Minitalk

Description

Minitalk is a project where I built a small data exchange program using UNIX signals. The project involves creating a client and server that communicate with each other exclusively through signals, making it a unique and challenging exploration of process communication.

In this project, I learned how to handle UNIX signals like SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2, and I applied concepts related to signal handling, process IDs, and efficient data transmission.

Features

A server that prints its process ID (PID) upon launch.
A client that sends a string to the server using the server’s PID.
The server receives and prints the string sent by the client.
Supports continuous communication between the client and server, allowing multiple clients to send messages in a row without restarting the server.
Communication is done exclusively through the UNIX signals SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2.

Example Usage

Start the server:
```
./server
```
This will display the server's PID, which will be used by the client.
Send a message from the client to the server:
```
./client <server-pid> "Your message here"
```
The server will print the received message.

Bonus Features

I also implemented the following bonuses:

The server acknowledges each message by sending a signal back to the client.
Unicode character support for more complex messages.

Installation

Clone my repository:

git clone git@github.com:Rui-Pedro-Pires/Minitalk.git

Navigate to the project directory:
```
cd Minitalk
```
Compile the project with the provided Makefile:
```
make
```

Requirements

C programming language.
Basic understanding of UNIX signals.

External Functions

The project uses the following external functions:

write, signal, sigaction, kill, getpid, malloc, free, pause, usleep, exit.