General Communications Protocol

A socket-based messaging system implementing a custom communication protocol for real-time messaging between clients and servers.

Features

• Real-time messaging: Send and receive messages through socket connections
• Multi-threaded architecture: Concurrent handling of multiple clients
• Custom encoding: C-based encoding/decoding functions for data processing
• Heartbeat monitoring: Automatic client health checking and timeout handling
• Database persistence: Message storage and retrieval system
• Cross-platform support: Works on Linux and Windows systems

Architecture

The system consists of three main components:

Server (src/Server/)

• server.py: Main server application handling client connections, authentication, and message routing
• db.py: Database operations for message storage and retrieval
• c16.py: Python wrapper for C encoding/decoding functions
• 16.c: C library providing encoding/decoding functionality

Client (src/Client/)

• comms.py: Client application for connecting to server and sending/receiving messages
• db.py: Client-side database operations (shared with server)

Components (src/Components/)

• c16 components/: Compiled C libraries for encoding/decoding operations

Protocol Overview

The system uses multiple ports for different communication types:

• Port 10740: Main client connection and heartbeat
• Port 9281: Authentication handshake
• Port 12090: Server authentication callback
• Port 8070: Heartbeat monitoring
• Port 6090: Message delivery (server to client)
• Port 9980: Message sending (client to server)

Quick Start

1. Start the server:

   cd src/Server
   python server.py

2. Connect a client:

   cd src/Client
   python comms.py

3. Start sending messages through the interactive prompt

Documentation

For detailed information, see the comprehensive documentation in the docs folder:

Getting Started

• Installation Guide - Complete setup instructions for all platforms
• Basics - Getting started guide and basic usage
• Troubleshooting Guide - Solutions to common issues

Technical Documentation

• Architecture Overview - System design and component interactions
• Protocol Specification - Detailed communication protocol
• API Reference - Complete function and class documentation

Development and Operations

• Development Guide - Development workflows and best practices
• Security Guide - Security considerations and hardening
• Performance Guide - Optimization and scalability strategies
• Documentation - Legacy development guidelines