient();
}
}
}

Call server.accept() in the loop to accept multiple client connections as mentioned in the other answers. Start a new thread with the Thread.start method instead of Thread.run- What's the difference between Thread start() and Runnable run().
volatile boolean isRunning = true;
public void runServer() {
System.out.println("Echo Server started...");
try {
server = new ServerSocket(portNum);
while(isRunning) {
Socket connection = server.accept();
new Thread(new ClientHandler(connection)).start();
}
} catch(IOException ex) {
System.err.println("Error encountered! Port is likely already in use! Exiting program...");
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}

run server needs to wait for connections in a loop otherwise it will connect once and that is it. It needs to close its connections too. Clean up its threads. that's just in server main. I'm pretty sure this is a duplicate. So keep on researching

As said by efekctive, you need your server.accept() in a loop, else it will accept the first client and exit the program. So put these two lines in runServer() in a loop like this:
boolean isRunning = true;
while(isRunning){
Socket connection = server.accept();
new Thread(new ClientHandler(connection)).run();
}

Set server listening a sending messages from (servers/client) to (server/client) separately for each client

Trying to write - distributive simulation framework, where program is represented by an array with moving objects, server send command to move, client answer objects out of array
Goal - server send text message to each connected client separately
- client answer
Problem - can not find a way how to implement server listening and writing to one choosed client
Is there anyone, please, who can help me or get some idea?
private ServerSocket serverSocket;
private ArrayList<BufferedReader> clientBufReaders;
private ArrayList<BufferedWriter> clientBufWriters;
public static void main(String[] args) {
Server server = new Server();
}
public Server() {
try {
this.serverSocket = new ServerSocket(23456);
this.clientBufReaders = new ArrayList<BufferedReader>();
this.clientBufWriters = new ArrayList<BufferedWriter>();
this.clients();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private void clients() {
Thread acceptThread = new Thread(new Runnable() {
private Scanner in;
public void run() {
while (true) {
try {
Socket clientSocket = serverSocket.accept();
clientBufReaders.add(new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream())));
clientBufWriters.add(new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(clientSocket.getOutputStream())));
this.in = new Scanner(System.in);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
);
acceptThread.start();
while (true) {
synchronized (clientBufReaders) {
for (BufferedReader in : clientBufReaders) {
try {
if (in.ready()) {
System.out.println(in.readLine());
} else {
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}

Handling multi Java TCP clients with Threads

I have been working with TCP server/client stuff for a while. I am actully good at UDP programming when it comes to connecting more than one user that is multiple clients. I tried to do the same on a TCP server that i made using Threads but whenever the Thread gets to this piece of code
String reader = (String)in.readObject();
an error is generated and the thread stops executing the code but the thread still runs the program keeping it alive.
Anyway here is the entire source code :
public class TestServer implements Runnable {
private Thread run, streams, connect, receive, send;
private ServerSocket socket;
private Socket conn;
private ObjectInputStream in;
private ObjectOutputStream out;
private boolean running, incomingMessage = false;
private int port;
public TestServer(int port) throws IOException {
this.port = port;
socket = new ServerSocket(port);
console("Server stated on : " + InetAddress.getLocalHost() + " : " + port);
run = new Thread(this, "Run");
run.start();
}
public void run() {
running = true;
connect();
receive();
}
private void connect() {
connect = new Thread("Connect") {
public void run() {
while(running) {
try {
conn = socket.accept();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
console("You are now connected" + conn.getInetAddress().toString() + " : " + conn.getPort());
try {
setupStreams();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}; connect.start();
}
private void setupStreams() throws IOException {
streams = new Thread("Streams") {
public void run() {
try {
console("Setting up Streams");
out = new ObjectOutputStream(conn.getOutputStream());
out.flush();
in = new ObjectInputStream(conn.getInputStream());
console("Streams are now setup");
incomingMessage = true;
receive.start();
} catch(IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}; streams.start();
}
private void receive() {
receive = new Thread("Receive") {
public void run() {
while(incomingMessage) {
String message = "";
try {
message = (String) in.readObject();
//This is the only flaw the program
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
console("Client : " + message);
}
}
};
}
private void console(String message) {
System.out.println(message);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
new TestServer(1234);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
FYI am not new to this. The error is caused because the server starts receiving packets even when there are no packets to be received. But because the thread forces it to receive it, i generates the error in the thread and dont know any other way to counter this. So please help. Thanks in Advance.

You shouldn't need 2 threads per connection. One thread is all that's required. After the connection is accepted, pass it to a worker thread to start reading. This can be done in a while loop in the worker thread.
Even though the socket's input stream can be read, the ObjectInputStream() class is more sensitive. If there is any error, its state is corrupted and it can't be used.
while (true) {
try {
Object input = in.readObject();
message = (String) input;
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
break; //unrecoverable
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
break; //unrecoverable
}
console("Client : " + message);
}
It's a better design to use a specific message protocol instead of sending serialized Java objects. For example if you are sending Strings like your sample, an InputStreamReader can be used to convert bytes to characters more easily and with less error handling.
These resources would be helpful to you:
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/networking/sockets/clientServer.html#later
Java - Listening to a socket with ObjectInputStream
ObjectInputStream(socket.getInputStream()); does not work

Java threads not starting / working as expected

I am implementing a simple client-server architecture where multiple clients should be able to connect to the server and strings could be exchanged between the server and client.
My idea is that I'll have two threads on each side: a listener, constantly checking if there is anything new in the inputstream, and a writer thread, that writes into the socket if there is something to write.
However, the second thread doesn't even start... Only the first sysout is displayed.
//start new thread to handle client input
new Thread(
new ServerWorker(clientSocket, this, this.getIdCounter())).start();
System.out.println("server side listener started");
//start new thread to handle client output
new Thread(new ServerWorkerListener(clientSocket)).start();
System.out.println("server side writer started");
Here is some code from the ServerWorker:
public void run() {
try {
OutputStream output = clientSocket.getOutputStream();
while (true) {
// output.write(("Pling!\n\n").getBytes());
for (Client tempClient : server.getClientList()) {
if ((tempClient.getId() == this.id)
&& tempClient.isShouldSend()) {
output.write((tempClient.getOutputStream() + "\n\n")
.getBytes());
tempClient.setInputStream("");
tempClient.setShouldSend(false);
}
}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("Error in serverWorker");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
I really don't know what I'm missing...
Whole of ServerWorker:
public class ServerWorker implements Runnable {
protected Socket clientSocket = null;
protected String serverText = null;
protected int id;
protected Server server;
public ServerWorker(Socket clientSocket, Server server,
int id) {
this.clientSocket = clientSocket;
this.serverText = serverText;
this.id = id;
this.server = server;
}
public void run() {
try {
OutputStream output = clientSocket.getOutputStream();
while (true) {
// output.write(("Pling!\n\n").getBytes());
for (Client tempClient : server.getClientList()) {
if ((tempClient.getId() == this.id)
&& tempClient.isShouldSend()) {
output.write((tempClient.getOutputStream() + "\n\n")
.getBytes());
tempClient.setInputStream("");
tempClient.setShouldSend(false);
}
}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("Error in serverWorker");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Whole of ServerWorkerListener:
public class ServerWorkerListener implements Runnable {
private BufferedReader input;
private Socket clientSocket;
public ServerWorkerListener(Socket clientSocket) {
this.clientSocket = clientSocket;
run();
}
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("its running");
try {
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(
clientSocket.getInputStream()));
while (true) {
System.out.println("it's looping");
String inputLine = null;
if ((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, inputLine, "InfoBox: "
+ "Message from client",
JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
}
}
} catch (UnknownHostException e) {
System.err.println("Don't know about client");
System.exit(1);
} catch (IOException e) {
System.err.println("Couldn't get I/O for the connection to client");
System.exit(1);
}
}
}

You are invoking run() inside the constructor of ServerWorkerListener, which you must not do. The new thread ought to invoke run(), otherwise, since it contains an infinite loop, it will never return from the constructor and hence never invoke the Thread’s constructor, not to speak of its start method. So removing run() the invocation from the constructor should solve the problem.