Develop Reference

C# UdpClient.Connect() raises exception on 2nd call

I tried to send form a single UdpClient to several different open UDP sockets from localhost to localhost. However in the first version only the first message of the loop was sent, the rest did not even make it out.
When trying to isolate the error the second call to udpClient.Connect() raises a SocketException pointing to the Error WSAEISCONN 10056
The official documentation of UdpClient.Connect() here states in the remark section if you want to send to different endpoints, call Connect again. However this is the opposite of what the error tells me.
So is this just an error in the docs of the Connect methode, or do I miss something here?
Too fast requests should not be an issue with only 3 requests every 3 Seconds and as I use the normal Send(buffer) call, there should be no packets waiting to be sent to the previous endpoint.
Simple example to reproduce (I used .net 6, Win10):
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Text;
namespace UdpClientIssue;
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var sender = CreateSender(3_000, 40001, 40002, 40003);
var reciverA = CreateReciver("ReciverA", 40001);
var reciverB = CreateReciver("ReciverB", 40002);
var reciverC = CreateReciver("ReciverC", 40003);
reciverA.Start();
reciverB.Start();
reciverC.Start();
sender.Start();
sender.Join();
}
static void Reciver(int port)
{
var localEP = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Loopback, port);
using var listener = new UdpClient(localEP);
var buff = new byte[1024];
while (true)
{
var senderEP = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.None, 0);
var data = listener.Receive(ref senderEP);
var message = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(data);
Console.WriteLine($"Recived at {port}: {message}");
}
}
static void Sender(int interval_ms, params int[] ports)
{
int messageNumber = 0;
while (true)
{
Thread.Sleep(interval_ms);
using (var udpClient = new UdpClient())
{
foreach (var remotePort in ports)
{
var message = $"Message {++messageNumber} to {remotePort}";
var sendBuffer = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(message);
Console.WriteLine($"Sending to {remotePort}: {message}");
var remoteEP = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Loopback, remotePort);
//This errors on second iteration
//udpClient.Connect(remoteEP);
//udpClient.Send(sendBuffer);
//This works
udpClient.Send(sendBuffer, remoteEP);
}
}
messageNumber += 100 - ports.Length;
}
}
static Thread CreateReciver(string name, int port)
{
var ts = new ThreadStart(() => Reciver(port));
var t = new Thread(ts)
{
Name = name
};
return t;
}
static Thread CreateSender(int interval_ms, params int[] ports)
{
var ts = new ThreadStart(() => Sender(interval_ms, ports));
var t = new Thread(ts)
{
Name = "Sender"
};
return t;
}
}

I believe it's error in the docs. Description of this error message says:
Socket is already connected.
A connect request was made on an already-connected socket
And source code explicitly throws this exception with this error code if socket was already connected.
Here you see it just forwards connect to Socket:
public void Connect(IPEndPoint endPoint)
{
ThrowIfDisposed();
ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(endPoint);
CheckForBroadcast(endPoint.Address);
Client.Connect(endPoint);
_active = true;
}
And in Socket.Connect you see it throws this errors if socket is already connected:
if (_isConnected)
{
throw new SocketException((int)SocketError.IsConnected);
}
Fortunately you already know the better way of doing this - just pass remote endpoint to Send call. UDP is connectionless protocol anyway so calling Connect only sets default remote endpoint and doesn't perform actual connection.

C# Multithreading Clients Duplicate Connection/Data Loss

I am having a weird problem where I am making a chat connection with TCPListeners and sockets. For some reason when a client "connects" to the server it will show they have connected twice. Also what is weird once all of the users have connected I will send out a message to all of them. They will respond back with it acknowledged and state that their chat has started.
Things I am noticing with how i have it setup:
It appears according to the log that the user "connects" twice the second "connect occurs once it hits the white(true) loop.
When they send over the acknowledgement back to the server not all of the data is getting sent over. If I do a thread sleep on the client it does appear to start working but it is still inconsistent.
Here is the code:
Server:
private TcpListener tcpListener;
private Thread listen;
private TcpListener tcpUser1, tcpUser2,tcpUser3;
NetworkStream User1Stream,User2Stream,User3Stream;
public event NetworkMessageStringDelegate MessageFromUser;
TcpClient client;
public void start(string ip){
IpHostEntry host = dns.GetHostEntry(dns.GetHostName());
IpAddress[] ip = host.AddressList;
serverStatus = "Server started with IP of: " + ip;
Thread.Sleep(1);
tcpUser1 = new TcpListener(IpAddress.Any, 4001);
listen = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => ListenUser1(tcpUser1)));
listen.Start();
Thread.Sleep(1);
tcpUser2 = new TcpListener(IpAddress.Any, 4002);
listen = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => ListenUser2(tcpUser2)));
listen.Start();
Thread.Sleep(1);
tcpUser3 = new TcpListener(IpAddress.Any, 4003);
listen = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => ListenUser3(tcpUser3)));
listen.Start();
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
public void ListenUser3(TcpListener tmp){
tcpListener = (TcpListener)tmp;
Socket = "Listening for User3";
tcpUser3.Start();
Thread.Sleep(2);
while(true){
user3 = this.tcpListener.AcceptTcpClient();
Thread user3Thread = new Thread(new ParmeterizedThreadStart(receiveUser3Data));
user3Thread.Start(user3);
}
}
//Mostly from MS documenation
private void receiveUser3Data(object client){
client = (TcpClient)client;
User3Stream = client.getStream();
Socket = "Connected to User: " + client.Client.RemoteEndPoint.toString();
byte[] message = new byte[4096];
int total;
//This is the line it will display the socket message Twice. "Connected to User...."
while(true){
total = 0;
try{
do{
total = User3Stream.Read(message,0,4096);
}
while(user3.DataAvailable);
}
catch()
{
Socket = "Error State";
}
}
byte[] infoPacket = new byte[total];
Array.ConstrainedCopy(message,0,infoPacket,total);
if(MessageFromUser3 != null){
MessageFromUser?.Invoke(packet);
}
}
Client:
public void ConfigureUser3(){
try{
socket = new Network.TCPIPClient();
socket.ReceiveMessage() = new Newowrk.TCPIPClient.NetworkMessageStringDelgate(MessageFromserver);
socket.SendMessage() = new Newowrk.TCPIPClient.NetworkMessageStringDelgate(sendMessage);
userThread = new Thread(() => socket.Start("0.0.0.0),4054));
userThread.Start();
}
catch(Exception ex){
}
}
//This is where if I sleep it will send but it is still inconsident
private void SendMEssageToSever(object tmpVal){
object[] sendMessage = tmpVal as object[];
string tmpSendValue = tmpVal[0].ToString();
byte sendValue = Coonvert.ToByte(tmpVal[1]);
packetData[0] = 0;
packetData[1] = sendValue;
packetData[2] = Convert.ToByte(tmpSendValue);
socket.sendMessage = packetData;
}
private voide sendMessage(byte[] userMessage){
try{
if(socket){
outputMessage.Enqueue(userMessage);
while(outputMessage.Count > 0){
Byte[] sendMessage = outputMessage.Dequeue();
string message = ascII.GetString(sendMessage);
if(socket.Connected){
lock(socket){
socket.Send(sendMessage,sendMessage.length,0);
}
}
}
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
}
This code is essentially repeated for all users that are connected to the server.

The TcpListener has asynchronous methods like BeginAcceptTcpClient.
TcpClient.GetStream() (which is a NetworkStream) also has asynchronous methods like BeginRead.
I suggest you change your server code to use these and to store the user state in a class and pass this class to and fro between Begin* and End* methods.
You can support N number of users then, and don't have to repeat code for each user. You also don't have to have 3 different listeners for 3 connections. Have just one listener and accept clients over this one. The rest is two-way communication via TcpClient.GetStream()
Here is a minimal server example which listens on port 9988 (for only LoopBack, which means the local machine). You can of course change this.
There is no client example here. Only the server. Just copy/paste the code into your program.cs file in a console application.
I hope the comments are sufficient to explain the code.
I hope also, that this helps.
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
class Program
{
/// <summary>
/// Contains the state for a client connection
/// </summary>
public class ClientState
{
public const int ReceiveBufferSize = 8192;
// The buffer to receive in
internal byte[] receiveBuffer = new byte[ReceiveBufferSize];
// The TcpClient instance representing the remote end (connected client)
public TcpClient TcpClient { get; set; }
public byte[] GetReceiveBuffer()
{
return receiveBuffer;
}
}
// This method is invoked when data is received from a client
static void OnReceive(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
{
// The state parameter passed to the BeginRead method
// is provided here in the asyncResult.AsyncState property
ClientState clientState = asyncResult.AsyncState as ClientState;
int numberOfBytesReceived = clientState.TcpClient.GetStream().EndRead(asyncResult);
if (numberOfBytesReceived == 0)
{
// This means that the transmission is over
Console.WriteLine("Client disconnect: {0}", clientState.TcpClient.Client.RemoteEndPoint);
return;
}
// Now the receiveBuffer is filled with <numberOfBytesReceived> bytes received from the client.
// Do whatever is needed here.
Console.WriteLine("Received {0} bytes from {1}", numberOfBytesReceived, clientState.TcpClient.Client.RemoteEndPoint);
// We are also sending some information back:
StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(clientState.TcpClient.GetStream());
streamWriter.WriteLine("The server has received {0} bytes from you! Keep up the good job!", numberOfBytesReceived);
streamWriter.Flush();
// Begin read again
clientState.TcpClient.GetStream().BeginRead(clientState.GetReceiveBuffer(), 0, ClientState.ReceiveBufferSize, OnReceive, clientState);
}
// This method is invoked when a new client connects
static void OnConnect(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
{
// The state parameter passed to the BeginAcceptTcpClient method
// is provided here in the asyncResult.AsyncState property
TcpListener tcpListener = asyncResult.AsyncState as TcpListener;
// Accept the TcpClient:
TcpClient newClient = tcpListener.EndAcceptTcpClient(asyncResult);
// Immediately begin accept a new tcp client.
// We do not want to cause any latency for new connection requests
tcpListener.BeginAcceptTcpClient(OnConnect, tcpListener);
// Create the client state to store information aboutn the client connection
ClientState clientState = new ClientState()
{
TcpClient = newClient
};
Console.WriteLine("A new client has connected. IP Address: {0}", newClient.Client.RemoteEndPoint);
// Start receiving data from the client
// Please note that we are passing the buffer (byte[]) of the client state
// We are also passing the clientState instance as the state parameter
// this state parameter is retrieved using asyncResult.AsyncState in the asynchronous callback (OnReceive)
newClient.GetStream().BeginRead(clientState.GetReceiveBuffer(), 0, ClientState.ReceiveBufferSize, OnReceive, clientState);
// Nothing else to do.
// The rest of the communication process will be handled by OnReceive()
}
static void Main()
{
// Start a tcp listener
TcpListener tcpListener = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Loopback, 9988);
tcpListener.Start();
// Begin accept a new tcp client, pass the listener as the state
// The state is retrieved using asyncResult.AsyncState in the asynchronous callback (OnConnect)
tcpListener.BeginAcceptTcpClient(OnConnect, tcpListener);
// That's it. We don't need anything else here, except wait and see.
Console.WriteLine("Server is listening on port 9988. Press enter to stop.");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}

Can I execute code on an existing process?

I have an application that runs and continuously in the system tray icon. It makes sure it is the only running instance of my application by running some code that uses a #Global mutex.
Due to 3rd party vendor limitations the only (sane) way I can integrate with one part of a vendor app is by specifying in a config file that an arbitrary command line executable is called. The parameters I care about are automatically added to the executable I specify.
So I think most people who integrated with this run a seperate program which connects to a server socket on the main program and sends a packet letting the main program know the command line has been triggered.
I'm wondering if there is a way I could do this pseudo-code..
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if (isrunningcommandLine)
{
ConnectToAlreadyRunningProcessAndPassInfo(args); // find already running process by its process name and somehow pass the command line params
KillProgram();
}
else
{
CheckGlobalMutexAndStart();
}
}
Essentially if I am running via command line connect to the already running global process and pass it some data.
I control the code that will be the client as well as the server, they are in fact the same project.

You can use a global named mutex to detect if your app is already running.
If no run a server that will receive and manage the commands.
If yes run a client and just send the commands to the server.
Then use a TCP connection on localhost to exchange messages.
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
namespace Test42
{
internal static class Program
{
private static int PORT = 1337;
private static void Main()
{
bool ok;
// Try to build a mutex.
var mutex = new Mutex(true, #"Test42", out ok);
// If build is ok, we run as a server.
// Otherwise, the server is already running, so we run as a client.
if (ok)
{
var server = new MyServer(PORT);
server.Start();
}
else
{
var r = new Random();
var message = "Ho Hey : " + r.Next(50);
var client = new MyClient();
client.Send(PORT, message);
}
}
}
internal class MyClient
{
/// <summary>
/// Send a message to localhost.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="port">The port to connect.</param>
/// <param name="message">The message to send.</param>
public void Send(int port, string message)
{
var client = new TcpClient();
var serverEndPoint = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), port);
client.Connect(serverEndPoint);
using (var stream = client.GetStream())
{
var messageBuffer = Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(message);
var lengthBuffer = BitConverter.GetBytes(messageBuffer.Length);
// Send message length.
stream.Write(lengthBuffer, 0, lengthBuffer.Length);
// Send message.
stream.Write(messageBuffer, 0, messageBuffer.Length);
stream.Flush();
}
client.Close();
}
}
internal class MyServer
{
private readonly int _port;
public MyServer(int port)
{
_port = port;
}
public void Start()
{
Console.WriteLine("wait for messages");
var thread = new Thread(ThreadStart);
thread.Start();
}
private void ThreadStart()
{
var listener = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Any, _port);
listener.Start();
while (true)
{
var client = listener.AcceptTcpClient();
var clientThread = new Thread(ClientThreadStart);
clientThread.Start(client);
}
}
private void ClientThreadStart(object obj)
{
var client = obj as TcpClient;
if (client == null) return;
using (var stream = client.GetStream())
{
const int lengthLength = sizeof(int) / sizeof(byte);
// Read the message length.
var lengthBuffer = new byte[lengthLength];
stream.ReadAsync(lengthBuffer, 0, lengthLength).Wait();
var messageLength = BitConverter.ToInt32(lengthBuffer, 0);
// Read the message.
var messageBuffer = new byte[messageLength];
stream.ReadAsync(messageBuffer, 0, messageLength).Wait();
var message = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(messageBuffer);
Console.WriteLine("Client says: " + message);
}
client.Close();
}
}
}

C# UDP Socket client and server

My first question here. I am new to this kind of programming, and i've only programmed .NET web sites and forms.
Now, the company I work at, asks me to make an ActiveX component, that listens to UDP messages, and turns them into events.
The UDP msgs are send from Avaya system, so i was told that to test my ActiveX, at first I need to create an app, that only sends UDP (only one button that sends pre-defined UDP string). And then create listener socket, ordinary C# app, that will get those transmitted UDP string from the tests app. Both apps will work on the same machine.
Later, when i get this working, i need to make the listener an ActiveX component, but first things first.
I need to know if there are any good tutorials about this, and any idea on how to start? I am sorry for my ignorance, but i am really new on this and i don't really have any time to learn this since it has to be done in 2 weeks.
Thanks in advance.
edit: I managed to create 2 simple console applications, and was sending UDP messages between them successfully. The sender will be only for testing, and now I need to re-make my receiver to get the UDP message and 'translate' it to events. And lastly, to make it an ActiveX control...

Simple server and client:
public struct Received
{
public IPEndPoint Sender;
public string Message;
}
abstract class UdpBase
{
protected UdpClient Client;
protected UdpBase()
{
Client = new UdpClient();
}
public async Task<Received> Receive()
{
var result = await Client.ReceiveAsync();
return new Received()
{
Message = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result.Buffer, 0, result.Buffer.Length),
Sender = result.RemoteEndPoint
};
}
}
//Server
class UdpListener : UdpBase
{
private IPEndPoint _listenOn;
public UdpListener() : this(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any,32123))
{
}
public UdpListener(IPEndPoint endpoint)
{
_listenOn = endpoint;
Client = new UdpClient(_listenOn);
}
public void Reply(string message,IPEndPoint endpoint)
{
var datagram = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(message);
Client.Send(datagram, datagram.Length,endpoint);
}
}
//Client
class UdpUser : UdpBase
{
private UdpUser(){}
public static UdpUser ConnectTo(string hostname, int port)
{
var connection = new UdpUser();
connection.Client.Connect(hostname, port);
return connection;
}
public void Send(string message)
{
var datagram = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(message);
Client.Send(datagram, datagram.Length);
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//create a new server
var server = new UdpListener();
//start listening for messages and copy the messages back to the client
Task.Factory.StartNew(async () => {
while (true)
{
var received = await server.Receive();
server.Reply("copy " + received.Message, received.Sender);
if (received.Message == "quit")
break;
}
});
//create a new client
var client = UdpUser.ConnectTo("127.0.0.1", 32123);
//wait for reply messages from server and send them to console
Task.Factory.StartNew(async () => {
while (true)
{
try
{
var received = await client.Receive();
Console.WriteLine(received.Message);
if (received.Message.Contains("quit"))
break;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.Write(ex);
}
}
});
//type ahead :-)
string read;
do
{
read = Console.ReadLine();
client.Send(read);
} while (read != "quit");
}
}

Simple server and client:
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create UDP client
int receiverPort = 20000;
UdpClient receiver = new UdpClient(receiverPort);
// Display some information
Console.WriteLine("Starting Upd receiving on port: " + receiverPort);
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to quit.");
Console.WriteLine("-------------------------------\n");
// Start async receiving
receiver.BeginReceive(DataReceived, receiver);
// Send some test messages
using (UdpClient sender1 = new UdpClient(19999))
sender1.Send(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("Hi!"), 3, "localhost", receiverPort);
using (UdpClient sender2 = new UdpClient(20001))
sender2.Send(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("Hi!"), 3, "localhost", receiverPort);
// Wait for any key to terminate application
Console.ReadKey();
}
private static void DataReceived(IAsyncResult ar)
{
UdpClient c = (UdpClient)ar.AsyncState;
IPEndPoint receivedIpEndPoint = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, 0);
Byte[] receivedBytes = c.EndReceive(ar, ref receivedIpEndPoint);
// Convert data to ASCII and print in console
string receivedText = ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(receivedBytes);
Console.Write(receivedIpEndPoint + ": " + receivedText + Environment.NewLine);
// Restart listening for udp data packages
c.BeginReceive(DataReceived, ar.AsyncState);
}
}

Server
public void serverThread()
{
UdpClient udpClient = new UdpClient(8080);
while(true)
{
IPEndPoint RemoteIpEndPoint = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, 0);
Byte[] receiveBytes = udpClient.Receive(ref RemoteIpEndPoint);
string returnData = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(receiveBytes);
lbConnections.Items.Add(RemoteIpEndPoint.Address.ToString()
+ ":" + returnData.ToString());
}
}
And initialize the thread
private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Thread thdUDPServer = new Thread(new ThreadStart(serverThread));
thdUDPServer.Start();
}
Client
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
UdpClient udpClient = new UdpClient();
udpClient.Connect(txtbHost.Text, 8080);
Byte[] senddata = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("Hello World");
udpClient.Send(senddata, senddata.Length);
}
Insert it to button command.
Source: http://technotif.com/creating-simple-udp-server-client-transfer-data-using-c-vb-net/

Sending and receiving data over a network using TcpClient

I need to develop a service that will connect to a TCP server. Main tasks are reading incoming messages and also sending commands to the server in ten minutes, like a synchronize command. For example, I used the TcpClient object as shown below:
...
TcpClient tcpClient = new TcpClient();
tcpClient.Connect("x.x.x.x", 9999);
networkStream = tcpClient.GetStream();
clientStreamReader = new StreamReader(networkStream);
clientStreamWriter = new StreamWriter(networkStream);
while(true)
{
clientStreamReader.Read()
}
Also, when I need to write out something in any method, I use:
clientStreamWriter.write("xxx");
Is this usage correct? Or is there a better way?

First, I recommend that you use WCF, .NET Remoting, or some other higher-level communication abstraction. The learning curve for "simple" sockets is nearly as high as WCF, because there are so many non-obvious pitfalls when using TCP/IP directly.
If you decide to continue down the TCP/IP path, then review my .NET TCP/IP FAQ, particularly the sections on message framing and application protocol specifications.
Also, use asynchronous socket APIs. The synchronous APIs do not scale and in some error situations may cause deadlocks. The synchronous APIs make for pretty little example code, but real-world production-quality code uses the asynchronous APIs.

Be warned - this is a very old and cumbersome "solution".
By the way, you can use serialization technology to send strings, numbers or any objects which are support serialization (most of .NET data-storing classes & structs are [Serializable]).
There, you should at first send Int32-length in four bytes to the stream and then send binary-serialized (System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter) data into it.
On the other side or the connection (on both sides actually) you definetly should have a byte[] buffer which u will append and trim-left at runtime when data is coming.
Something like that I am using:
namespace System.Net.Sockets
{
public class TcpConnection : IDisposable
{
public event EvHandler<TcpConnection, DataArrivedEventArgs> DataArrive = delegate { };
public event EvHandler<TcpConnection> Drop = delegate { };
private const int IntSize = 4;
private const int BufferSize = 8 * 1024;
private static readonly SynchronizationContext _syncContext = SynchronizationContext.Current;
private readonly TcpClient _tcpClient;
private readonly object _droppedRoot = new object();
private bool _dropped;
private byte[] _incomingData = new byte[0];
private Nullable<int> _objectDataLength;
public TcpClient TcpClient { get { return _tcpClient; } }
public bool Dropped { get { return _dropped; } }
private void DropConnection()
{
lock (_droppedRoot)
{
if (Dropped)
return;
_dropped = true;
}
_tcpClient.Close();
_syncContext.Post(delegate { Drop(this); }, null);
}
public void SendData(PCmds pCmd) { SendDataInternal(new object[] { pCmd }); }
public void SendData(PCmds pCmd, object[] datas)
{
datas.ThrowIfNull();
SendDataInternal(new object[] { pCmd }.Append(datas));
}
private void SendDataInternal(object data)
{
if (Dropped)
return;
byte[] bytedata;
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
{
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
try { bf.Serialize(ms, data); }
catch { return; }
bytedata = ms.ToArray();
}
try
{
lock (_tcpClient)
{
TcpClient.Client.BeginSend(BitConverter.GetBytes(bytedata.Length), 0, IntSize, SocketFlags.None, EndSend, null);
TcpClient.Client.BeginSend(bytedata, 0, bytedata.Length, SocketFlags.None, EndSend, null);
}
}
catch { DropConnection(); }
}
private void EndSend(IAsyncResult ar)
{
try { TcpClient.Client.EndSend(ar); }
catch { }
}
public TcpConnection(TcpClient tcpClient)
{
_tcpClient = tcpClient;
StartReceive();
}
private void StartReceive()
{
byte[] buffer = new byte[BufferSize];
try
{
_tcpClient.Client.BeginReceive(buffer, 0, buffer.Length, SocketFlags.None, DataReceived, buffer);
}
catch { DropConnection(); }
}
private void DataReceived(IAsyncResult ar)
{
if (Dropped)
return;
int dataRead;
try { dataRead = TcpClient.Client.EndReceive(ar); }
catch
{
DropConnection();
return;
}
if (dataRead == 0)
{
DropConnection();
return;
}
byte[] byteData = ar.AsyncState as byte[];
_incomingData = _incomingData.Append(byteData.Take(dataRead).ToArray());
bool exitWhile = false;
while (exitWhile)
{
exitWhile = true;
if (_objectDataLength.HasValue)
{
if (_incomingData.Length >= _objectDataLength.Value)
{
object data;
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(_incomingData, 0, _objectDataLength.Value))
try { data = bf.Deserialize(ms); }
catch
{
SendData(PCmds.Disconnect);
DropConnection();
return;
}
_syncContext.Post(delegate(object T)
{
try { DataArrive(this, new DataArrivedEventArgs(T)); }
catch { DropConnection(); }
}, data);
_incomingData = _incomingData.TrimLeft(_objectDataLength.Value);
_objectDataLength = null;
exitWhile = false;
}
}
else
if (_incomingData.Length >= IntSize)
{
_objectDataLength = BitConverter.ToInt32(_incomingData.TakeLeft(IntSize), 0);
_incomingData = _incomingData.TrimLeft(IntSize);
exitWhile = false;
}
}
StartReceive();
}
public void Dispose() { DropConnection(); }
}
}
That is just an example, you should edit it for your use.

I have had luck using the socket object directly (rather than the TCP client). I create a Server object that looks something like this (I've edited some stuff such as exception handling out for brevity, but I hope that the idea comes across.)...
public class Server()
{
private Socket sock;
// You'll probably want to initialize the port and address in the
// constructor, or via accessors, but to start your server listening
// on port 8080 and on any IP address available on the machine...
private int port = 8080;
private IPAddress addr = IPAddress.Any;
// This is the method that starts the server listening.
public void Start()
{
// Create the new socket on which we'll be listening.
this.sock = new Socket(
addr.AddressFamily,
SocketType.Stream,
ProtocolType.Tcp);
// Bind the socket to the address and port.
sock.Bind(new IPEndPoint(this.addr, this.port));
// Start listening.
this.sock.Listen(this.backlog);
// Set up the callback to be notified when somebody requests
// a new connection.
this.sock.BeginAccept(this.OnConnectRequest, sock);
}
// This is the method that is called when the socket recives a request
// for a new connection.
private void OnConnectRequest(IAsyncResult result)
{
// Get the socket (which should be this listener's socket) from
// the argument.
Socket sock = (Socket)result.AsyncState;
// Create a new client connection, using the primary socket to
// spawn a new socket.
Connection newConn = new Connection(sock.EndAccept(result));
// Tell the listener socket to start listening again.
sock.BeginAccept(this.OnConnectRequest, sock);
}
}
Then, I use a separate Connection class to manage the individual connection with the remote host. That looks something like this...
public class Connection()
{
private Socket sock;
// Pick whatever encoding works best for you. Just make sure the remote
// host is using the same encoding.
private Encoding encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
public Connection(Socket s)
{
this.sock = s;
// Start listening for incoming data. (If you want a multi-
// threaded service, you can start this method up in a separate
// thread.)
this.BeginReceive();
}
// Call this method to set this connection's socket up to receive data.
private void BeginReceive()
{
this.sock.BeginReceive(
this.dataRcvBuf, 0,
this.dataRcvBuf.Length,
SocketFlags.None,
new AsyncCallback(this.OnBytesReceived),
this);
}
// This is the method that is called whenever the socket receives
// incoming bytes.
protected void OnBytesReceived(IAsyncResult result)
{
// End the data receiving that the socket has done and get
// the number of bytes read.
int nBytesRec = this.sock.EndReceive(result);
// If no bytes were received, the connection is closed (at
// least as far as we're concerned).
if (nBytesRec <= 0)
{
this.sock.Close();
return;
}
// Convert the data we have to a string.
string strReceived = this.encoding.GetString(
this.dataRcvBuf, 0, nBytesRec);
// ...Now, do whatever works best with the string data.
// You could, for example, look at each character in the string
// one-at-a-time and check for characters like the "end of text"
// character ('\u0003') from a client indicating that they've finished
// sending the current message. It's totally up to you how you want
// the protocol to work.
// Whenever you decide the connection should be closed, call
// sock.Close() and don't call sock.BeginReceive() again. But as long
// as you want to keep processing incoming data...
// Set up again to get the next chunk of data.
this.sock.BeginReceive(
this.dataRcvBuf, 0,
this.dataRcvBuf.Length,
SocketFlags.None,
new AsyncCallback(this.OnBytesReceived),
this);
}
}
You can use your Connection object to send data by calling its Socket directly, like so...
this.sock.Send(this.encoding.GetBytes("Hello to you, remote host."));
As I said, I've tried to edit the code here for posting, so I apologize if there are any errors in it.

First of all, TCP does not guarantee that everything that you send will be received with the same read at the other end. It only guarantees that all bytes that you send will arrive and in the correct order.
Therefore, you will need to keep building up a buffer when reading from the stream. You will also have to know how large each message is.
The simplest ever is to use a non-typeable ASCII character to mark the end of the packet and look for it in the received data.

I've developed a dotnet library that might come in useful. I have fixed the problem of never getting all of the data if it exceeds the buffer, which many posts have discounted. Still some problems with the solution but works descently well https://github.com/Apollo013/DotNet-TCP-Communication