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

License

This project is part of the 42 curriculum and is intended for educational purposes.