Simple IRC Client-Server

A simple IRC implementation in C++.

Compiling and running on single node

The server.sh file has the commands to compile both server and client. To start the server,

./server.sh <num_of_clients>

To launch clients,

./client.sh <name_of_client>

Running on multiple nodes

Compile the code

To compile server, run

g++ -fconcepts -pthread server.cpp -o server

To compile the client, run

g++ -fconcepts -pthread client.cpp -o client

Running the program

To run the server,

./server <num_of_clients> <server_port>

To run the client,

./client <server_ip> <server_port> <username_of_client>

Running using telnet

To connect to server using telnet,

telnet <server_ip> <server_port>

Then give the username of the client as soon as it connects. You will get prompts from there after.

Usage

On clients,

Outside chatroom

• list chatrooms -- List of available chatrooms on server.
• create chatroom <cr_name> -- Create a chatroom with the name cr_name and join it.
• join chatroom <cr_name> -- Join an existing chatroom with the name cr_name.
• exit -- Close the connection with the server.

Inside chatroom

• list users -- List of users in the existing chatroom.
• reply <msg> -- Broadcast msg to everyone in the chatroom.
• reply tcp <file_path> -- Send file to everyone in the chatroom (Doesn't work on telnet).
• exit chatroom -- Exits the chatroom.

Features

• Single server, multiple clients based model.
• Broadcasts messages to all the clients in the chatroom.

To-do

• When client exits, the pointer still remains in the clients variable. Need to remove the exited client.
• In client.cpp, the output needs to be printed at once (it stops after a linebreak).
• In client.cpp, handle triggering exit command when inside a chatroom.
• Implement unique usernames.
• Chatroom chat history.
• Improve server side logging.
• Add user connected to the server to a chatroom.
• Client-Client direct messaging.