Skip to content

protocol.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
86 lines (66 loc) · 2.42 KB

protocol.md

File metadata and controls

86 lines (66 loc) · 2.42 KB

Protocol Structure

Request Structure

The protocol structure includes 2 parts: Command and Payload.

Command Format

<command>

Where <command> is a string that indicates the type of command being sent including:

  • LIST: List all available channels
  • HOST: Host a new channel
  • MESSAGE: Send a message to the channel

Payload Format

  • For LIST: No payload is needed.
  • For HOST: JSON object containing channel_name, peer_server_ip, and peer_server_port.
  • For MESSAGE: JSON object containing username and message_content.

Command and payload are separated by the character sequence \r\n.

Examples

  1. List available channels:
LIST\r\n
  1. Host a new channel:
HOST\r\n{"channel_name": "test_channel", "peer_server_ip": "127.0.0.1", "peer_server_port": 22236}
  1. Send a message:
MESSAGE\r\n{"username": "user1", "message_content": "Hello, World!"}

Response Structure

All responses follow a consistent format consisting of a status code and a payload.

Response Format

<status_code>\r\n<response_payload>

Status Codes

  • OK: The command was processed successfully
  • REQUEST_ERROR: The client request was invalid (e.g., malformed payload, missing required fields)
  • SERVER_ERROR: An error occurred on the server while processing the request

Response Payload Format

Response payloads are formatted as JSON objects with contents specific to each command:

LIST Command Response

Returns an array of available channels with their connection details:

OK\r\n{"channels": [{"channel_name": "test_channel", "peer_server_ip": "127.0.0.1", "peer_server_port": 22236}, {"channel_name": "general", "peer_server_ip": "192.168.1.5", "peer_server_port": 22240}]}

HOST Command Response

Returns confirmation of channel creation:

OK\r\n{"status": "success", "channel_name": "test_channel"}

MESSAGE Command Response

Returns confirmation of message delivery:

OK\r\n{"status": "delivered", "timestamp": "2023-11-02T15:04:32Z"}

Error Response Examples

For invalid client requests:

REQUEST_ERROR\r\n{"error": "Invalid payload", "details": "Missing required field 'channel_name'"}

REQUEST_ERROR\r\n{"error": "Channel not found", "details": "The requested channel 'gaming' does not exist"}

For server-side errors:

SERVER_ERROR\r\n{"error": "Database connection failed", "details": "Unable to store message in channel database"}