int ServerSocket(u_short port,int max_servers)

This function listens on a port and returns connections. The connection is returned as the socket file descriptor. The socket is of type SOCK_STREAM and AF_INET family. The function will create a new process for every incoming connections, so in the listening process, it will never return. Only when a connection comes in and a new process for it is created, the function will return.This means, the caller should never loop.

The parameters are as follows:

u_short port        The port to listens to (host byte order)
int max_servers     The maximum number of connection to queue up before 
                    having them rejected automatically.
                    

The function returns the socked file descriptor (a positive number) on success and -1 on failure.

NOTE: _NEVER_ convert port to network byte order by calling htons(). It will be converted by the function. The options SO_REUSEADDR option is set on the socket file descriptor. Read the Chapter 7 of Unix Network Programming (2nd Ed) by Stevens for details on the socket options.

int ClientSocket(char *netaddress,u_short port)

This function makes a connection to a given server's stream socket. The parameters are as follows:

char    *netaddress The host to connect to. The netaddress can
                    be the hostname or the IP address (dot separated 8 octets).
u_short port        The port to connect to

The function returns the socked file descriptor (a positive number) on success and -1 on failure.

NOTE: _NEVER_ convert port to network byte order by calling htons(). It will be converted by the function.

int sockGets(int sockfd,char *str,size_t count)

This function reads from a socket until it receives a line feed character. It fills the buffer "str" up to the maximum size "count".

The parameters are as follows:
int sockfd      The socket to read from.
char *str       The buffer to fill up.
size_t  count   The maximum number of bytes to stuff to str.

This function returns the number of bytes read from the socket or -1 if the connection is closed unexpectedly.

WARNING: If a single line exceeds the length of count, the data will be read and discarded.

int sockRead(int sockfd,char *str,size_t count)

This function reads the "count" number of bytes and stuffs to str. str must have enough space. This routine is like read() system call except that it makes sure all the requested number of bytes are read. Note, str must have enough space to hold the "count" number of bytes.

The function returns >= 0 if succeeds and -1 if there is any error.

int sockPuts(int sockfd,char *str)

This function writes a character string out to a socket.

The function returns number of bytes written to the socket or -1 if the connection is closed while it is trying to write.

int sockWrite(int sockfd,char *str,size_t count)

This function is like the write() system call, except that it will make sure all data is transmitted.

The function returns number of bytes written to the socket and -1 in case of any error.

int getPeerInfo(int sockfd,char *cli_host,char *cli_ip,u_short *cli_port)

This function gets information about the host connected to the socket. The parameters are as follows:

int sockfd       The connected socket
char *cli_host   The hostname connected to the socket (returns)
char *cli_ip     The IP address of the host connected (returns)
u_short *cli_port The client side port of the host (returns)

Note, cli_host, cli_ip must have enough space to hold the info.

int atoport(char *service,char *proto)

This function takes a service name and a service type and returns a port number. If the service name is not found, it tries it as a decimal number. The number returned is byte ordered for the network.

The function returns a positive number if succeeds and -1 if fails.

struct in_addr *atoaddr(char *address)

This function converts ASCII text to in_addr struct. NULL is returned if the address can not be found.

Compile

Examples
Several examples programs supplied in the examples directory with Makefiles.

Todo
Write examples about SSL routines. Provide more interesting examples.

Last updated: Jul-10-1999

URL of this page: http://www.muquit.com/muquit/software/libmsock/libmsock.html