Minitalk

42 Project - Minitalk

Overview

The Minitalk project is part of the 42 curriculum and focuses on Inter-Process Communication (IPC) using Unix signals. The project involves creating a client-server system where the client sends a string message to the server, and the server receives and prints it. Communication is achieved using signals (specifically SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2), and the message is transmitted one bit at a time.

Key Concepts

Unix Logic
Unix Signals (SIGUSR1, SIGUSR2)
Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
Client-Server Architecture
Bitwise operations (bit shifting, bit manipulation)
Message encoding/decoding using signals

Requirements

The project must:

Handle signal-based communication between two programs (client and server).
Support sending and receiving strings of characters.
Use only the signals SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2 for communication.
Ensure that messages are sent bit-by-bit.
Handle errors appropriately (e.g., invalid PID).

Main Files

server.c: The server program that waits for signals and reconstructs the message sent by the client.
client.c: The client program that sends a string as a series of signals to the server.
minitalk.h: Header file containing function prototypes and macros.
Makefile: Automates the compilation process for both the client and server.

Usage

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/AntonioSebastiaoPedro/minitalk.git
cd minitalk

2. Compile the project

You can compile both the client and server using the provided Makefile. Run:

make

This will generate two executables:

server
client

3. Running the server

To start the server, run the server program. It will display its Process ID (PID), which the client needs to send messages.

./server

Output:

PID: 12345

4. Sending a message from the client

Once the server is running and you've noted its PID, you can send a message using the client program:

./client <pid_server> "Your message here"

Example:

./client 12345 "Hello from the client!"

5. Output

The server will display the message it received from the client:

Hello from the client!

6. Cleaning up

To remove the compiled files, run:

make clean

To remove compiled files and object files:

make fclean

To recompile the project after cleaning:

make re

Bonus Features

The project also includes some optional bonus features:

Unicode support: The client can send and the server can handle messages containing non-ASCII characters.
Acknowledgment system: The server sends an acknowledgment to the client after successfully receiving a message.

Error Handling

The client handles invalid server PIDs by printing an error message.
The server prints an error if it encounters problems during message reconstruction.

1. Compile bonus

To compile the project with the bonus files, run:

make bonus

To recompile the project with the bonus files after cleaning:

make rebonus

AntonioSebastiaoPedro/minitalk