Socket Programming Multiple Client to One Server

socket programming multiple client to one server

For every client you need to start separate thread. Example:

public class ThreadedEchoServer {

    static final int PORT = 1978;

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
        Socket socket = null;

        try {
            serverSocket = new ServerSocket(PORT);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();

        }
        while (true) {
            try {
                socket = serverSocket.accept();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                System.out.println("I/O error: " + e);
            }
            // new thread for a client
            new EchoThread(socket).start();
        }
    }
}

and

public class EchoThread extends Thread {
    protected Socket socket;

    public EchoThread(Socket clientSocket) {
        this.socket = clientSocket;
    }

    public void run() {
        InputStream inp = null;
        BufferedReader brinp = null;
        DataOutputStream out = null;
        try {
            inp = socket.getInputStream();
            brinp = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inp));
            out = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            return;
        }
        String line;
        while (true) {
            try {
                line = brinp.readLine();
                if ((line == null) || line.equalsIgnoreCase("QUIT")) {
                    socket.close();
                    return;
                } else {
                    out.writeBytes(line + "\n\r");
                    out.flush();
                }
            } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
                return;
            }
        }
    }
}

You can also go with more advanced solution, that uses NIO selectors, so you will not have to create thread for every client, but that's a bit more complicated.

Socket Programming multiple client one server

Try to use asynchronous server.
The following example program creates a server that receives connection requests from clients. The server is built with an asynchronous socket, so execution of the server application is not suspended while it waits for a connection from a client. The application receives a string from the client, displays the string on the console, and then echoes the string back to the client. The string from the client must contain the string <EOF> to signal the end of the message.

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;

// State object for reading client data asynchronously
public class StateObject {
    // Client  socket.
    public Socket workSocket = null;
    // Size of receive buffer.
    public const int BufferSize = 1024;
    // Receive buffer.
    public byte[] buffer = new byte[BufferSize];
    // Received data string.
    public StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();  
}

public class AsynchronousSocketListener {
    // Thread signal.
    public static ManualResetEvent allDone = new ManualResetEvent(false);

    public AsynchronousSocketListener() {
    }

    public static void StartListening() {
        // Data buffer for incoming data.
        byte[] bytes = new Byte[1024];

        // Establish the local endpoint for the socket.
        // The DNS name of the computer
        // running the listener is "host.contoso.com".
        IPHostEntry ipHostInfo = Dns.Resolve(Dns.GetHostName());
        IPAddress ipAddress = ipHostInfo.AddressList[0];
        IPEndPoint localEndPoint = new IPEndPoint(ipAddress, 11000);

        // Create a TCP/IP socket.
        Socket listener = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork,
            SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp );

        // Bind the socket to the local endpoint and listen for incoming connections.
        try {
            listener.Bind(localEndPoint);
            listener.Listen(100);

            while (true) {
                // Set the event to nonsignaled state.
                allDone.Reset();

                // Start an asynchronous socket to listen for connections.
                Console.WriteLine("Waiting for a connection...");
                listener.BeginAccept( 
                    new AsyncCallback(AcceptCallback),
                    listener );

                // Wait until a connection is made before continuing.
                allDone.WaitOne();
            }

        } catch (Exception e) {
            Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nPress ENTER to continue...");
        Console.Read();

    }

    public static void AcceptCallback(IAsyncResult ar) {
        // Signal the main thread to continue.
        allDone.Set();

        // Get the socket that handles the client request.
        Socket listener = (Socket) ar.AsyncState;
        Socket handler = listener.EndAccept(ar);

        // Create the state object.
        StateObject state = new StateObject();
        state.workSocket = handler;
        handler.BeginReceive( state.buffer, 0, StateObject.BufferSize, 0,
            new AsyncCallback(ReadCallback), state);
    }

    public static void ReadCallback(IAsyncResult ar) {
        String content = String.Empty;

        // Retrieve the state object and the handler socket
        // from the asynchronous state object.
        StateObject state = (StateObject) ar.AsyncState;
        Socket handler = state.workSocket;

        // Read data from the client socket. 
        int bytesRead = handler.EndReceive(ar);

        if (bytesRead > 0) {
            // There  might be more data, so store the data received so far.
            state.sb.Append(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(
                state.buffer,0,bytesRead));

            // Check for end-of-file tag. If it is not there, read 
            // more data.
            content = state.sb.ToString();
            if (content.IndexOf("<EOF>") > -1) {
                // All the data has been read from the 
                // client. Display it on the console.
                Console.WriteLine("Read {0} bytes from socket. \n Data : {1}",
                    content.Length, content );
                // Echo the data back to the client.
                Send(handler, content);
            } else {
                // Not all data received. Get more.
                handler.BeginReceive(state.buffer, 0, StateObject.BufferSize, 0,
                new AsyncCallback(ReadCallback), state);
            }
        }
    }

    private static void Send(Socket handler, String data) {
        // Convert the string data to byte data using ASCII encoding.

        byte[] byteData = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(data);

        // Begin sending the data to the remote device.
        handler.BeginSend(byteData, 0, byteData.Length, 0,
            new AsyncCallback(SendCallback), handler);
    }

    private static void SendCallback(IAsyncResult ar) {
        try {
            // Retrieve the socket from the state object.
            Socket handler = (Socket) ar.AsyncState;

            // Complete sending the data to the remote device.
            int bytesSent = handler.EndSend(ar);
            Console.WriteLine("Sent {0} bytes to client.", bytesSent);

            handler.Shutdown(SocketShutdown.Both);
            handler.Close();

        } catch (Exception e) {
            Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
        }
    }   

    public static int Main(String[] args) {
        StartListening();
        return 0;
    }
}

That's will be the best solution.

How can I handle multiple clients connected to a server using sockets?

You have to start a new thread for each client, as the sockets need a thread for themselves to run (as it waits for input most of the time). This can for example be done (in this simplified manner):

public class ThreadHandler extends Thread {
      private ArrayList<ServerThread> serverThreads = new ArrayList<ServerThread>();
      public void run() {
            while (!isInterrupted()) { //You should handle interrupts in some way, so that the thread won't keep on forever if you exit the app.
                  (Code...)
                  ServerThread thread = new ServerThread(serverSocket.accept());
                  serverThreads.add(thread);
                  thread.start();
            }
      }
      public void doSomethingOnAllThreads() {
            for (ServerThread serverThread : serverThreads) {
                  serverThread.otherMethod();
            }
      }
}

Where the ServerThread looks something like this:

public class ServerThread extends Thread {
    private Socket socket;
    public ServerThread(Socket socket) {
          this.socket = socket;
    }
    public void run() {
         (...other code here.)
    }
    public void otherMethod() {
          //Signal to the thread that it needs to do something (which should then be handled in the run method)
    }
}

Java Sockets: One Server and Multiple Clients

Incoming connections are only handled by the line listener.accept();. But after you got a client connected, you're stuck in the while loop. You need to create a new Thread (or Runnable executed on an ExecutorService if you expect high load), and start it, then immediately accept the next connection.

Unable to connect with multiple client with my socket server program

Your program is single-threaded, and only does one thing at a time. When you have accepted a socket connection from a client (in your outer while loop) you start communicating with that client (in your inner while loop), and you don't get back to the accept call until the first client has disconnected.

Either use threads, with one thread that waits for new connections and one additional thread for each client, waiting for input from that client, or use the select call, which lets you wait for input simultaneously from several different sources.

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