Character array substring.

I have written a program that communicates with a server via sockets. To make my life easier I created a 'socket' class which takes care of all the low-level socket stuff. One of the methods is called 'send' and you'd never guess, but it handles the sending of data. Because I will sometimes be using it for large packets, I have implemeted a way of making sure all data is sent before it returns. Right now it accepts a string, sends what it can, and then loops until it has sent the rest.

Unfortunately I can no longer use the handy std::string class for this method. Some of my data must be sent as an 8 byte character array, which is picked up as two 4-byte __int32 values at the other end. When converted to a string, this data is somehow corrupted and not read properly by the server. It must be sent as a char type and must have measures in place to ensure all data is sent.

Right now, this is what it looks like..

Code:

//Sends a string of data
void SockWrap::sSend(std::string data){

    //Initialise variables
    int bytes_sent = 0;
    int total = 0;
    //Get length of data in bytes..
    int len = data.length();
    
    //Loop until all data has been sent..
    while (total < len) {
    
        //Send data...
        //If statement checks for errors. -1 is returned by send() if error occurs..
        if ((bytes_sent+=send(this->sockfd, data, data.length(), 0)) == -1){
             std::cout << "Error sending data!" << std::endl;
             system("PAUSE");  
             exit(1);
        }
        total += bytes_sent;
        //Removes data just sent from the data string..
        data = data.substr(bytes_sent, data.length()-bytes_sent);

    }
}

As you can see, right now it makes use of the substr() method of the string class. I have scoured google for the past hour looking for a way of doing the same thing with a character array, but havent found anything

Anyone have any ideas how I might solve this?

sub_str() into a temp std::string, and then c_str() that to a character array, if ya get me

Still no need to use a character array. Use c_str(). It will convert your substring into a C-style string.

http://www.cppreference.com/cppstring/c_str.html

I cannot use std::string at all for some reason. When I do it somehow corrupts the 8-bytes and all communication with the server breaks down.

One other thing, the code I posted above it slightly incorrect due to my messing around with it. It should be..

Code:

if ((bytes_sent+=send(this->sockfd, data.c_str(), data.length(), 0)) == -1){

..due to the fact that send() can only take character arrays.

what's the prototype of the send function?

According to this its..

Code:

int send(int sockfd, const void *msg, int len, int flags);

However if I pass anything other than char the compiler will give me..

Code:

94 C:\xmlgbx\gbx\socketwrap.cpp cannot convert `xxxx' to `const char*' for argument `2' to `int send(SOCKET, const char*, int, int)'

So I think that website is mistaken. Either that or its a limitation of winsock.

Well I'm sorry. I cannot help past this.

I find it strange that c_str() would give you trouble. c_str() returns a const char*, which more than well fits into const void*.

Somebody else will be able to help i'm sure

As an aside, are you sure you want += here?

Code:

        //If statement checks for errors. -1 is returned by send() if error occurs..
        if ((bytes_sent+=send(this->sockfd, data, data.length(), 0)) == -1){
             std::cout << "Error sending data!" << std::endl;
             system("PAUSE");  
             exit(1);
        }
        total += bytes_sent;

If bytes_sent is say 4 and send returns -1, no error is detected.

Originally Posted by Mario F.

Well I'm sorry. I cannot help past this.

I find it strange that c_str() would give you trouble. c_str() returns a const char*, which more than well fits into const void*.

Somebody else will be able to help i'm sure

Its not that I cant pass strings to send()

The problem is that i'm trying to pass a specific 8-byte 'header' packet. This has to be done correctly so that the server can pick it up and split it into two 4-byte int32 values, one being the size of the 'body' packet, and the other a handle for asynchronous communication. I can package this header into a character array no problem, but if I convert that to a string and pass it to send(), for some reason it isnt picked up correctly at the other end.

If I send the char* value as it is without converting to a string it works perfectly. Unfortunately this isnt very safe as send() doesnt always send the entire thing. Its up to the coder to ensure any stray bytes are sent. That is why I need a method of passing any un-sent bytes to send(), while keeping them as char type.

But thanks anyways

Originally Posted by Dave_Sinkula

As an aside, are you sure you want += here?

Code:

        //If statement checks for errors. -1 is returned by send() if error occurs..
        if ((bytes_sent+=send(this->sockfd, data, data.length(), 0)) == -1){
             std::cout << "Error sending data!" << std::endl;
             system("PAUSE");  
             exit(1);
        }
        total += bytes_sent;

If bytes_sent is say 4 and send returns -1, no error is detected.

I wouldnt normally have the += but i've been messing around with the code and forgot to switch it back properly.

I think I could solve this using a for loop. However I would need to know how to empty and resize a character array. Here is a quick sketch of what I was thinking of doing...

Code:

//Sends a string of data
void SockWrap::sSend(char* data){

    //Initialise variables
    int bytes_sent = 0;
    int total = 0;
    char temp = *data;
    int i, x;

    //Get length of data in bytes..
    int len = sizeof(data);
    
    //Loop until all data has been sent..
    while (total < len) {
    
        //Send data...
        //If statement checks for errors. -1 is returned by send() if error occurs..
        if ((bytes_sent=send(this->sockfd, &temp, sizeof(temp), 0)) == -1){
             std::cout << "Error sending data!" << std::endl;
             system("PAUSE");  
             exit(1);
        }
        total += bytes_sent;

        //Empty temp array..
        empty(temp); //????
        
        //Reset x..
        x = 0;
        
        //Fill temp with remaining data...
        for (i = total; i < sizeof(dat)-bytes_sent; i++) {
            temp[x] = *dat[i];
            x++;
        }

    }
}

However I dont know what should be in place of empty(temp) and the compiler doesnt like the line..

Code:

temp[x] = *data[i];

To which it replies..

Code:

85 C:\xmlgbx\gbx\socketwrap.cpp invalid types `char[int]' for array subscript

Any ideas?

The Winsock and POSIX sockets send() and recv() prototypes unfortunately differ in their prototypes. POSIX uses (const) void* for the data parameter, Winsock (const) char*.

I recommend using a higher-level abstraction like Boost.ASIO, POCO, or ACE for networking.

Originally Posted by megatron09

I think I could solve this using a for loop. However I would need to know how to empty and resize a character array. Here is a quick sketch of what I was thinking of doing...

}[/code]
However I dont know what should be in place of empty(temp) and the compiler doesnt like the line..

Code:

temp[x] = *data[i];

To which it replies..

Code:

85 C:\xmlgbx\gbx\socketwrap.cpp invalid types `char[int]' for array subscript

Any ideas?

First, you can't resize a character array,, in the traditional sense of an array. Use std::string if you want to do resize() and clear() functions.

Second, if data is a character pointer using the subscript operator [] is already de-referencing it. Unless data was an array of pointers (a pointer to a pointer) you can't de-reference it twice.