Help with Chat Program, update user list

[James Hambrick]

I have a chat program that I made. It has a ListModel on teh client side that displays the users that are currently logged into the system. Once the server authenticates the login it sends that username to all clients so it can be added to the ListModel. The problem with this approach is the new clients do not see the users that have already logged in since those usernames have already been sent out. These users are added to an ArrayList on the server so I am thinking I can just send the ArrayList instead of the one username and then update the ListModel on the clients. Or should the server loop through the ArrayList and send a delimited String with all the users? So I guess my question is do I let the client loop through the ArrayList or should I let the Server do it? The code is kinda long so I will post is only if someone really wants to see it. This is more a question of design than coding.

Thanks for the opinions!

[Rob Spoor]

Sending the entire user list each time seems inefficient. To me it seems like you want two kinds of messages:
- when someone logs in, that user gets a list of all other logged in users; this seems to be the only message you're missing
- when someone logs in, all other users get only the newly logged in users

This does mean you'll get data replication, since both the server and all clients have a full list of users, but the alternative is retrieving the full user list each time any client needs it.
On the other hand, that alternative does mean that there is only one copy of the list, so there won't be any problems with synchronizing the lists. If a new-user-message fails to arrive at a client, that client won't have the full list. That may not be that bad, but missing a logout message makes the client believe the user is still logged in. Ouch.

So, you'll have to decide:
1) keep a full copy of the user list both on the server and on the clients. Pro: less network traffic. Con: synchronization needs to be handled properly.
2) keep a copy only on the server and send it to the clients upon request. Pro: no need to synchronize, an error means no user list. Con: more network traffic.

[James Hambrick]

Thanks for the advice!

[Rob Spoor]

You're welcome.

[Werner Fletcher]

Hi there James! Did you manage to get this working? I'm struggling with the exact same issue! Do you mind telling me what you did please? I'm really desperate for help and this seems to be the only forum with a solution. Thanks!

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

Shall I contact James Hambrick and ask him to have another look at this thread?

[Werner Fletcher]

That would be amazing! Thanks for the warm welcome

[Campbell Ritchie]

You're welcome

[James Hambrick]

Werner Fletcher wrote:Hi there James! Did you manage to get this working? I'm struggling with the exact same issue! Do you mind telling me what you did please? I'm really desperate for help and this seems to be the only forum with a solution. Thanks!

I did get that part of the program working.

When a new user logs in they are added to an arraylist called userArrayList
To send this user list to the new users that have just logged in I made a loop and turned the list into a comma delimited string.
Then the client splits the string and puts it into an array. Then adds the users to the listModel.
The currently logged in users just get a message string that has the new user's name so it can be added to their listModel.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore specific questions just let me know.

[Werner Fletcher]

James Hambrick wrote:
I did get that part of the program working.

When a new user logs in they are added to an arraylist called userArrayList
To send this user list to the new users that have just logged in I made a loop and turned the list into a comma delimited string.
Then the client splits the string and puts it into an array. Then adds the users to the listModel.
The currently logged in users just get a message string that has the new user's name so it can be added to their listModel.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore specific questions just let me know.

Hey thanks for replying!
ArrayList!!! You're a freaking genius! All this time I am using a HashTable and it's been tricky to work with. The only thing that I am battling with now is that I need to check the list for duplicates... any idea that would make it easier? I am working on it in the meantime... Thanks again!

[James Hambrick]

Werner Fletcher wrote:

James Hambrick wrote:
I did get that part of the program working.

When a new user logs in they are added to an arraylist called userArrayList
To send this user list to the new users that have just logged in I made a loop and turned the list into a comma delimited string.
Then the client splits the string and puts it into an array. Then adds the users to the listModel.
The currently logged in users just get a message string that has the new user's name so it can be added to their listModel.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore specific questions just let me know.

Hey thanks for replying!
ArrayList!!! You're a freaking genius! All this time I am using a HashTable and it's been tricky to work with. The only thing that I am battling with now is that I need to check the list for duplicates... any idea that would make it easier? I am working on it in the meantime... Thanks again!

I have not worked on ensuring that only one person can login with the same username at a time. But with the ArrayList of users on the server it would be as simple as going through the ArrayList and searching for that username. If the username is in the list then send a msg back to the client. This is the next part that I will be working on when I get time at work.

[Werner Fletcher]

Great! My list is working properly! I have even made a thread that updates it every second. Now I have another challenge ahead of me.... deleting users when they quit. I'm enjoying making this chat program alot! Thanks again for your help.

[James Hambrick]

With my code the server gets a message when the client disconnects so that particular user is taken off the list then. I also add users to the list when they are authenticated by the server. So with my code there is no need to have a thread updating the arraylist on a set interval.