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Manage all incoming chat messages in java socket programming

I am developing a program that has a chat feature and I am using sockets in it.
In my case, I want to handle each of the client in a different window chat(PLEASE SEE ATTACHED IMAGE).
As of now, when 1 client is connected, there is no problem. But when 2 clients are connected, the first client will be overridden by the 2nd one and he can't receive messages from server not unless I close the connection for the latest client connected(Server still receiving messages from all client although only 1 client can receive from server).
How am I gonna do this? I am using captain casa framework
I want to manage it like what did the image below do.
IMAGE HERE
Here is my code:
Server:
public void mainserver(){
Thread server = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port);
System.out.println("Server Online... \nWaiting for Connections");
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
while (accept){
try {
socket = serverSocket.accept();
System.out.println("New Connection Estasblished!!!");
chatHandler chat = new chatHandler(socket);
chat.start();
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("server not terminate all connections");
System.exit(-1);
}
}
}
});
server.start();
}
public class chatHandler extends Thread{
Socket socket;
public chatHandler(Socket socket){
this.socket = socket;
}
public void run(){
try {
din = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
dout = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
dout.writeUTF("Hi! Thank you for reaching us! How may I help you!?");
while (!read.equals(".end")){
read = din.readUTF();
if (getServerArea()!=null){
setServerArea(getServerArea()+"\n"+read);
}else {
setServerArea(read);
}
}
System.out.println("end of chat server");
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}finally {
System.out.println("Exit");
try {
dout.close();
din.close();
socket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
public void serverSend(javax.faces.event.ActionEvent event) { // "Send" button
write = getServerField();
try {
dout.writeUTF(write);
dout.flush();
if (getServerArea()!=null){
setServerArea(getServerArea()+"\n"+write);
setServerField("");
}else {
setServerArea(write);
setServerField("");
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
System.out.println(write);
}
Client:
public void client(){
Thread client = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
socket = new Socket("localhost",port);
din = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
dout = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
while (!read.equals("bye")){
read = din.readUTF();
if (getClientArea()!=null){
setClientArea(getClientArea()+"\n"+read);
}else {
setClientArea(read);
}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}finally {
try {
din.close();
dout.close();
socket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
});
client.start();
}
public void clientSend(javax.faces.event.ActionEvent event) {
write = getClientField();
try {
dout.writeUTF(write);
dout.flush();
if (getClientArea()!=null){
setClientArea(getClientArea()+"\n"+write);
setClientField("");
}else {
setClientArea(write);
setClientField("");
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
System.out.println(write);
}

I believe I understand the problem, and how to correct it.
You are using a unique thread (chatHandler) for each new connection.
This thread writes an automatic "Hello" upon connection, but thereafter is dedicated to reading messages (in the while loop you only read din) and updating the console accordingly. Since each thread is managing a reference to din, all incoming messages are OK.
However, it seems that writing back to a client (serverSend) is not in a thread; it is triggered by a button event. At this point, dout will be a reference to the most recent connection, and not a reference to the client intended to get the message. That is why the most recent client gets all future messages.
The correction is to choose the correct 'dout' for the intended client. When the server 'operator' chooses to write a message back (clicking the send button), somehow you need to obtain the correct 'dout' for that client.
One way to do this is to establish dout prior to creating the thread (using socket), and maintain a relationship between each client, and it's corresponding dout (i.e. in a Map).
If the problem is still not clear (that each client must have a unique reference to dout), please let me know and I will try to clarify.

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 Sockets - Running the same client multiple times in parallel.

(Disclaimer that some of this code will be similar to online tutorials)
I think I've made it so that my server can handle multiple requests at once using threads, but I'm not entirely sure. And on top of that I don't know how I would actually send multiple requests at once.
My goal is to run my client code multiple times in parallel to see what happens if multiple clients connect to the server at the same time.
Client code (in separate project package):
Client clientSocket = new Client(9990,"localhost");
Socket socket = new Socket(clientSocket.host,clientSocket.portNumber);
clientSocket.performTask(socket);
("performTask(socket)" sends data to the server to perform a task)
Server code (separate project package from client code):
Server server = new Server(9990);
int clientNumber = 0;
ServerSocket socket = new ServerSocket(server.portNumber);
try {
while (true) {
new ServerHandler(socket.accept(),clientNumber).go();
clientNumber++;
}
}
finally {
socket.close();
}
}
ServerHandler class (same project package as server code):
public class ServerHandler extends Thread {
private static Socket socket;
private static int clientNumber;
public ServerHandler(Socket socket, int clientNumber) {
ServerHandler.socket = socket;
ServerHandler.clientNumber = clientNumber;
}
public void go() {
while(true) {
try {
//do calculation, do server tasks, etc.
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
So when the client connects to the server, the server implements the ServerHandler class to do the necessary calculations: the idea in doing that was so that multiple clients could connect all at the same time.
So my question is then in two parts:
(1) Have I set up my programs to allow for multi-threading, or have I made a mistake somewhere along the way? (e.g. someone told me I needed to use "Runnable" somewhere to use multi-threading, and I notice I haven't)
(2) After fixing my code to allow for multi-threading, how would I actually use it to let me run my client code in parallel?

Ok for starters, your ServerHandler extends the Thread class. Therefore to make it run as a seperate thread, always invoke by calling the start() method. You are calling you custom go method which will make the ServerHandler execute in the same thread as your infinite while loop. So it should be something like this ServerHandler(socket.accept(),clientNumber).start(). Also it is always better to implement Runnable because java does not support multiple inheritance via the "extends" concept. Therefore in the future if your ServerHandler needs to actually extend a custom class, it wont be able to since it already extends the Thread class. Its better to implement interfaces since there is no limit as to how many you can implement.
Hence implementing the Runnable interface is a good design choice. You can run your client code in parallel by making the client into a threaded model. Here is one such example of multiple client sockets connecting to the server in parallel
Server Code
public class WebServer {
static int hitCount = 0;
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
ServerSocket serverSocket = new ServerSocket(7777, 10000);
while (true) {
Socket defaultSocket = serverSocket.accept();
new Thread(new ServerSlave(defaultSocket)).start();
System.out.println("Size is :" + hitCount);
}
}
}
class ServerSlave implements Runnable {
Socket clientSocket;
public ServerSlave(Socket socket) {
clientSocket = socket;
WebServer.hitCount++;
}
public void run() {
try {
DataInputStream inputStream = new DataInputStream(clientSocket.getInputStream());
DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
System.out.println(inputStream.readUTF());
outputStream.writeUTF("Thank you for contacting the web server");
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
try {
clientSocket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
Client Code :
public class Client {
static int excepCount=0;
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
new Thread(new Worker("" + i)).start();
}
Thread.sleep(10000);
System.out.println( Client.excepCount);
}
}
class Worker implements Runnable {
String clientName;
public Worker(String name) {
clientName = name;
}
public void run() {
System.out.println("Process started for : " + clientName);
Socket socket = null;
try {
socket = new Socket("127.0.0.1", 7777);
DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
outputStream.writeUTF("Hello socket. Client number " + clientName + "here");
InputStream inFromServer = socket.getInputStream();
DataInputStream in =
new DataInputStream(inFromServer);
System.out.println("Server says " + in.readUTF());
System.out.println("Closing socket");
} catch (IOException e) {
Client.excepCount++;
e.printStackTrace();
}finally{
try {
socket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}

You should use multithreading .
You have to rename method to "run"/ and call that method using "start".Please change Server side code to
try {
while (true) {
new ServerHandler(socket.accept(),clientNumber).start();
clientNumber++;
}
}
finally {
socket.close();
}
and client side
public class ServerHandler extends Thread {
private static Socket socket;
private static int clientNumber;
public ServerHandler(Socket socket, int clientNumber) {
ServerHandler.socket = socket;
ServerHandler.clientNumber = clientNumber;
}
public void run() {
while(true) {
try {
//do calculation, do server tasks, etc.
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

Server hangs when client disconnects

i am creating a multiple-client/server app whenever any client disconnects from
my server it just hangs.
how can i set any condition that will tell me print some message whenever
any client disconnects from the server
here is my server code
class ServerThread implements Runnable {
public void run() {
Socket socket = null;
try {
System.out.println("server starting.......");
serverSocket = new ServerSocket(SERVERPORT);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
while (!Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
try {
System.out.println("Ready to accept.......");
socket = serverSocket.accept();
System.out.println(" client Connected with ip address =" +socket.getRemoteSocketAddress().toString());
CommunicationThread commThread = new CommunicationThread(socket);
new Thread(commThread).start();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
System.out.println("catch block");
}
}
}
}
class CommunicationThread implements Runnable {
private Socket clientSocket;
private BufferedReader input;
public CommunicationThread(Socket clientSocket) {
this.clientSocket = clientSocket;
try {
this.input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(this.clientSocket.getInputStream()));
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void run() {
while (!Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
try {
String read = input.readLine();
updateConversationHandler.post(new updateUIThread(read));
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
any help will be appreciated

It's not clear whether you mean disconnect because the conversation was over (ie: everything completed successfully) or the disconnect is because of some network problems (or the client canceled the request).
If it's the first case, then it's easy: the protocol you are using (your own, or http, or whatever) is in charge of defining how to determine that a conversation was over. If that situation arises, then you just close the socket.
If it's the second case, then you'd have to have an algorithm in place to determine whether or not the connection must be closed. For instance, by implementing a timeout, or a slow-read threshold. Take a look at the Socket's javadoc for instructions on how to set a timeout.
It's also worth noting that it's fine to create your own servers when you want to practice or learn something, but you'd be better off using an existing solution, like vert.x or a slimmed down version of Wildfly, for instance. The overhead of such servers is very low, nowadays, while still providing very robust networking capabilities.

Handling sockets in java

I am creating a socket to a server in java and after the socket is connected it creates a new thread which can access the socket input and output stream and this thread then blocks and processes the input lines when they come in.
I understand that the readln method on the BufferedReader will return null when the input stream ends. This doesn't necessarily mean that the socket is closed though does it? What does this mean? So I would then want to run the close method on the socket to close it nicely.
I also understand that the readln method can throw an IOException and that this is thrown after the close method is called on a socket if it is currently blocking. When else can this be thrown? Could the socket still be open after this is thrown or would it always be closed and ready for garbage collection etc.
This is the code I have at the moment and I don't really know how to handle disconnects properly. At the moment I think this could end up in a deadlock if the disconnect method is called whilst the socket is waiting for a line because disconnect will call close on the socket. This will then throw the IOException on readLine and this will then result in that catch block calling disconnect again.
public class SocketManager {
private Socket socket = null;
private PrintWriter out = null;
private BufferedReader in = null;
private String ip;
private int port;
private Object socketLock = new Object();
public SocketManager(String ip, int port) {
this.ip = ip;
this.port = port;
}
public void connect() throws UnableToConnectException, AlreadyConnectedException {
synchronized(socketLock) {
if (socket == null || socket.isClosed()) {
throw (new AlreadyConnectedException());
}
try {
socket = new Socket(ip, port);
out = new PrintWriter(socket.getOutputStream(), true);
in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));
} catch (IOException e) {
throw (new UnableToConnectException());
}
new Thread(new SocketThread()).start();
}
}
public void disconnect() throws NotConnectedException {
synchronized(socketLock) {
if (isConnected()) {
throw (new NotConnectedException());
}
try {
socket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {}
}
}
public boolean isConnected() {
synchronized(socketLock) {
return (socket != null && !socket.isClosed());
}
}
private class SocketThread implements Runnable {
#Override
public void run() {
String inputLine = null;
try {
while((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
// do stuff
}
if (isConnected()) {
try {
disconnect();
} catch (NotConnectedException e) {}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
// try and disconnect (if not already disconnected) and end thread
if (isConnected()) {
try {
disconnect();
} catch (NotConnectedException e1) {}
}
}
}
}
}
I basically want to know the best way of achieving the following:
Writing a connect method that connects to a socket and starts a separate thread listening for input.
Writing a disconnect method that disconnects from the socket and terminates the thread that's listening for input.
Handling the scenario of the connection to the remote socket being broken.
I have read through the java tutorial on sockets but in my opinion it doesn't really cover these in much detail.
Thanks!

When I said that it could end up as a deadlock I think I was wrong.
What would happen is:
disconnect() called whilst in.readLine() blocking
socket.close() executed.
in.readline() throws IOException.
I was then thinking that the exception handler in the SocketThread would call disconnect whilst disconnect is waiting for that exception to finish. It wouldn't matter through because they are both different threads so the code in disconnect() would continue whilst the exception is being caught in the SocketThread. The SocketThread would then call disconnect() but would then have to wait until the first instance of disconnect() finished. Then disconnect() would execute again but would get the NotConnectedException thrown which would be caught in the SocketThread and nothing would happen. The SocketThread would exit and that's the wanted result.
However I have looked into the socket class and it also contains these methods:
shutdownInput()
shutdownOutput()
shutdownInput() sends the end EOF symbol into the input stream meaning in.readline() returns null and the loop exits cleanly. shutdownOutput() sends the TCP termination sequence informing the server that it's disconnecting.
Calling both of these before socket.close() makes more sense because it means the thread will exit nicely instead of exiting as a result of an exception being thrown which has more overhead.
So this is the modified code:
public class SocketManager {
private Socket socket = null;
private PrintWriter out = null;
private BufferedReader in = null;
private String ip;
private int port;
private Object socketLock = new Object();
public SocketManager(String ip, int port) {
this.ip = ip;
this.port = port;
}
public void connect() throws UnableToConnectException, AlreadyConnectedException {
synchronized(socketLock) {
if (socket == null || socket.isClosed()) {
throw (new AlreadyConnectedException());
}
try {
socket = new Socket(ip, port);
out = new PrintWriter(socket.getOutputStream(), true);
in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));
} catch (IOException e) {
throw (new UnableToConnectException());
}
new Thread(new SocketThread()).start();
}
}
public void disconnect() throws NotConnectedException {
synchronized(socketLock) {
if (isConnected()) {
throw (new NotConnectedException());
}
try {
socket.shutdownInput();
} catch (IOException e) {}
try {
socket.shutdownOutput();
} catch (IOException e) {}
try {
socket.close();
} catch (IOException e) {}
}
}
public boolean isConnected() {
synchronized(socketLock) {
return (socket != null && !socket.isClosed());
}
}
private class SocketThread implements Runnable {
#Override
public void run() {
String inputLine = null;
try {
while((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
// do stuff (probably in another thread)
}
// it will get here if socket.shutdownInput() has been called (in disconnect)
// or possibly when the server disconnects the clients
// if it is here as a result of socket.shutdownInput() in disconnect()
// then isConnected() will block until disconnect() finishes.
// then isConnected() will return false and the thread will terminate.
// if it ended up here because the server disconnected the client then
// isConnected() won't block and return true meaning that disconnect()
// will be called and the socket will be completely closed
if (isConnected()) {
try {
disconnect();
} catch (NotConnectedException e) {}
}
} catch (IOException e) {
// try and disconnect (if not already disconnected) and end thread
if (isConnected()) {
try {
disconnect();
} catch (NotConnectedException e1) {}
}
}
}
}
}

In order to be sure that all resources associated with the socket are relased you have to call close() method when you finish work with that socket.
Typical IO exception handling pattern is that you catch it and then perform best efforts to clean everything calling close() method.
So the only thing you have to do is to ensure that you call close() on every socket during it's lifetime.

You're on the right track. I wouldn't use "readline", only raw read, and "do stuff"
should be limited to constructing a queue of received data. Likewise writing replies
ought to be a separate thread that empties a queue of data to be sent.
Despite socket's guarantees of integrity, stuff will go wrong and you'll sometimes receive data that doesn't make sense. There's a crapload of stuff below "read" and "write" and no system is perfect or bug free. Add your own wrapper with checksums at the level of YOUR read and write so you can be sure you're receiving what was intended to be sent.