File Transfer Application in C (TCP)

A simple file transfer application built with C using TCP sockets. This application includes a server that listens for incoming client connections and serves files, and a client that requests a file from the server and saves it locally.

Requirements

To run this application, you will need:

1. MinGW or GCC compiler (to compile C code on Windows).
2. Visual Studio Code (optional, for editing and managing the code).
3. Git (optional, for cloning this repository and version control).

Downloads

1. Download MinGW:

   • Go to MinGW's SourceForge page.
   • Install MinGW and ensure that gcc is included in the installation.
   • Add MinGW's bin folder (e.g., C:\MinGW\bin) to your PATH environment variable.

2. Install Visual Studio Code (optional):

   • Download and install from Visual Studio Code's website.
   • You can open the project folder in VS Code to easily manage and compile files.

3. GTK 3 (for graphical user interface).

Verify GCC Installation

To ensure GCC is installed correctly, open a terminal or command prompt and type:

gcc --version

You should see version information if GCC is installed properly.

Downloads

1. Download MinGW:
   • go to MinGW's SourceForge page.
   • Install MinGW and ensure that gcc is included in the installation.
   • Add MinGW's bin folder (e.g., C:\MinGW\bin) to your PATH environment variable.
2. Install GTK 3:
   • Download GTK 3 for Windows from GTK's official website.
   • Install GTK and ensure the required DLLs are placed in your system’s PATH or alongside the compiled executables. Alternatively, if you're using MSYS2:
   • Open the MSYS2 terminal and run:

   pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gtk3

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository
2. Open the project in your preferred IDE or text editor
   • You can use Visual Studio Code, Code::Blocks, Dev-C++, Clion, or any other IDE text editor that supports C programming.
   • Open the project folder in your chosen editor to manage and edit files easily.

Compilation - without GTK

Compile the server and client applications as follows:

1. Compile the server

gcc server.c -o server.exe -lws2_32

2. Compile the client

gcc client.c -o client.exe -lws2_32

This will produce server.exe and client.exe.

Running the Application - without GTK

Step 1: Start the Server

1. Open a terminal or command prompt in the project directory.
2. Run the server application:

./server.exe

Step 2: Run the Client

1. In a separate terminal or on a different machine, navigate to the project directory.
2. Run the client, specifying the server's IP address and the filename you want to download:

./client.exe <server_ip> <filename>

• Replace <server_ip> with the server's IP address (e.g., 127.0.0.1 if running locally).
• Replace with the name of the file you want to download from the server's directory.

./client.exe 127.0.0.1 testfile.txt

The client will connect to the server, request the specified file, and save it locally with the same filename.

Compile Server and client - with GTK

1. Set up pkg-config to find GTK:
   • If you are using MSYS2 or another package manager like vcpkg, ensure the pkg-config path is configured properly. In MSYS2, you can run the following command:

   export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/mingw64/lib/pkgconfig"

2. Update c_cpp_properties.json in Visual Studio Code: To ensure Visual Studio Code recognizes GTK and other libraries, update the c_cpp_properties.json file to include the path to GTK and other necessary libraries: Example:
   • Press Ctrl + Shift + P and search for C/C++: Edit Configurations (UI).
   • In the Include path section, add paths like:

    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/gtk-3.0",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/glib-2.0",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/lib/glib-2.0/include",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/pango-1.0",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/cairo",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/atk-1.0",
    "C:/msys64/mingw64/include/harfbuzz"

3. Compile the server and client:
   • Compile the server application:

   gcc server_app.c -o server_app.exe `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0` -lws2_32

   • Compile the client application:

   gcc client_app.c -o client_app.exe `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0` -lws2_32

   This will produce server_app.exe and client_app.exe in your project folder.

Running the application - with GTK

Step 1: Start the Server

1. Open a terminal or command prompt in the project directory.
2. Run the server application:

   ./server_app.exe

Step 2: Run the Client

1. In a separate terminal or on a different machine, navigate to the project directory.
2. Run the client, specifying the server's IP address and the filename you want to download:

   ./client_app.exe

Troubleshooting

1. Connection refused (10061): Ensure the server is running and listening on the specified IP and PORT.
2. Invalid IP and PORT: Verify both the client and server are using the correct IP and PORT.
3. Firewall or Antivirus: Temporarily disable firewall or anitivirus software if they block connections.

Notes

• Ensure the server and client are on the same network, or adjust router and firewall settings to allow communication.
• This application is designed for basic file transfers and currently supports single-client connections.

Future Enhancements - Tracker

1. Multiple File Transfers:
   • Support transferring multiple files at once or in a batch. This could involve sending an array of file names and then transferring each file one after another.
2. Directory Transfers:
   • Allow transferring entire directories, which could involve recursively sending all files and folders, along with metadata.
3. Compression:
   • To reduce transfer time, you could compress the files before sending and decompress them on the receiving side.
4. Encryption:
   • Implement encryption (like SSL/TLS) for secure file transfers, especially if you plan to send sensitive data.
5. User interface ✔
   • for the application with GTK ✔
   • for the application without GTK ✔
6. Error handling and other problems: ✔
   • file overwritting, special file types, file integrity check. ✔

If you want to contribute, even if you use Chat-Gpt, please know what you are doing first because you are wasting both my time (by staying and reviewing your buggy uncompleted code) and yours (by asking Gpt to write the code and not getting the PR). It is so obvious when the requester is using AI and is not even thinking about the issue.

License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License.