TCP Sockets Programming
• Creating a passive mode (server)
socket.
• Establishing an application-level
connection.
• send/receive data.
• Terminating a connection.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 1
Creating a TCP socket
int socket(int family,int type,int proto);
int sock;
sock = socket( PF_INET,
SOCK_STREAM,
0);
if (sock<0) { /* ERROR */ }
Netprog: TCP Sockets 2
Binding to well known address
int mysock;
struct sockaddr_in myaddr;
mysock = socket(PF_INET,SOCK_STREAM,0);
myaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
myaddr.sin_port = htons( 80 );
myaddr.sin_addr = htonl( INADDR_ANY );
bind(mysock, (sockaddr *) &myaddr,
sizeof(myaddr));
Netprog: TCP Sockets 3
Establishing a passive mode
TCP socket
Passive mode:
– Address already determined.
– Tell the kernel to accept incoming connection
requests directed at the socket address.
• 3-way handshake
– Tell the kernel to queue incoming connections for
us.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 4
listen()
int listen( int sockfd, int backlog);
sockfd is the TCP socket (already bound to an
address)
backlog is the number of incoming
connections the kernel should be able to keep
track of (queue for us).
listen() returns -1 on error (otherwise 0).
Netprog: TCP Sockets 5
Accepting an incoming
connection.
• Once we call listen(), the O.S. will
queue incoming connections
– Handles the 3-way handshake
– Queues up multiple connections.
• When our application is ready to handle
a new connection, we need to ask the
O.S. for the next connection.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 6
accept()
int accept( int sockfd,
struct sockaddr* cliaddr,
socklen_t *addrlen);
sockfd is the passive mode TCP socket.
cliaddr is a pointer to allocated space.
addrlen is a value-result argument
– must be set to the size of cliaddr
– on return, will be set to be the number of
used bytes in cliaddr.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 7
accept() return value
accept() returns a new socket descriptor
(small positive integer) or -1 on error.
After accept returns a new socket descriptor,
I/O can be done using the read() and
write() system calls.
read() and write() operate a little
differently on sockets (vs. file operation)!
Netprog: TCP Sockets 8
Terminating a TCP connection
• Either end of the connection can call the
close() system call.
• If the other end has closed the
connection, and there is no buffered
data, reading from a TCP socket returns
0 to indicate EOF.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 9
Client Code
• TCP clients can call connect() which:
– takes care of establishing an endpoint
address for the client socket.
• don’t need to call bind first, the O.S. will take
care of assigning the local endpoint address
(TCP port number, IP address).
– Attempts to establish a connection to the
specified server.
• 3-way handshake
Netprog: TCP Sockets 10
connect()
int connect( int sockfd,
const struct sockaddr *server,
socklen_t addrlen);
sockfd is an already created TCP socket.
server contains the address of the server (IP
Address and TCP port number)
connect() returns 0 if OK, -1 on error
Netprog: TCP Sockets 11
Reading from a TCP socket
int read( int fd, char *buf, int max);
• By default read() will block until data is
available.
• reading from a TCP socket may return
less than max bytes (whatever is
available).
• You must be prepared to read data 1
byte at a time!
Netprog: TCP Sockets 12
Writing to a TCP socket
int write( int fd, char *buf, int num);
• write might not be able to write all num
bytes (on a nonblocking socket).
• The book includes readn(), writen() and
readline() function definitions.
Netprog: TCP Sockets 13
Metaphor for Good Relationships
Copyright Dr. Laura’s Network Programming Corp.
( )
To succeed in relationships: in d
b
– you need to establish your own identity.
– you need to be open & accepting. accept()
– you need to establish contacts. connect()
– you need to take things as they come, not
as you expect them. read might return 1 byte
– you need to handle problems as they arise.
k fo r e r r o r s
chec
Netprog: TCP Sockets 14
