I have a requirement to send data asynchronously via TCP. It is a collection of strings ICollection<string>.
I searched and found a good starting example from Microsoft (see below). The sample seems to be under .NET Framework, but I assume it applies to .NET Core as well.
What I am doing:
I am re-purposing the code as a non-static class
I would like to send a collection of strings
ICollection<string>. I know I can rewrite it to send the collection of strings in the main method. Not a problem.I would like to receive a response for each message sent and do something with it. The current response is stored statically in
private static String response = String.Empty;. I don't want it to be static. I want a local method variable.My challenge begins from item 3.. How do I return back that response message that seems only accessible from within
private static void ReceiveCallback( IAsyncResult ar )I do not think changing it to
private static string ReceiveCallback( IAsyncResult ar )would work. If so, how do I read it fromclient.BeginReceive( state.buffer, 0, StateObject.BufferSize, 0, new AsyncCallback(ReceiveCallback), state);?
I put out a 300point bounty on a very old post for a similar question I found: C# Asyn. Socket Programming. Happy to award anyone who answers here, then there.
An additional question is: Is it recommended practice to open a TCP connection, send the multiple messages, then close it? Or to open a TCP connection for each message being sent?
Microsoft Example
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Threading;
using System.Text;
// State object for receiving data from remote device.
public class StateObject {
// Client socket.
public Socket workSocket = null;
// Size of receive buffer.
public const int BufferSize = 256;
// Receive buffer.
public byte[] buffer = new byte[BufferSize];
// Received data string.
public StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
}
public class AsynchronousClient {
// The port number for the remote device.
private const int port = 11000;
// ManualResetEvent instances signal completion.
private static ManualResetEvent connectDone =
new ManualResetEvent(false);
private static ManualResetEvent sendDone =
new ManualResetEvent(false);
private static ManualResetEvent receiveDone =
new ManualResetEvent(false);
// The response from the remote device. <------ ### the response data that I want to access, non statically
private static String response = String.Empty;
private static void StartClient() {
// Connect to a remote device.
try {
// Establish the remote endpoint for the socket.
// The name of the
// remote device is "host.contoso.com".
IPHostEntry ipHostInfo = Dns.GetHostEntry("host.contoso.com");
IPAddress ipAddress = ipHostInfo.AddressList[0];
IPEndPoint remoteEP = new IPEndPoint(ipAddress, port);
// Create a TCP/IP socket.
Socket client = new Socket(ipAddress.AddressFamily,
SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
// Connect to the remote endpoint.
client.BeginConnect( remoteEP,
new AsyncCallback(ConnectCallback), client);
connectDone.WaitOne();
// Send test data to the remote device.
Send(client,"This is a test<EOF>");
sendDone.WaitOne();
// Receive the response from the remote device.
Receive(client);
receiveDone.WaitOne();
// Write the response to the console.
Console.WriteLine("Response received : {0}", response);
// Release the socket.
client.Shutdown(SocketShutdown.Both);
client.Close();
} catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
}
private static void ConnectCallback(IAsyncResult ar) {
try {
// Retrieve the socket from the state object.
Socket client = (Socket) ar.AsyncState;
// Complete the connection.
client.EndConnect(ar);
Console.WriteLine("Socket connected to {0}",
client.RemoteEndPoint.ToString());
// Signal that the connection has been made.
connectDone.Set();
} catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
}
private static void Receive(Socket client) {
try {
// Create the state object.
StateObject state = new StateObject();
state.workSocket = client;
// Begin receiving the data from the remote device.
client.BeginReceive( state.buffer, 0, StateObject.BufferSize, 0,
new AsyncCallback(ReceiveCallback), state); //<------ The receive callback is here, how do I return the result to the caller?
} catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
}
private static void ReceiveCallback( IAsyncResult ar ) {
try {
// Retrieve the state object and the client socket
// from the asynchronous state object.
StateObject state = (StateObject) ar.AsyncState;
Socket client = state.workSocket;
// Read data from the remote device.
int bytesRead = client.EndReceive(ar);
if (bytesRead > 0) {
// There might be more data, so store the data received so far.
state.sb.Append(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(state.buffer,0,bytesRead));
// Get the rest of the data.
client.BeginReceive(state.buffer,0,StateObject.BufferSize,0,
new AsyncCallback(ReceiveCallback), state);
} else {
// All the data has arrived; put it in response.
if (state.sb.Length > 1) {
response = state.sb.ToString(); //<--------- ### Where it is assigned, I want it returned
}
// Signal that all bytes have been received.
receiveDone.Set();
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
}
private static void Send(Socket client, String data) {
// Convert the string data to byte data using ASCII encoding.
byte[] byteData = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(data);
// Begin sending the data to the remote device.
client.BeginSend(byteData, 0, byteData.Length, 0,
new AsyncCallback(SendCallback), client);
}
private static void SendCallback(IAsyncResult ar) {
try {
// Retrieve the socket from the state object.
Socket client = (Socket) ar.AsyncState;
// Complete sending the data to the remote device.
int bytesSent = client.EndSend(ar);
Console.WriteLine("Sent {0} bytes to server.", bytesSent);
// Signal that all bytes have been sent.
sendDone.Set();
} catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
}
public static int Main(String[] args) {
StartClient();
return 0;
}
}