Server Threading Confusion

[Fortu]

Cross-posted at http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thre...83043&#9483043 with a helpful answer there.

I'm trying to learn how to make a server for a multiplayer game, and at the moment I'm having troubles getting the threads that will send clients data to do anything. I'll explain throughout the code

Here's the actual class I use for each thread:

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

public class GameThread extends Thread // this is the actual thread class I made
{

  public Socket socket;
  public DataInputStream in;
  public DataOutputStream out; // a socket and two I/O streams for sending ints

  public GameThread(Socket socket) // typical constructor for getting socket
  {
    try
    {
      this.socket = socket;
      in = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
      out = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
    }
    catch(Exception e)
    {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }

  public Socket getSocket() // I don't believe this is ever used. Ignore it.
  {
    return socket;
  }

  public void print() // Used to make sure the thread is active/knows about the socket
  {
    System.out.println("GameThread says: " + socket);
  }

  public void run()
  {
    while(true)
    {
    }
  }
}

Here's the class I use to manage the threads, or, at least, where I attempt to do so.

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

public class Threader
{

  public ArrayList clients;
  public ArrayList<GameThread> threads; // GameThread is the thread class above

  public Threader()
  {
    threads = new ArrayList<GameThread>(); //constructor for this arraylist
  }

  public void updateClientCount(ArrayList<Socket> clients) // this method works
  {
    this.clients = clients; // it's not the problem.
  }

  public void openThreads() //Here's probably where problems begin
  {
    if(clients.size() > threads.size()) // this is to make the threads arraylist
    {
      int f = clients.size()-threads.size();//equal length compared to clients arraylist
      while(f > 1)
      {
	threads.add(null);
	f--;
      }
    }
    if(clients.size() < threads.size()) //same as above, just if threads is bigger
    {
      threads.subList(clients.size(),(threads.size()-1)).clear();
    }
    for(int h=0;h<clients.size();h++) //Here: for each client spot
    {
      if(threads.get(h) == null) //Threads is tested in that spot to see if there's
      {              // A thread there
	GameThread gt = new GameThread((Socket)clients.get(h));
	threads.add(gt); //and if there isn't then it makes one
	gt.start(); // and starts it, but I guess this isn't happening as I want
      } // it to because in the method below none of the GameThreads print socket info
    }
  }

  public void print() //used to make sure the Threader/GameThread(s) is getting the info
  {
    for(int y = 0;y<clients.size();y++)
    {
      System.out.println("Threader says: " + clients.get(y));
    }
    for(int x = 0;x<threads.size();x++)
    {
      threads.get(x).print();
    }
  }
}

If anyone could help me find what is going on, or maybe (probably) I'm going about making a server wrong (I have another class with a serversocket and all, but I don't believe there are any bugs in it so it isn't included in here), so if I could get help that would be awesome.

Thanks guys!

[DarrylBurke]

Cross posted
OTN Discussion Forums : Java Server Threading Problems ...

Any more?

db

[Fortu]

None other. Sorry for not specifying that this was cross posting. Similar to my post on sun's forums, I had no idea it had consequence at all.