c++boostboost-asioistreamstreambuf

Using Boost asio to receive commands and execute them


I'm trying to make a boost server, which will receive commands and do certain things. Now I would like to create a function, that will receive a file and save it to a specific location. The problem is with serialization. I don't know how can I recognize a command in a stream in an efficint way. I tried with boost::asio::read_until. And actually my code works. First file is being sent and received perfectly. But I am getting an error (The file handle supplied is not valid) when client sends second file. I would be very grateful for every advice. Thanks in an advance!

    bool Sync::start_server() {



    boost::asio::streambuf request_buf; 
    std::istream request_stream(&request_buf);
    boost::system::error_code error; 


    try {

        tcp::acceptor acceptor(io_service, tcp::endpoint(tcp::v4(), conf->def_port));
        acceptor.accept(socket); //socket is a member of class Sync
        while (true)
        {

            error.clear();


            size_t siz = boost::asio::read_until(socket, request_buf, "\n\n");

            std::cout << "request size:" << request_buf.size() << "\n";

            string command;
            string parameter;
            size_t data_size = 0;

            request_stream >> command;
            request_stream >> parameter;
            request_stream >> data_size;


            request_buf.consume(siz);//And also this

            //cut filename from path below
            size_t pos = parameter.find_last_of('\\');
            if (pos != std::string::npos)
                parameter = parameter.substr(pos + 1);
            //cut filename from path above
            //command = "save";// constant until I make up other functions
             //execute(command, parameter, data_size);

            save(parameter,data_size);//parameter is filename

        }

    }
    catch (std::exception& e)
    {
        std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
    }
}

And function to save file to a hard drive:

bool Sync::save(string filename, size_t filesize) {
    boost::array<char, 1024> buf;
    cout << "filesize is" << filesize;
    size_t data_size = 0;
    boost::system::error_code error;
    std::ofstream output_file(filename.c_str(), std::ios_base::binary);
    if (!output_file)
    {
        std::cout << "failed to open " << filename << std::endl;
        return __LINE__;
    }
    while (true) {



        size_t len = socket.read_some(boost::asio::buffer(buf), error);

        if (len>0)
            output_file.write(buf.c_array(), (std::streamsize)len);
        if (output_file.tellp() == (std::fstream::pos_type)(std::streamsize)filesize)
        {

            output_file.close();
            buf.empty();
            break; // file was received
        }


        if (error)
        {
            socket.shutdown(boost::asio::ip::tcp::socket::shutdown_both, error);
            socket.close(error);
            output_file.close();
            buf.empty();
            break;//an error occured
        }



    }


}

Solution

    1. read_until might read beyond the delimiter (therefore request_buf.size() can be more than siz). This is a conceptual problem when you implement save because you read data_size bytes from the socket, which ignores any data already in request_buf

    2. These things are code smells:

      if (output_file.tellp() == (std::fstream::pos_type)(std::streamsize)filesize) {
      

      (never use C-style casts). And

      return __LINE__; // huh? just `true` then
      

      And

          buf.empty();
      

      (That has no effect whatsoever).

    I present here three versions:

    First Cleanup

    Here's a reasonable cleanup:

    Live On Coliru

    #include <boost/asio.hpp>
    #include <boost/array.hpp>
    #include <iostream>
    #include <fstream>
    namespace ba = boost::asio;
    using ba::ip::tcp;
    
    struct Conf {
        int def_port = 6767;
    } s_config;
    
    struct Request {
        std::string command;
        std::string parameter;
        std::size_t data_size = 0;
    
        std::string get_filename() const {
            // cut filename from path - TODO use boost::filesystem::path instead
            return parameter.substr(parameter.find_last_of('\\') + 1);
        }
    
        friend std::istream& operator>>(std::istream& is, Request& req) {
            return is >> req.command >> req.parameter >> req.data_size;
        }
    };
    
    struct Sync {
        bool start_server();
        bool save(Request const& req, boost::asio::streambuf& request_buf);
    
        ba::io_service& io_service;
        tcp::socket socket{ io_service };
        Conf const *conf = &s_config;
    };
    
    bool Sync::start_server() {
    
        boost::asio::streambuf request_buf;
        boost::system::error_code error;
    
        try {
    
            tcp::acceptor acceptor(io_service, tcp::endpoint(tcp::v4(), conf->def_port));
            acceptor.accept(socket); // socket is a member of class Sync
            while (true) {
    
                error.clear();
    
                std::string req_txt;
    
                {
                    char const* delim = "\n\n";
                    size_t siz = boost::asio::read_until(socket, request_buf, delim, error);
    
                    // correct for actual request siz
                    auto b = buffers_begin(request_buf.data()), 
                         e = buffers_end(request_buf.data());
    
                    auto where = std::search(b, e, delim, delim+strlen(delim));
                    siz = where==e
                        ? std::distance(b,e)
                        : std::distance(b,where)+strlen(delim);
    
                    std::copy_n(b, siz, back_inserter(req_txt));
                    request_buf.consume(siz); // consume only the request text bits from the buffer
                }
    
                std::cout << "request size:" << req_txt.size() << "\n";
                std::cout << "Request text: '" << req_txt << "'\n";
                Request req;
    
                {
                    std::istringstream request_stream(req_txt);
                    request_stream.exceptions(std::ios::failbit);
                    request_stream >> req;
                }
    
                save(req, request_buf); // parameter is filename
            }
    
        } catch (std::exception &e) {
            std::cerr << "Error parsing request: " << e.what() << std::endl;
        }
    
        return false;
    }
    
    bool Sync::save(Request const& req, boost::asio::streambuf& request_buf) {
        auto filesize = req.data_size;
        std::cout << "filesize is: " << filesize << "\n";
    
        {
            std::ofstream output_file(req.get_filename(), std::ios::binary);
            if (!output_file) {
                std::cout << "failed to open " << req.get_filename() << std::endl;
                return true;
            }
    
            // deplete request_buf
            if (request_buf.size()) {
                if (request_buf.size() < filesize)
                {
                    filesize -= request_buf.size();
                    output_file << &request_buf;
                }
                else {
                    // copy only filesize already available bytes
                    std::copy_n(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(&request_buf), filesize, 
                            std::ostreambuf_iterator<char>(output_file));
                    filesize = 0;
                }
            }
    
            while (filesize) {
                boost::array<char, 1024> buf;
                boost::system::error_code error;
    
                std::streamsize len = socket.read_some(boost::asio::buffer(buf), error);
    
                if (len > 0)
                {
                    output_file.write(buf.c_array(), len);
                    filesize -= len;
                }
    
                if (error) {
                    socket.shutdown(boost::asio::ip::tcp::socket::shutdown_both, error); // ignore error
                    socket.close(error);
                    break; // an error occured
                }
            }
        } // closes output_file
    
        return false;
    }
    
    int main() {
        ba::io_service svc;
    
        Sync s{svc};
        s.start_server();
    
        svc.run();
    }
    

    Prints with a client like echo -ne "save test.txt 12\n\nHello world\n" | netcat 127.0.0.1 6767:

    request size:18
    Request text: 'save test.txt 12
    
    '
    filesize is: 12
    request size:1
    Request text: '
    '
    Error parsing request: basic_ios::clear: iostream error
    

    SIMPLIFY

    However, since everything is synchronous, why not just use tcp::iostream socket;. That would make start_server look like this:

    tcp::acceptor acceptor(io_service, tcp::endpoint(tcp::v4(), conf->def_port));
    acceptor.accept(*socket.rdbuf());
    
    while (socket) {
        std::string req_txt, line;
    
        while (getline(socket, line) && !line.empty()) {
            req_txt += line + "\n";
        }
    
        std::cout << "request size:" << req_txt.size() << "\n";
        std::cout << "Request text: '" << req_txt << "'\n";
    
        Request req;
        if (std::istringstream(req_txt) >> req)
            save(req);
    }
    

    And save even simpler:

    void Sync::save(Request const& req) {
        char buf[1024];
        size_t remain = req.data_size, n = 0;
    
        for (std::ofstream of(req.get_filename(), std::ios::binary);
            socket.read(buf, std::min(sizeof(buf), remain)), (n = socket.gcount());
            remain -= n)
        {
            if (!of.write(buf, n))
                break;
        }
    }
    

    See it Live On Coliru

    When tested with

    for f in test{a..z}.txt; do (echo -ne "save $f 12\n\nHello world\n"); done | netcat 127.0.0.1 6767
    

    that prints:

    request size:18
    Request text: 'save testa.txt 12
    '
    request size:18
    Request text: 'save testb.txt 12
    '
    [... snip ...]
    request size:18
    Request text: 'save testz.txt 12
    '
    request size:0
    Request text: ''
    

    Even Simpler

    If you know that the request is a single line, or whitespace is not significant:

    struct Sync {
        void run_server();
        void save(Request const& req);
    
      private:
        Conf const *conf = &s_config;
        tcp::iostream socket;
    };
    
    void Sync::run_server() {
        ba::io_service io_service;
        tcp::acceptor acceptor(io_service, tcp::endpoint(tcp::v4(), conf->def_port));
        acceptor.accept(*socket.rdbuf());
    
        for (Request req; socket >> std::noskipws >> req; std::cout << req << " handled\n")
            save(req);
    }
    
    void Sync::save(Request const& req) {
        char buf[1024];
        size_t remain = req.data_size, n = 0;
    
        for (std::ofstream of(req.get_filename(), std::ios::binary);
            socket.read(buf, std::min(sizeof(buf), remain)), (n = socket.gcount());
            remain -= n) 
        {
            if (!of.write(buf, n)) break;
        }
    }
    
    int main() {
        Sync().run_server();
    }
    

    That's the entire program in ~33 lines of code. See it Live On Coliru, printing:

    Request {"save" "testa.txt"} handled
    Request {"save" "testb.txt"} handled
    Request {"save" "testc.txt"} handled
    [... snip ...]
    Request {"save" "testy.txt"} handled
    Request {"save" "testz.txt"} handled