This is a simple chat messaging service. It supports multiple clients connecting to the server. We support several operations:

• Creating an account
• Logging into an existing account
• List exist accounts
• Sending a message to another user
• Logging out of an existing account
• Deleting an account

This functionality is implemented using both our own wire protocol, as well as using gRPC. The respective clients and servers can be found in the respective folders.

• MacOS

• Python 3.10

  • To install/upgrade using brew

    brew install python

  • To install/upgrade using conda (creates new environment)

    conda create -n py310 python=3.10 anaconda

• gRPCio

  • To install using pip

    pip install grpcio

  • To install using conda

    conda install -c conda-forge grpcio

  • For troubleshooting, please see here

• google-api-python-client

  • To install using pip

    pip install google-api-python-client

  • To install using conda

    conda install -c conda-forge google-api-python-client

  • For troubleshooting, please see here

To run the server, first ensure that the machine that will be running the server has turned off their firewall. Then, from the project root, run

python3 wire_protocol/run_server.py

If Server started is printed, then the server is ready to accept connections. To find the IP address which the server is being hosted at, go to System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP. The IP address the server is being hosted at should be listed as the IPv4 Address. The port for the server is 6000.

To run the client, first ensure that the machine that will be running the server has turned off their firewall. Then, from the project root, run

python3 wire_protocol/run_client.py

You will then be asked to input a hostname and port; the hostname can be found by following the above instructions on the server machine, and the port is 6000. If the connection is successful, you will see Connected to Server. If not, check that the host and port are correct.

To run the server, first ensure that the machine that will be running the server has turned off their firewall. Then, from the project root, run

python3 grpc/src/run_server.py

If Server started is printed, then the server is ready to accept connections. To find the IP address which the server is being hosted at, go to System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP. The IP address the server is being hosted at should be listed as the IPv4 Address. The port for the server is 6000.

To run the client, first ensure that the machine that will be running the server has turned off their firewall. Then, from the project root, run

python3 grpc/src/run_client.py

You will then be asked to input a hostname and port; the hostname can be found by following the above instructions on the server machine, and the port is 6000. You will see Connected to Server indicating that the client is running, but the connection will be evaluated only once you perform an action. If an action fails, check that the host and port are correct.

The client will prompt for a command. Typing help will provide the user with various operations.

• 1: Create account
• 2: Login
• 3: List accounts
• 4: Send message
• 5: Logoff
• 6: Delete account

To start a remote procedure call, when prompted for a command, enter the number corresponding to the operation you would like to call. You will then be prompted for more information based on the operation requested.

As you're sending messages, you might come across various errors. Each operation has several errors it can throw:

• Create account
  • If the account exists, the server will respond with an error
  • If the user is already logged in, the server will respond with an error
• Login
  • If the user is already logged in, the server will respond with an error
  • If the supplied account is already logged into by another user, the server will respond with an error
  • If the supplied account doesn't exist, the server will respond with an error
• List accounts
  • If the regex is malformed, the server will respond with an error
• Send message
  • If the user is not logged in, the server will respond with an error
  • If the intended recipient of the message does not exist, the
• Logoff
  • If the user is not logged in, the server will respond with an error
• Delete account
  • If the user is not logged in, the server will respond with an error

To stop the client or server, simply press ctrl-C to exit the client or server.

Our design notebook can be found here.