Sockets: Socket Programming

Sockets
The term network programming refers to writing programs that execute across multiple devices
(computers), in which the devices are all connected to each other using a network.
The java.net package of the J2SE APIs contains a collection of classes and interfaces that
provide the low-level communication details, allowing you to write programs that focus on
solving the problem at hand.
The java.net package provides support for the two common network protocols:
 TCP: TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol, which allows for reliable
communication between two applications. TCP is typically used over the Internet
Protocol, which is referred to as TCP/IP.
 UDP: UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol, a connection-less protocol that allows for
packets of data to be transmitted between applications.
This tutorial gives good understanding on the following two subjects:
 Socket Programming: This is most widely used concept in Networking and it has been
explained in very detail.
 URL Processing: This would be covered separately
Socket Programming:
Sockets provide the communication mechanism between two computers using TCP. A client
program creates a socket on its end of the communication and attempts to connect that socket to
a server.
When the connection is made, the server creates a socket object on its end of the communication.
The client and server can now communicate by writing to and reading from the socket.
The java.net.Socket class represents a socket, and the java.net.ServerSocket class provides a
mechanism for the server program to listen for clients and establish connections with them.
The following steps occur when establishing a TCP connection between two computers using
sockets:
 The server instantiates a ServerSocket object, denoting which port number

communication is to occur on.
 The server invokes the accept() method of the ServerSocket class. This method waits
until a client connects to the server on the given port.
 After the server is waiting, a client instantiates a Socket object, specifying the server
name and port number to connect to.
 The constructor of the Socket class attempts to connect the client to the specified server
and port number. If communication is established, the client now has a Socket object
capable of communicating with the server.
 On the server side, the accept() method returns a reference to a new socket on the server
that is connected to the client's socket.
After the connections are established, communication can occur using I/O streams. Each socket
has both an OutputStream and an InputStream. The client's OutputStream is connected to the
server's InputStream, and the client's InputStream is connected to the server's OutputStream.
TCP is a twoway communication protocol, so data can be sent across both streams at the same
time. There are following usefull classes providing complete set of methods to implement
sockets.
ServerSocket Class Methods:

The java.net.ServerSocket class is used by server applications to obtain a port and listen for
client requests
The ServerSocket class has four constructors:
Methods with Description

publicServerSocket(int port) throws IOException
1 Attempts to create a server socket bound to the specified port. An exception occurs if the port is
already bound by another application.
publicServerSocket(int port, int backlog) throws IOException
2 Similar to the previous constructor, the backlog parameter specifies how many incoming clients
to store in a wait queue.
publicServerSocket(int port, int backlog, InetAddress address) throws IOException
Similar to the previous constructor, the InetAddress parameter specifies the local IP address to
3
bind to. The InetAddress is used for servers that may have multiple IP addresses, allowing the
server to specify which of its IP addresses to accept client requests on
publicServerSocket() throws IOException
4 Creates an unbound server socket. When using this constructor, use the bind() method when
you are ready to bind the server socket
If the ServerSocket constructor does not throw an exception, it means that your application has
successfully bound to the specified port and is ready for client requests.
Here are some of the common methods of the ServerSocket class:

1 publicintgetLocalPort()
Returns the port that the server socket is listening on. This method is useful if you passed in 0
as the port number in a constructor and let the server find a port for you.
public Socket accept() throws IOException
Waits for an incoming client. This method blocks until either a client connects to the server
2
on the specified port or the socket times out, assuming that the time-out value has been set
using the setSoTimeout() method. Otherwise, this method blocks indefinitely
public void setSoTimeout(int timeout)
3
Sets the time-out value for how long the server socket waits for a client during the accept().
public void bind(SocketAddress host, int backlog)
4 Binds the socket to the specified server and port in the SocketAddress object. Use this method
if you instantiated the ServerSocket using the no-argument constructor.
When the ServerSocket invokes accept(), the method does not return until a client connects.
After a client does connect, the ServerSocket creates a new Socket on an unspecified port and
returns a reference to this new Socket. A TCP connection now exists between the client and
server, and communication can begin.
Socket Class Methods:

The java.net.Socket class represents the socket that both the client and server use to
communicate with each other. The client obtains a Socket object by instantiating one, whereas
the server obtains a Socket object from the return value of the accept() method.
The Socket class has five constructors that a client uses to connect to a server:

public Socket(String host, int port) throws UnknownHostException, IOException.
This method attempts to connect to the specified server at the specified port. If this
1
constructor does not throw an exception, the connection is successful and the client is
connected to the server.
public Socket(InetAddress host, int port) throws IOException
2 This method is identical to the previous constructor, except that the host is denoted by an
InetAddress object.
public Socket(String host, int port, InetAddresslocalAddress, intlocalPort) throws
IOException.
3
Connects to the specified host and port, creating a socket on the local host at the specified
address and port.
public Socket(InetAddress host, int port, InetAddresslocalAddress, intlocalPort) throws
IOException.
4
This method is identical to the previous constructor, except that the host is denoted by an
InetAddress object instead of a String
public Socket()
5
Creates an unconnected socket. Use the connect() method to connect this socket to a server.
When the Socket constructor returns, it does not simply instantiate a Socket object but it actually
attempts to connect to the specified server and port.
Some methods of interest in the Socket class are listed here. Notice that both the client and server
have a Socket object, so these methods can be invoked by both the client and server.

public void connect(SocketAddress host, int timeout) throws IOException
1 This method connects the socket to the specified host. This method is needed only when you
instantiated the Socket using the no-argument constructor.
publicInetAddressgetInetAddress()
2
This method returns the address of the other computer that this socket is connected to.
publicintgetPort()
3
Returns the port the socket is bound to on the remote machine.
publicintgetLocalPort()
4
Returns the port the socket is bound to on the local machine.
publicSocketAddressgetRemoteSocketAddress()
5
Returns the address of the remote socket.
publicInputStreamgetInputStream() throws IOException
6 Returns the input stream of the socket. The input stream is connected to the output stream of the
remote socket.
publicOutputStreamgetOutputStream() throws IOException
7 Returns the output stream of the socket. The output stream is connected to the input stream of
the remote socket
public void close() throws IOException
8 Closes the socket, which makes this Socket object no longer capable of connecting again to any
server
Socket Client Example:

The following GreetingClient is a client program that connects to a server by using a socket and
sends a greeting, and then waits for a response.
// File Name GreetingClient.java
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
publicclassGreetingClient
{
publicstaticvoid main(String[]args)
{
StringserverName=args[0];
int port =Integer.parseInt(args[1]);
try
{
System.out.println("Connecting to "+serverName
+" on port "+ port);
Socket client =newSocket(serverName, port);
System.out.println("Just connected to "
+client.getRemoteSocketAddress());
OutputStreamoutToServer=client.getOutputStream();
DataOutputStreamout=
newDataOutputStream(outToServer);
out.writeUTF("Hello from "

+client.getLocalSocketAddress());
InputStreaminFromServer=client.getInputStream();
DataInputStreamin=
newDataInputStream(inFromServer);
System.out.println("Server says "+in.readUTF());
client.close();
}catch(IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Socket Server Example:

The following GreetingServer program is an example of a server application that uses the Socket
class to listen for clients on a port number specified by a command-line argument:
// File Name GreetingServer.java
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
publicclassGreetingServerextendsThread
{
privateServerSocketserverSocket;
publicGreetingServer(int port)throwsIOException
{
serverSocket=newServerSocket(port);
serverSocket.setSoTimeout(10000);
}
publicvoid run()
{
while(true)
{
try
{
System.out.println("Waiting for client on port "+
serverSocket.getLocalPort()+"...");
Socket server =serverSocket.accept();
System.out.println("Just connected to "
+server.getRemoteSocketAddress());
DataInputStreamin=
newDataInputStream(server.getInputStream());
System.out.println(in.readUTF());
DataOutputStreamout=
newDataOutputStream(server.getOutputStream());
out.writeUTF("Thank you for connecting to "
+server.getLocalSocketAddress()+"\nGoodbye!");
server.close();
}catch(SocketTimeoutException s)
{
System.out.println("Socket timed out!");
break;
{
break;
}
}
}
{
int port =Integer.parseInt(args[0]);
try
{
Thread t =newGreetingServer(port);
t.start();
{
}
}
}
Send a Simple E-mail:

Here is an example to send a simple e-mail from your machine. Here it is assumed that your
localhostis connected to the internet and capable enough to send an email.
// File Name SendEmail.java
importjava.util.*;
importjavax.mail.*;
importjavax.mail.internet.*;
importjavax.activation.*;
publicclassSendEmail
{
{
// Recipient's email ID needs to be mentioned.
String to ="[email protected]";
// Sender's email ID needs to be mentioned

Stringfrom="[email protected]";
// Assuming you are sending email from localhost

String host ="localhost";
// Get system properties
Propertiesproperties=System.getProperties();
// Setup mail server

properties.setProperty("mail.smtp.host", host);
// Get the default Session object.

Sessionsession=Session.getDefaultInstance(properties);
try{
// Create a default MimeMessage object.
MimeMessage message =newMimeMessage(session);
// Set From: header field of the header.

message.setFrom(newInternetAddress(from));
// Set To: header field of the header.

message.addRecipient(Message.RecipientType.TO,
newInternetAddress(to));
// Set Subject: header field

message.setSubject("This is the Subject Line!");
// Now set the actual message

message.setText("This is actual message");
// Send message
Transport.send(message);
System.out.println("Sent message successfully....");
}catch(MessagingExceptionmex){
mex.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Sockets: Socket Programming

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sockets: Socket Programming

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sockets: Socket Programming

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sockets

This tutorial gives good understanding on the following two subjects:

 The server instantiates a ServerSocket object, denoting which port number

ServerSocket Class Methods:

The ServerSocket class has four constructors:

Methods with Description

Here are some of the common methods of the ServerSocket class:

Methods with Description

Socket Class Methods:

Methods with Description

Methods with Description

Socket Client Example:

// File Name GreetingClient.java

out.writeUTF("Hello from "

Socket Server Example:

// File Name GreetingServer.java

Send a Simple E-mail:

// File Name SendEmail.java

// Sender's email ID needs to be mentioned

// Assuming you are sending email from localhost

// Setup mail server

// Get the default Session object.

// Set From: header field of the header.

// Set To: header field of the header.

// Set Subject: header field

// Now set the actual message

You might also like