The purpose of this project is to implement a fully fledged client-server application (i.e., the bulletin board) using pure unicast sockets. You MUST use sockets regardless of the language you choose (no other built-in or third party libraries/modules are allowed for networking purposes). The project is divided into two parts. You should start with Part 1 first. Then you can extend your code to implement Part 2. Despite the fact that each part can be implemented separately (i.e., as two separate projects), you must not separate the implementation of both parts. In other words, you must submit one common code that can allow both parts to work seamlessly as intended during the same process execution (for example, users should be able to switch between part 1 and part 2 without having to disconnect from the server).
The current version of the message board is written entirely in Python. It can be tested with the following steps. Python should be installed on the computer and added to PATH before running.
- Clone repository:
git clone https://github.com/BinniesLite/networking_final_project.git - Change directories:
cd networking_final_project - Make sure you are in the current branch:
git checkout main - Run server:
python server.py - Open new terminal
- Start a client:
python client.py
There were no major issues with the full Python implementation of this project. However, we ran into a few issues with threading and data processing when trying to implement the GUI and the client in Java. We were able to create the full visual implementation of the GUI using an open-source Java library called Lanterna, but unfortunately ran out of time to fully integrate it into the project. If curious, the work we contributed to this effort can be found on the develop branch. The networking_final_project\GUI directory contains all of the files necessary to run the GUI in VS Code or in JetBrains IDEA Ultimate. If using VS Code, ensure that the Gradle for Java extension is installed. In both VS Code and IDEA, be sure to open a new project from the \networking_final_project\GUI folder. The project can be started from the terminal by running .\gradlew.bat run. The Java client attempt can also be found in networking_final_project\GUI\src\main\java\org\example.
Consider that all clients belong to one and only one public group. A client joins by connecting to a dedicated server (a standalone process) and is prompted to enter a non-existent user name in that group.
- The server listens on a specific non-system port endlessly.
- The server keeps track of all users that join or leave the group.
- When a user joins or leaves the group, all other connected clients get notified by the server.
- When a user (or client) joins the group, he/she can only see the last 2 messages that were posted on the board by other clients who joined earlier.
- A list of users belonging to the group is displayed once a new user joins (in this part, the list represents all users/clients that have joined earlier).
- When a user posts a new message, other users in the same group should see the posted message.
- Messages are displayed in the following format: “Message ID, Sender, Post Date, Subject.”
- A user can retrieve the content of a message by contacting the server and providing the message ID as a parameter.
- Your client program should also provide the option to leave the group. Once a user leaves the group, the server notifies all other users in the same group of this event.
Extend Part 1 to allow users to join multiple private groups.
- Once a user is connected to the server, the server provides a list of 5 groups.
- The user can then select the desired group by id or by name.
- A user can join multiple groups at the same time.
- Remember that a user in one group cannot see users in other groups as well as the messages they have posted to their private board in other groups.
- You are not required to implement any user authentication methods.
- Additional credit of 5% will be given if you have the client program written in a language different from the one used for the server program.
- Additional credit up to 5% may be given for a GUI implementation, based on its quality.