Re: peer to peer messaging

Bond wrote:
Hi! I want to write an application that will send a message to another
computer using Sockets. I've wrote a simple echo client server before
using Sockets but this application is different. I want to be able to
send a message to any other computer running this application. *** The
problem that I'm running into is that when setting up the socket, if
the computer is hooked up in a network,

It would be a problem if the computer is *not* "hooked up" in a network. No network connection, no way to connect to it (ignoring the local loop for the moment). Was that sentence really meant as you wrote it?

I know the IP address of the
router...

Which router? Anyhow, routers are irrelevant when addressing a remote computer - the routers and the routing "just" has to be configured correctly in advance. You do not address a router directly when you want to connect to some computer behind that router. You still use an IP address for the computer, not for the router. If you have a name instead of an IP address, also fine. This will just require an additional DNS request to translate the name to the IP address of the computer - of course assuming that DNS for the computer has been set up correctly.


somehow I have to be able to send it directly to the
computer...

If there is no direct route, you simply can't. But that is not a problem. The job of a router is to route your packets to the intended destination by choosing an appropriate next hop. Why do you want to circumvent these helpful devices?

BTW: The first routing usually already happens inside your own computer. Your computer's routing table is consulted to decide which next hop should be used, and which physical interface.

how can I do this?  When a user uses the application, they
log in and if there is any information I can store on the server that
would help me do this, I can...   any help would be great. Thanks!

Which server? A central one? Didn't you say you want to implement a P2P application. What information? Storage?

I am usually flamed for the following advice, but I am used to it, so here it comes:

Please get a pen and paper and make up your mind what you really want. Sort your thought, sort out your terminology and read a textbook. You seem to be confused about how this whole IP networking thing works. A good introduction could help here. It is not only a good idea to know the basics when starting to design a networking application, but it is invaluable knowledge when you have to start to troubleshoot your application.

	Comer, Douglas E.: Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol 1.

or the late  W. R. Stevens'

	Stevens, W. R.: TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol.1 : The Protocols

come to mind. Any good library should have it, too.


/Thomas
--
The comp.lang.java.gui FAQ:
ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/pub/NEWS.ANSWERS/computer-lang/java/gui/faq
.

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