Htykuut

I am trying to make a simple server application to learn the basics of multi threaded server programming in c#. The basic idea is simple: the client connects to the server and sends: "get time" to receive to current time of the server. All of the tcplistener threads and sockets should be running on seperate threads. I am not sure why, but when the application finishes initializing all of the threads, the console app closes.

Here is the server code:

class Program

{

    static public int minPort;

    static public int maxPort;

    static int openPort = 0;

    static byte sendData = new byte[1024];

    static TcpListener listeners;

    static Thread connectionThreads;



    static void Main()

    {

        Console.Write("What do you want your minimum port to be? ");

        minPort = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

        Console.Write("What do you want your maximum port to be? ");

        maxPort = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());



        //init

        ThreadStart streamThreadStart = new ThreadStart(DataStream);

        openPort = maxPort - minPort;

        listeners = new TcpListener[maxPort - minPort];

        connectionThreads = new Thread[maxPort - minPort];



        for (int i = 0; i == maxPort - minPort; i++)

        {

            listeners[i] = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Any, minPort + i);

            connectionThreads[i] = new Thread(streamThreadStart);

            Thread.Sleep(10);

            openPort = openPort + 1;

        }

    }



    static void DataStream()

    {

        int port = openPort;

        byte receiveData = new byte[1024];

        listeners[openPort].Start();

        Socket socket = listeners[port].AcceptSocket();

        NetworkStream stream = new NetworkStream(socket);

        while (true)

        {

            socket.Receive(receiveData);

            Console.WriteLine("Received: " + BitConverter.ToString(receiveData));

            socket.Send(parseCommand(receiveData));

        }



    }

    static byte parseCommand(byte input)

    {

        string RCommand = BitConverter.ToString(input);

        string SCommand;

        if (RCommand == "get time")

        {

            SCommand = DateTime.Now.ToUniversalTime().ToString();

        }else

        {

            SCommand = "Unknown Command, please try again";

        }

        byte output = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(SCommand);

        return output;

    }

}

You need to join your threads before exiting.

static public void Main()

{

    /*

        Existing code goes here

    */



    //Before exiting, make sure all child threads are finished

    foreach (var thread in connectionThreads) thread.Join(); 

}

When your program calls Thread.Join, it is telling the operating system that it needn't schedule the main thread for any timeslices until the child thread is finished. This makes it lighter weight than other techniques, such as busywaiting (i.e. running a while loop); while the main thread will still hold onto resources, it won't consume any CPU time.

See also When would I use Thread.Join? and c# Waiting for multiple threads to finish

In general, best practice is for a console application to offer an "Enter any key to exit" prompt when the user wants to stop the application. But you can always query for a specific key-press to quit, such as 'q'.

Here is some code to get you started:


Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit...");
Console.ReadKey();


Your code doesn't start new thread!
So, i made some changes in your code:

class Program

    {

        static public int minPort;

        static public int maxPort;

        //static int openPort = 0;

        static byte sendData = new byte[1024];

        static TcpListener listeners;

        static Thread connectionThreads;



        static void Main()

        {

            Console.Write("What do you want your minimum port to be? ");

            minPort = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

            Console.Write("What do you want your maximum port to be? ");

            maxPort = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());



            //init

           // ThreadStart streamThreadStart = new ThreadStart(DataStream(0));

            //openPort = minPort;

            listeners = new TcpListener[maxPort - minPort];

            connectionThreads = new Thread[maxPort - minPort];



            //for (int i = 0; i == maxPort - minPort; i++) it can't work

            for (int i = 0; i < maxPort - minPort; i++)

            {

                listeners[i] = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Any, minPort + i);

                connectionThreads[i] = new Thread(new ParameterizedThreadStart(DataStream)); //thread with start parameter

                connectionThreads[i].Start(i); // start thread with index

                Thread.Sleep(10);



            }



        }



        static void DataStream(object o)

        {

            int index = (int)o; //get index

            byte receiveData = new byte[1024];

            listeners[index].Start(); // start listener with right index

            Socket socket = listeners[index].AcceptSocket();

            NetworkStream stream = new NetworkStream(socket);

            while (true)

            {

                socket.Receive(receiveData);

                Console.WriteLine("Received: " + BitConverter.ToString(receiveData));

                socket.Send(parseCommand(receiveData));

            }



        }

        static byte parseCommand(byte input)

        {

            string RCommand = BitConverter.ToString(input);

            string SCommand;

            if (RCommand == "get time")

            {

                SCommand = DateTime.Now.ToUniversalTime().ToString();

            }

            else

            {

                SCommand = "Unknown Command, please try again";

            }

            byte output = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(SCommand);

            return output;

        }

    }