Sending and Receiving Data on the Client

The following code demonstrates the send and recv functions used by the client once a connection is established.


#define DEFAULT_BUFLEN 512

int recvbuflen = DEFAULT_BUFLEN;

char *sendbuf = "this is a test";
char recvbuf[DEFAULT_BUFLEN];

int iResult;

// Send an initial buffer
iResult = send(ConnectSocket, sendbuf, (int) strlen(sendbuf), 0);
if (iResult == SOCKET_ERROR) {
    printf("send failed: %d\n", WSAGetLastError());
    return 1;

printf("Bytes Sent: %ld\n", iResult);

// shutdown the connection for sending since no more data will be sent
// the client can still use the ConnectSocket for receiving data
iResult = shutdown(ConnectSocket, SD_SEND);
if (iResult == SOCKET_ERROR) {
    printf("shutdown failed: %d\n", WSAGetLastError());
    return 1;

// Receive data until the server closes the connection
do {
    iResult = recv(ConnectSocket, recvbuf, recvbuflen, 0);
    if (iResult > 0)
        printf("Bytes received: %d\n", iResult);
    else if (iResult == 0)
        printf("Connection closed\n");
        printf("recv failed: %d\n", WSAGetLastError());
} while (iResult > 0);

The send and recv functions both return an integer value of the number of bytes sent or received, respectively, or an error. Each function also takes the same parameters: the active socket, a char buffer, the number of bytes to send or receive, and any flags to use.

Next Step: Disconnecting the Client

Related topics

Getting Started With Winsock
Winsock Client Application
Connecting to a Socket



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