Transfer files and message over a single socket at the same time?

[Mikael Fox]

Hello guys,
I want to know if its possible to use the same socket to transfer two things at the same time.

          // set up input stream for objects
          input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientsoc.getInputStream()));
          // set up output stream for objects
          output = new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(clientsoc.getOutputStream()));
          output.println(nickName  + " joined the chat.");
          output.flush();// flush output buffer to send header information

I was developing a chat, now I want to implement the FTP function in it, that is, unable a user to both chat and send a file. What must I do, i have already implemented the chat part, but I am not sure , whether to create a new socket, or new streams or just use the same streams as above.

Thanks for your help.

[Paul Clapham]

Think of a socket as a pipe through which you push one byte at a time.

[Mikael Fox]

Thanks for the reply .. but that means that I will have to create a new socket then? Don't you think adding another socket will reduce the performance of my program?