Simple Chat Server socket coding issues

[TheGadgetCat]

So, I'm working on one of the projects from the Headfirst java book, which is to create a simple chat client and server. The client was a breeze, but the server is giving me issues. (Using Eclipse on Windows XP SP2)

Here is what I have :

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;

public class SimpleChatServer {

	ArrayList clientOutputStreams;
	
	public class ClientHandler implements Runnable {
		BufferedReader reader;
		Socket sock;
		
		public ClientHandler(Socket clientSocket){
			try{
				sock = clientSocket;
				InputStreamReader isReader = new InputStreamReader(sock.getInputStream());
			}catch(Exception ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
		}//close constructor
		
		public void run() {
			String message;
			try{
				while((message = reader.readLine()) != null){
					System.out.println("read " + message);
					tellEveryone(message);
					
				}//close while
				
			}catch(Exception ex){ex.printStackTrace();}
		}//close run	
	}//close inner class
	public static void main (String[] args){
		new SimpleChatServer().go();
	}
	public void go() {
		clientOutputStreams = new ArrayList();
		try{
			ServerSocket serverSock = new ServerSocket(5000);
			
			while(true) {
				Socket = clientSocket = serverSock.accept();
				PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOuputStream());
				clientOutputStreams.add(writer);
				
				Thread t = new Thread(new ClientHandler(clientSocket));
				t.start();
				System.out.println("got a connection");
			}
			
		}catch(Exception ex){ex.printStackTrace();}
	}//close go
	
	public void tellEveryone(String message){
		Iterator it = clientOutputStreams.iterator();
		while(it.hasNext()){
			try{
				PrintWriter writer = (PrintWriter) it.next();
				writer.flush();
			}catch(Exception ex){ex.printStackTrace();}
		}//end while
	}//close tellEveryone
}//close class

This is the block that is giving me trouble:

while(true) {
				Socket = clientSocket = serverSock.accept();
				PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOuputStream());
				clientOutputStreams.add(writer);
				
				Thread t = new Thread(new ClientHandler(clientSocket));
				t.start();
				System.out.println("got a connection");
			}

It is saying that "ClientSocket" and "Socket" cannot be resolved to a variable, which is odd because I'm pretty sure that this right here defined the ClientSocket:

public ClientHandler(Socket clientSocket){
			try{
				sock = clientSocket;
				InputStreamReader isReader = new InputStreamReader(sock.getInputStream());
			}catch(Exception ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
		}//close constructor

Any and all help is appreciated, if this is in the wrong forum I apologize, this has to do with sockets and server connections so I figured Networking would be a great place to start.

Thanks!

[eRaaaa]

Socket = clientSocket = serverSock.accept();

Do you mean Socket clientSocket = serverSock.accept(); or ?
And in the next line a t is missing :) --> clientSocket.getOutputStream()

[TheGadgetCat]

Thanks a bunch!

But there is still one last issue...
I get this in the console when I run my server, and needless to say it causes the client to not work correctly:


java.net.BindException: Address already in use: JVM_Bind
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketBind(Native Method)
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.bind(Unknown Source)
at java.net.ServerSocket.bind(Unknown Source)
at java.net.ServerSocket.<init>(Unknown Source)
at java.net.ServerSocket.<init>(Unknown Source)
at SimpleChatServer.go(SimpleChatServer.java:44)
at SimpleChatServer.main(SimpleChatServer.java:34)


Any ideas?

[Fubarable]

What line of code causes this exception?

[TheGadgetCat]

That's the thing, there is no specific line it points to.
It says all the syntax is good, and then just gives me that error when ran.
I thought it may have been the port, but I changed it to an open one, and it still doesn't work.

[Fubarable]

That's the thing, there is no specific line it points to.

That's not quite correct. The exception text has these two lines in it:
at SimpleChatServer.go(SimpleChatServer.java:44)
at SimpleChatServer.main(SimpleChatServer.java:34)

stating that the problem is on line 44 and 34 of your program, though these lines may have changed if you have changed your program. If you still need help, you may want to re-run your program, note the line numbers in the exception text and find out which lines this corresponds to in your program and then show it to us.

It says all the syntax is good, and then just gives me that error when ran.

Right, because this is not a compile error but a run-time exception.

[TheGadgetCat]

Oh, wow, thanks.
I'm still new to Java and learning the ins and outs of the console :P

[TheGadgetCat]

Ok, i have gotten the lines that have runtime issues isolated, but i have no idea what is actually wrong.

[TheGadgetCat]

Well, the error I was getting before was a simple fix of making sure that the server shutdown correctly, but then on the client I get this:


java.lang.NullPointerException
at SimpleChatServer$ClientHandler.run(SimpleChatServe r.java:24)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

i can see that it points to line 24, which is weird because that line just creates the textbox that text is displayed on. Something tells me that the thread which is running the incoming text box isn't working for some reason, which makes sense because no text is being displayed there.

[Fubarable]

Well, the error I was getting before was a simple fix of making sure that the server shutdown correctly, but then on the client I get this:


java.lang.NullPointerException
at SimpleChatServer$ClientHandler.run(SimpleChatServe r.java:24)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

i can see that it points to line 24, which is weird because that line just creates the textbox that text is displayed on. Something tells me that the thread which is running the incoming text box isn't working for some reason, which makes sense because no text is being displayed there.

Again, please show us the line of code that is causing this. Otherwise it will be difficult or impossible to help you.

Luck.

[TheGadgetCat]

Well the error points to line 24, but in the error it also points to the thread which is run on line 39 - 40, while the actual thread is on lines 78 - 86.

[Fubarable]

Well the error points to line 24, but in the error it also points to the thread which is run on line 39 - 40, while the actual thread is on lines 78 - 86.

We have little idea what line 24, line 39-40, etc.. are.

Again, please show us the code on these lines so we know what is wrong. In fact what you should probably do is repost your latest code, and comment the offending lines with something like:

   someCode();
   someMoreCode();
   ...
   ...
   myObject.someMethod();  // **** this is line 182 ***
   ...
   ...

[TheGadgetCat]

Gosh I'm sorry. I'm even reffering to a different piece of code :P the client side. Jeeze I'm so sorry...

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;;

public class SimpleChatClient {

	JTextArea incoming;
	JTextField outgoing;
	BufferedReader reader;
	PrintWriter writer;
	Socket sock;
	
	public static void main (String[] args) {
		SimpleChatClient client = new SimpleChatClient();
		client.go();
	}
	
	public void go(){	
		JFrame frame = new JFrame("Super Simple Chat Client");
		JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
		incoming = new JTextArea(15,50);  ///THIS IS LINE 24!
		incoming.setLineWrap(true);
		incoming.setWrapStyleWord(true);
		incoming.setEditable(false);
		JScrollPane qScroller = new JScrollPane(incoming);
		qScroller.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
		qScroller.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
		outgoing = new JTextField(20);
		JButton sendButton = new JButton("Send");
		sendButton.addActionListener(new SendButtonListener());
		mainPanel.add(qScroller);
		mainPanel.add(outgoing);
		mainPanel.add(sendButton);
		setUpNetworking();
		
		Thread readerThread = new Thread(new IncomingReader());     ///THIS IS THE THREAD
		readerThread.start();
		
		sendButton.setForeground(Color.blue);
		sendButton.setBackground(Color.cyan);
		
		incoming.setBackground(Color.gray);
		frame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, mainPanel);
		frame.setSize(400,350);
		frame.setVisible(true);
		mainPanel.setBackground(Color.black);
	}//close go
	
	private void setUpNetworking(){
		try{
			sock = new Socket("127.0.0.1", 8000);
			InputStreamReader streamReader = new InputStreamReader(sock.getInputStream());
			reader = new BufferedReader(streamReader);
			writer = new PrintWriter(sock.getOutputStream());
			System.out.println("Networking Established");
		}catch(IOException ex){
			ex.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
	
	public class SendButtonListener implements ActionListener{
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ev){
			try{
				writer.println(outgoing.getText());
				writer.flush();
			}catch(Exception ex){
				ex.printStackTrace();
			}
			outgoing.setText("");
			outgoing.requestFocus();
			
		}
	}
	
	public class IncomingReader implements Runnable{  
		public void run(){
			String message;
			try{
				while ((message = reader.readLine()) != null){
					System.out.println("read " + message);
					incoming.append(message + "\n");
				}
			}catch(Exception ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
		}
	}
	
}

[Fubarable]

Now I'm confused as it appears to me that the error message is saying that the error is located in the SimpleChatServer line 24, not the SimpleChatClient.

[TheGadgetCat]

I didn't notice that, but that is strange because the Server returns no more errors. Yet it makes sense because this is line 24 - 26 of the server:

while((message = reader.readLine()) != null){
					System.out.println("read " + message);
					tellEveryone(message);

This explains what is going on, the client is returning the error because this while loop in the server that returns the message on the screen of the client, isn't working correctly, why that is I don't know.