UDP Chatting Problem

Question

hello friends i have created a UDP chatting program through which the clients can communicate over LAN.

I have created a genaralized program i.e. I run the same code with different port nos. and IP address when on LAN

My problem is that This code below works fine on localhost but when i try to connect two machines this code doesnt work..there is no error as of such but still the two clients cant communicate

I have also switched off the firewalls.But i am unable to find out why i cant communicate between two machines

The Code is as follows ::

    import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

class ChatApplDG extends Frame implements ActionListener
{

    TextField tf = new TextField(50);
    Button btn = new Button("Send");
    Button exit = new Button("Exit");
    TextArea ta = new TextArea(50,10);
    int fromPort, toPort;
    String hostName;

    DatagramSocket dgSock;

    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception
    {
        ChatApplDG ca = new ChatApplDG();
        ca.startClient(args[0],Integer.parseInt(args[1]),Integer.parseInt(args[2]));
    }

    ChatApplDG()
    {
        Panel p = new Panel();
        add(p,BorderLayout.NORTH);
        p.add(tf);
        p.add(btn);
        p.add(exit);
        add(ta,BorderLayout.CENTER);
        btn.addActionListener(this);
        exit.addActionListener(this);
        setSize(500,300);
        show();
        ta.setEditable(false);
    }

    void startClient(String hName,int fPort,int tPort)
    {
        try
        {
            hostName = hName;
            fromPort=fPort;
            toPort=tPort;
            dgSock = new DatagramSocket(fromPort);
            ta.append("Ready To Send ...\n");
            RunningThreadDG rt = new RunningThreadDG(dgSock,ta);
            Thread thread = new Thread(rt);
            thread.start();
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
        }
    }


    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
    {
        if(ae.getSource()==btn)
        {
            try
            {
                byte buff[] = new byte[500];
                InetAddress remoteHost = InetAddress.getByName(hostName);
                buff=tf.getText().getBytes();
                dgSock.send(new DatagramPacket(buff,buff.length,remoteHost.getLocalHost(),toPort));
                ta.append("Send : " + tf.getText() + "\n");
                tf.setText("");
            }
            catch(Exception e)
            {
            }
        }
        else
        {
            System.exit(0);
        }
    }
}


class RunningThreadDG extends Frame implements Runnable
{
    DatagramSocket dgSock;
    TextArea ta;
    String str;

    RunningThreadDG(DatagramSocket dgs,TextArea t)
    {
        dgSock=dgs;
        ta=t;
    }   

    public void run()
    {
        byte[] buff = new byte[500];
        while(true)
        {
            try
            {
                DatagramPacket dgPack = new DatagramPacket(buff,buff.length);
                dgSock.receive(dgPack);
                ta.append("Received : " + new String(dgPack.getData(),0,dgPack.getLength()) + "\n");
            }
            catch(Exception e)
            {
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Here's a problem:

dgSock.send(new DatagramPacket(buff,buff.length,remoteHost.getLocalHost(),toPort));

remoteHost.getLocalHost() returns an InetAddress for your local host. Try just passing remoteHost instead of remoteHost.getLocalHost():

dgSock.send(new DatagramPacket(buff,buff.length,remoteHost,toPort));

Answer 2

In addtion to echo's answer I would like to add that you should at least add e.printStackTrace(); to your catch blocks.

Also check whether both machines can resolve each others hostnames by calling nslookup hostname. Or just ping hostname from each machine.