README.md

chat-based-file-transfer

a. Environment settings

Clone the library from git as follows:-

git clone [email protected]:arjunaugustine/chat-based-file-transfer.git

Navigate inside code directory. This is our working directory, where all the run-time code is stored.

b. Understanding how the code works:

Here is a block diagram showing how clients connect to a specific chatroom on a server in the application:

Following is a flow chart that depicts working of a server:

Following is a flow chart that depicts file transfer between two peers:

For a detailed list of all classes, functions and their descriptions, please see ALGORITHM.md

c. How to run the code

Start

On the device we wish to run the server on, open a terminal windows and obtain the IP address.

ifconfig

Navigate inside the code directory and run server.py as admin(sudo because we need to open sockets).

sudo ./server.py

The console will display the port number on which the server is listening. They will range from 5000 to 50009 by default.

Next, on the device we need to start the client, run the client can be run with command line arguments. The options made available to us are:-

Argument	Description
-h --help	Print help options
-s --share	0/1 to clear/set global file share (default 1)
-p --parallel	Int argument to define parallel connections (default 2)
--ip	Server IP (tries 0.0.0.0, 127.0.0.1 by default)
--port	Server Port (50000-50009 by default)
-w --window	Window Size for Go-Back-N (default is 16)

Example to start client:-

To display the help/usage message that lists all acceptable command line arguments to client.py:

sudo ./client.py -h

By default, the client looks for server at IP addresses '0.0.0.0', and '127.0.0.1', at ports in range(50000, 50009). To connect to a server on a different IP or port number, use the --port and --ip command line arguments to let the client know where the server is. For example:

sudo ./client.py --ip=192.168.0.100 --port=50505

To start a client with Go-Back-N window size 32 and a limit of 10 parallel file transfer connections:

sudo ./client.py -w 32 -p 10

Chat Options

Chat commands made available to the user:-

Command	Description
`@username	chat`
`@all	chat`
`@server	chat`
`@all	whohas
`@user	getfile
`@server	get_rooms`
`@server	get_peers`
`@server	exit`
`@me	setwindowsize
`@me	setshare
`@me	clrshare
`@me	setglobalshare`
`@me	clrglobalshare`
`@me	getsharestatus`

Commands made available to the server:-

Command	Description
`@username	chat`
`@all	chat`
`@server	chat`
exit	Kill all client connections and exit application gracefully

d. How to interpret the results

1. Chat : Check for chat messages in terminal (Format: #sender|message from user)
2. File Transfer: Check for file existance inside folder or Check for terminal output
3. Go-Back-N : Results included in README.md

e. Any sample input and output files

Sample screen shots included inside the project report.