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System.OutOfMemoryException on server side for client files

I am getting data from client and saving it to the local drive on local host .I have checked it for a file of 221MB but a test for file of 1Gb gives the following exception:
An unhandled exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' occurred in mscorlib.dll
Following is the code at server side where exception stems out.
UPDATED
Server:
public void Thread()
{
TcpListener tcpListener = new TcpListener(ipaddr, port);
tcpListener.Start();
MessageBox.Show("Listening on port" + port);
TcpClient client=new TcpClient();
int bufferSize = 1024;
NetworkStream netStream;
int bytesRead = 0;
int allBytesRead = 0;
// Start listening
tcpListener.Start();
// Accept client
client = tcpListener.AcceptTcpClient();
netStream = client.GetStream();
// Read length of incoming data to reserver buffer for it
byte[] length = new byte[4];
bytesRead = netStream.Read(length, 0, 4);
int dataLength = BitConverter.ToInt32(length,0);
// Read the data
int bytesLeft = dataLength;
byte[] data = new byte[dataLength];
while (bytesLeft > 0)
{
int nextPacketSize = (bytesLeft > bufferSize) ? bufferSize : bytesLeft;
bytesRead = netStream.Read(data, allBytesRead, nextPacketSize);
allBytesRead += bytesRead;
bytesLeft -= bytesRead;
}
// Save to desktop
File.WriteAllBytes(#"D:\LALA\Miscellaneous\" + shortFileName, data);
// Clean up
netStream.Close();
client.Close();
}
I am getting the file size first from client side followed by data.
1).Should i increase the buffer size or any other technique ?
2). File.WriteAllBytes() and File.ReadAllBytes() seems blocking and freezes the PC.Is there any async method for it to help provide the progress of file recieved at server side.

You don't need to read the whole thing to memory before writing it to disc. Just copy straight from the network stream to a FileStream:
byte[] length = new byte[4];
// TODO: Validate that bytesRead is 4 after this... it's unlikely but *possible*
// that you might not read the whole length in one go.
bytesRead = netStream.Read(length, 0, 4);
int bytesLeft = BitConverter.ToInt32(length,0);
using (var output = File.Create(#"D:\Javed\Miscellaneous\" + shortFileName))
{
netStream.CopyTo(output, bytesLeft);
}
Note that instead of calling netStream.Close() explicitly, you should use a using statement:
using (Stream netStream = ...)
{
// Read from it
}
That way the stream will be closed even if an exception is thrown.

The CLR has a per-object limit a bit short of 2GB. However that's the theory, in practice how much memory you can allocate depends on how much memory the framework allows you to allocate. I wouldn't expect it to allow you to allocate 1 GB data table. You should allocate smaller table, and write the data in chunks into disk file.

The "out of memory" exception happens because you are trying to place the entire file into memory before dumping it on disk. This is suboptimal, because you don't need the entire file in memory in order to write into the file: you can read it block-by-block in reasonably-sized increments, and write it out as you go.
Starting with .NET 4.0 you can use Stream.CopyTo method to accomplish this in a few lines of code:
// Read and ignore the initial four bytes of length from the stream
byte[] ignore = new byte[4];
int bytesRead = 0;
do {
// This should complete in a single call, but the API requires you
// to do it in a loop.
bytesRead += netStream.Read(ignore, bytesRead, 4-bytesRead);
} while (bytesRead != 4);
// Copy the rest of the stream to a file
using (var fs = new FileStream(#"D:\Javed\Miscellaneous\" + shortFileName, FileMode.Create)) {
netStream.CopyTo(fs);
}
netStream.Close();
Starting with .NET 4.5 you can use CopyToAsync, too, which would give you a way to do reading and writing asynchronously.
Note the code that drops the initial four bytes from the stream. This is done to avoid writing the length of the stream along with the "payload" bytes. If you have control over the network protocol, you could change the sending side to stop prefixing the stream with its length, and remove the code that reads and ignores it on the receiving side.

TCP transfer not finishing: "An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host"?

I have a client application that uses a TcpClient to send a file to a server application that uses a TcpListener to receive it. Sometimes, the file transfers fine. But at other times, the transfer starts but does not finish. After I have read in a varying number of bytes on the server, I get an IOException with the message: "An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host."
On the client side, I create a header byte array containing data about my file, including the total size in bytes and a few other bits of data. I combine this byte array with that of the file, and send it to the server.
TcpClient fileClient = new TcpClient();
fileClient.Connect("mydomain.com", 7728);
NetworkStream clientStream = fileClient.GetStream();
ASCIIEncoding encoder = new ASCIIEncoding();
FileStream fs = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open);
string header = filePath + "|" + fs.Length.ToString() + "|" + this.ID); //ID = short string of mine
header = header.PadRight(512, '*');
byte[] sizeArray = encoder.GetBytes(header);
byte[] fileBuffer = new byte[fs.Length];
fs.Read(fileBuffer, 0, Convert.ToInt32(fs.Length));
fs.Close();
byte[] buffer = Combine(sizeArray, fileBuffer); //Combine = method I use to combine byte arrays
clientStream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
clientStream.Flush();
On the server side, I create a TcpListener, and start listening. When I get a connection, I handle it, read my header array, the first 512 bytes, determine the size of the new file, and then use this code to read the file / rest of the bytes:
int newSize = ... //The size that I sent in my header array
byte[] fileArray = new byte[newSize];
int off = 0;
while (true)
{
try
{
off += clientStream.Read(fileArray, off, fileArray.Length - off);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
off = newSize; // Enables partial receive on error, not total loss
}
if (off >= newSize)
{
break;
}
}
This is where it sometimes - about 25% of the time - goes wrong. I will get the exception at the off += clientStream.Read(fileArray, off, fileArray.Length - off) line. I surrounded it with a try catch, which enables the application to still get part of the file even when this error occurs. However, I need to be able to get the full file all the time. What am I doing wrong with this code?
The files I am transferring are JPEG images around 100KB in size, and generally take no more than two seconds to transfer on even the slowest of connections. Changing the timeout values for the clients and the listener does nothing to help.

Stream.Read is combining two different reads

i have a simplistic file server\client application ive written in c#. but i commonly run into the problem that my stream writes two different reads into a single buffer. i have a synchronized stream, still isnt helping. any suggestions? thanks!
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25);
receive_fspos = new byte[30];
int bytesread = stream_1.Read(receive_fspos, 0, receive_fspos.Length);//this is where it gets combined
if (bytesread == 0)
{
finished = true;
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25);
}
string string_1 = utf.GetString(receive_fspos).TrimEnd(new char[] { (char)0 });
int fsposition = (int)Convert.ToInt64(string_1);
bytestosend = fsposition;
filestream.Position = fsposition;
byte[] buffer_1 = new byte[bufsize];
int bytesreadfromfs = filestream.Read(buffer_1, 0, buffer_1.Length);
stream_1.Write(buffer_1, 0, buffer_1.Length);
Console.Write("\rSent " + fsposition + " / " + length + " bytes");
finished = true;

I would not recommend writing your own stream method if you do not fully understand it.
The problem that you are having is because the incoming data is a stream of bytes that does not give you a way of knowing how many bytes in length that the message is.
In the code below you are stating that you would like to read "receive_fspos.Length" bytes of the stream. Since "receive_fspos.Length" is 30, the amount of bytes that will be read will be anywhere from 0 to 30.
If there is only 15 bytes that have been received by the connection. It will give you 15 bytes. If the message was 20 bytes long. Then the message is now split up into different segments.
If the first message was 4 bytes and the second message is 12 bytes. Now you have 2 messages and a set of 16 blank bytes at the end. Even worse those 16 "blank" bytes could be the beginning of a third message coming in to the stream.
If the message is 50 bytes long. Then you will only receive half of the message. Now you would need to add the bytes that were read to a seperate buffer. Read from the stream again. Then repeat this until you have determined that you have read the exact amount of bytes that are needed to complete the entire message. Then concat all of the read bytes back to a single byte[].
receive_fspos = new byte[30];
int bytesread = stream_1.Read(receive_fspos, 0, receive_fspos.Length);//this is where it gets combined
Instead of rolling your own loop please use the BCL methods. It sounded like you are using strings so this would be the preferred method.. I would suggest the following.
using(NetworkStream networkStream = tcpClient.GetStream())
using(StreamReader streamReader = new StreamReader(networkStream))
using(StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(networkStream))
{
networkStream.ReadTimeout = timeout; //Set a timeout to stop the stream from reading indefinately
//To receive a string
string incomingString = stream.ReadLine();
//To send a string
stream.WriteLine(messageToSend);
stream.Flush();
}
Your answer clarified that you are trying to send a file. For this I would recommend sending an array of bytes[]. Using this method you can send anything that can be serialized. This includes a file. Please note that the size of the file is limited since it must be kept in memory. To write a larger file you would want to save the data in chunks as it is being streamed in.
//Please note that if the file size is large enough. It may be preferred to use a stream instead of holding the entire file in memory.
byte[] fileAsBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(fileName);
using(NetworkStream networkStream = tcpClient.GetStream())
using(BinaryReader binaryReader = new BinaryReader(networkStream))
using(BinaryWriter binaryWriter = new BinaryWriter(networkStream))
{
networkStream.ReadTimeout = timeout; //Set a timeout to stop the stream from reading indefinately
//To receive a byte array
int incomingBytesLength = BinaryReader.ReadInt32(); //The header is 4 bytes that lets us know how large the incoming byte[] is.
byte[] incomingBytes = BinaryReader.ReadBytes(incomingBytesLength);
//To send a byte array
BinaryWriter.Write(fileAsBytes.Length); //Send a header of 4 bytes that lets the listener know how large the incoming byte[] is.
BinaryWriter.Write(fileAsBytes);
}

got it working, code > 30000 chars :\
it is a little messy but hey, it's functional.
server : https://www.dropbox.com/s/2wyccxpjbja10z3/Program.cs?m
client : https://www.dropbox.com/s/yp78nx4ubacsz6f/Program.cs?m

C# TCP file transfer - Images semi-transferred

I am developing a TCP file transfer client-server program. At the moment I am able to send text files and other file formats perfectly fine, such as .zip with all contents intact on the server end. However, when I transfer a .gif the end result is a gif with same size as the original but with only part of the image showing as if most of the bytes were lost or not written correctly on the server end.
The client sends a 1KB header packet with the name and size of the file to the server. The server then responds with OK if ready and then creates a fileBuffer as large as the file to be sent is.
Here is some code to demonstrate my problem:
// Serverside method snippet dealing with data being sent
while (true)
{
// Spin the data in
if (streams[0].DataAvailable)
{
streams[0].Read(fileBuffer, 0, fileBuffer.Length);
break;
}
}
// Finished receiving file, write from buffer to created file
FileStream fs = File.Open(LOCAL_FOLDER + fileName, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.Write);
fs.Write(fileBuffer, 0, fileBuffer.Length);
fs.Close();
Print("File successfully received.");
// Clientside method snippet dealing with a file send
while(true)
{
con.Read(ackBuffer, 0, ackBuffer.Length);
// Wait for OK response to start sending
if (Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ackBuffer) == "OK")
{
// Convert file to bytes
FileStream fs = new FileStream(inPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
fileBuffer = new byte[fs.Length];
fs.Read(fileBuffer, 0, (int)fs.Length);
fs.Close();
con.Write(fileBuffer, 0, fileBuffer.Length);
con.Flush();
break;
}
}
I've tried a binary writer instead of just using the filestream with the same result.
Am I incorrect in believing successful file transfer to be as simple as conversion to bytes, transportation and then conversion back to filename/type?
All help/advice much appreciated.

Its not about your image .. It's about your code.
if your image bytes were lost or not written correctly that's mean your file transfer code is wrong and even the .zip file or any other file would be received .. It's gonna be correpted.
It's a huge mistake to set the byte buffer length to the file size. imagine that you're going to send a large a file about 1GB .. then it's gonna take 1GB of RAM .. for an Idle transfering you should loop over the file to send.
This's a way to send/receive files nicely with no size limitation.
Send File
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(srcPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
long fileSize = fs.Length;
long sum = 0; //sum here is the total of sent bytes.
int count = 0;
data = new byte[1024]; //8Kb buffer .. you might use a smaller size also.
while (sum < fileSize)
{
count = fs.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
network.Write(data, 0, count);
sum += count;
}
network.Flush();
}
Receive File
long fileSize = // your file size that you are going to receive it.
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(destPath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))
{
int count = 0;
long sum = 0; //sum here is the total of received bytes.
data = new byte[1024 * 8]; //8Kb buffer .. you might use a smaller size also.
while (sum < fileSize)
{
if (network.DataAvailable)
{
{
count = network.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
fs.Write(data, 0, count);
sum += count;
}
}
}
}
happy coding :)

When you write over TCP, the data can arrive in a number of packets. I think your early tests happened to fit into one packet, but this gif file is arriving in 2 or more. So when you call Read, you'll only get what's arrived so far - you'll need to check repeatedly until you've got as many bytes as the header told you to expect.
I found Beej's guide to network programming a big help when doing some work with TCP.

As others have pointed out, the data doesn't necessarily all arrive at once, and your code is overwriting the beginning of the buffer each time through the loop. The more robust way to write your reading loop is to read as many bytes as are available and increment a counter to keep track of how many bytes have been read so far so that you know where to put them in the buffer. Something like this works well:
int totalBytesRead = 0;
int bytesRead;
do
{
bytesRead = streams[0].Read(fileBuffer, totalBytesRead, fileBuffer.Length - totalBytesRead);
totalBytesRead += bytesRead;
} while (bytesRead != 0);
Stream.Read will return 0 when there's no data left to read.
Doing things this way will perform better than reading a byte at a time. It also gives you a way to ensure that you read the proper number of bytes. If totalBytesRead is not equal to the number of bytes you expected when the loop is finished, then something bad happened.

Thanks for your input Tvanfosson. I tinkered around with my code and managed to get it working. The synchronicity between my client and server was off. I took your advice though and replaced read with reading a byte one at a time.

TCP Framing with Binary Protocol

Hey, I'm having an issue seperating packets using a custom binary protocol.
Currently the server side code looks like this.
public void HandleConnection(object state)
{
TcpClient client = threadListener.AcceptTcpClient();
NetworkStream stream = client.GetStream();
byte[] data = new byte[4096];
while (true)
{
int recvCount = stream.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
if (recvCount == 0) break;
LogManager.Debug(Utility.ToHexDump(data, 0, recvCount));
//processPacket(new MemoryStream(data, 0, recvCount));
}
LogManager.Debug("Client disconnected");
client.Close();
Dispose();
}
I've been watching the hex dumps of the packets, and sometimes the entire packet comes in one shot, let's say all 20 bytes. Other times it comes in fragmented, how do I need to buffer this data to be able to pass it to my processPacket() method correctly. I'm attempting to use a single byte opcode header only, should I add something like a (ushort)contentLength to the header aswell? I'm trying to make the protocol as lightweight as possible, and this system won't be sending very large packets(< 128 bytes).
The client side code I'm testing with is, as follows.
public void auth(string user, string password)
{
using (TcpClient client = new TcpClient())
{
client.Connect(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), 9032);
NetworkStream networkStream = client.GetStream();
using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(networkStream))
{
writer.Write((byte)0); //opcode
writer.Write(user.ToUpper());
writer.Write(password.ToUpper());
writer.Write(SanitizationMgr.Verify()); //App hash
writer.Write(Program.Seed);
}
}
}
I'm not sure if that could be what's messing it up, and binary protocol doesn't seem to have much info on the web, especially where C# is involved. Any comment's would be helpful. =)
Solved with this, not sure if it's correct, but it seems to give my handlers just what they need.
public void HandleConnection(object state)
{
TcpClient client = threadListener.AcceptTcpClient();
NetworkStream stream = client.GetStream();
byte[] data = new byte[1024];
uint contentLength = 0;
var packet = new MemoryStream();
while (true)
{
int recvCount = stream.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
if (recvCount == 0) break;
if (contentLength == 0 && recvCount < headerSize)
{
LogManager.Error("Got incomplete header!");
Dispose();
}
if(contentLength == 0) //Get the payload length
contentLength = BitConverter.ToUInt16(data, 1);
packet.Write(data, (int) packet.Position, recvCount); //Buffer the data we got into our MemStream
if (packet.Length < contentLength + headerSize) //if it's not enough, continue trying to read
continue;
//We have a full packet, pass it on
//LogManager.Debug(Utility.ToHexDump(packet));
processPacket(packet);
//reset for next packet
contentLength = 0;
packet = new MemoryStream();
}
LogManager.Debug("Client disconnected");
client.Close();
Dispose();
}

You should just treat it as a stream. Don't rely on any particular chunking behaviour.
Is the amount of data you need always the same? If not, you should change the protocol (if you can) to prefix the logical "chunk" of data with the length in bytes.
In this case you're using BinaryWriter on one side, so attaching a BinaryReader to the NetworkStream returned by TcpClient.GetStream() would seem like the easiest approach. If you really want to capture all the data for a chunk at a time though, you should go back to my idea of prefixing the data with its length. Then just loop round until you've got all the data.
(Make sure you've got enough data to read the length though! If your length prefix is 4 bytes, you don't want to read 2 bytes and miss the next 2...)