Simple TCP server with multiple clients C/unix

Question

I'm having problems understanding socket programming and need some help. I am suppose to modify my server code that I have written to accept 3 clients. I know I am suppose to use a fork for each client, but I am not sure how to implement this into my code. Here is my original code that I wrote for one client. Any help would be appreciated.

Server:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h> 
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h>

void error(const char *msg)
{
    perror(msg);
    exit(1);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
     int sockfd, newsockfd, portno;
     socklen_t clilen;
     char buffer[256];
     struct sockaddr_in serv_addr, cli_addr;
     int n;
     if (argc < 2) {
         fprintf(stderr,"ERROR, no port provided\n");
         exit(1);
     }
     sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
     if (sockfd < 0) 
        error("ERROR opening socket");
     bzero((char *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr));
     portno = atoi(argv[1]);
     serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
     serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
     serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
     if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr,
              sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0) 
              error("ERROR on binding");
     listen(sockfd,5);
     clilen = sizeof(cli_addr);
     newsockfd = accept(sockfd, 
                 (struct sockaddr *) &cli_addr, 
                 &clilen);
     if (newsockfd < 0) 
          error("ERROR on accept");
     bzero(buffer,256);
     n = read(newsockfd,buffer,255);
     if (n < 0) error("ERROR reading from socket");
     printf("Here is the message: %s\n",buffer);
     n = write(newsockfd,"I got your message",18);
     if (n < 0) error("ERROR writing to socket");
     close(newsockfd);
     close(sockfd);
     return 0; 
}

Client:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h> 

void error(const char *msg)
{
    perror(msg);
    exit(0);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int sockfd, portno, n;
    struct sockaddr_in serv_addr;
    struct hostent *server;

    char buffer[256];
    if (argc < 3) {
       fprintf(stderr,"usage %s hostname port\n", argv[0]);
       exit(0);
    }
    portno = atoi(argv[2]);
    sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (sockfd < 0) 
        error("ERROR opening socket");
    server = gethostbyname(argv[1]);
    if (server == NULL) {
        fprintf(stderr,"ERROR, no such host\n");
        exit(0);
    }
    bzero((char *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr));
    serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
    bcopy((char *)server->h_addr, 
         (char *)&serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr,
         server->h_length);
    serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
    //printf("h_addr: %s\n", inet_ntoa(serv_addr.sin_addr));
    if (connect(sockfd,(struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr,sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0) 
        error("ERROR connecting");
    printf("Please enter the message: ");
    bzero(buffer,256);
    fgets(buffer,255,stdin);
    n = write(sockfd,buffer,strlen(buffer));
    if (n < 0) 
         error("ERROR writing to socket");
    bzero(buffer,256);
    n = read(sockfd,buffer,255);
    if (n < 0) 
         error("ERROR reading from socket");
    printf("%s\n",buffer);
    close(sockfd);
    return 0;
}

Solution

Here is your's modified server code to handle multiple clients using fork

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h>

void error(const char *msg) {
    perror(msg);
    exit(1);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    int sockfd, newsockfd, portno;
    socklen_t clilen;
    char buffer[256];
    struct sockaddr_in serv_addr, cli_addr;
    int n;
    if (argc < 2) {
         fprintf(stderr, "ERROR, no port provided\n");
         exit(1);
    }
    sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (sockfd < 0)
         error("ERROR opening socket");
    bzero((char *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr));
    portno = atoi(argv[1]);
    serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
    serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
    serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
    if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0)
        error("ERROR on binding");
    listen(sockfd, 5);
    clilen = sizeof(cli_addr);
    //Below code is modified to handle multiple clients using fork
    //------------------------------------------------------------------
    int pid;
    while (1) {
         newsockfd = accept(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *) &cli_addr, &clilen);
         if (newsockfd < 0)
                error("ERROR on accept");
         //fork new process
         pid = fork();
         if (pid < 0) {
              error("ERROR in new process creation");
         }
         if (pid == 0) {
            //child process
            close(sockfd);
            //do whatever you want
            bzero(buffer, 256);
            n = read(newsockfd, buffer, 255);
            if (n < 0)
                error("ERROR reading from socket");
            printf("Here is the message: %s\n", buffer);
            n = write(newsockfd, "I got your message", 18);
            if (n < 0)
                 error("ERROR writing to socket");
            close(newsockfd);
          } else {
             //parent process
             close(newsockfd);
          }
    }
    //-------------------------------------------------------------------
   return 0;
}

Comments

[Max von Hippel]

This is completely un-readable, and I think it might just be some sort of spam. Even the English part is total gobblygook. Please delete or totally revise.

[karan patel]

How to send data to multiple clients received from single client?