7 Slightly Advanced Techniques #

#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
.
.
.
sockfd = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
fcntl(sockfd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK);
.
.
.

#include <poll.h>

int poll(struct pollfd fds[], nfds_t nfds, int timeout);

struct pollfd {
    int fd;         // the socket descriptor
    short events;   // bitmap of events we're interested in
    short revents;  // when poll() returns, bitmap of events that occurred
};

#include <stdio.h>
#include <poll.h>

int main(void)
{
    struct pollfd pfds[1]; // More if you want to monitor more

    pfds[0].fd = 0;          // Standard input
    pfds[0].events = POLLIN; // Tell me when ready to read

    // If you needed to monitor other things, as well:
    //pfds[1].fd = some_socket; // Some socket descriptor
    //pfds[1].events = POLLIN;  // Tell me when ready to read

    printf("Hit RETURN or wait 2.5 seconds for timeout\n");

    int num_events = poll(pfds, 1, 2500); // 2.5 second timeout

    if (num_events == 0) {
        printf("Poll timed out!\n");
    } else {
        int pollin_happened = pfds[0].revents & POLLIN;

        if (pollin_happened) {
            printf("File descriptor %d is ready to read\n", pfds[0].fd);
        } else {
            printf("Unexpected event occurred: %d\n", pfds[0].revents);
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

/*
** pollserver.c -- a cheezy multiperson chat server
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <poll.h>

#define PORT "9034"   // Port we're listening on

// Get sockaddr, IPv4 or IPv6:
void *get_in_addr(struct sockaddr *sa)
{
    if (sa->sa_family == AF_INET) {
        return &(((struct sockaddr_in*)sa)->sin_addr);
    }

    return &(((struct sockaddr_in6*)sa)->sin6_addr);
}

// Return a listening socket
int get_listener_socket(void)
{
    int listener;     // Listening socket descriptor
    int yes=1;        // For setsockopt() SO_REUSEADDR, below
    int rv;

    struct addrinfo hints, *ai, *p;

    // Get us a socket and bind it
    memset(&hints, 0, sizeof hints);
    hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
    hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
    hints.ai_flags = AI_PASSIVE;
    if ((rv = getaddrinfo(NULL, PORT, &hints, &ai)) != 0) {
        fprintf(stderr, "selectserver: %s\n", gai_strerror(rv));
        exit(1);
    }

    for(p = ai; p != NULL; p = p->ai_next) {
        listener = socket(p->ai_family, p->ai_socktype, p->ai_protocol);
        if (listener < 0) {
            continue;
        }

        // Lose the pesky "address already in use" error message
        setsockopt(listener, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &yes, sizeof(int));

        if (bind(listener, p->ai_addr, p->ai_addrlen) < 0) {
            close(listener);
            continue;
        }

        break;
    }

    freeaddrinfo(ai); // All done with this

    // If we got here, it means we didn't get bound
    if (p == NULL) {
        return -1;
    }

    // Listen
    if (listen(listener, 10) == -1) {
        return -1;
    }

    return listener;
}

// Add a new file descriptor to the set
void add_to_pfds(struct pollfd *pfds[], int newfd, int *fd_count, int *fd_size)
{
    // If we don't have room, add more space in the pfds array
    if (*fd_count == *fd_size) {
        *fd_size *= 2; // Double it

        *pfds = realloc(*pfds, sizeof(**pfds) * (*fd_size));
    }

    (*pfds)[*fd_count].fd = newfd;
    (*pfds)[*fd_count].events = POLLIN; // Check ready-to-read

    (*fd_count)++;
}

// Remove an index from the set
void del_from_pfds(struct pollfd pfds[], int i, int *fd_count)
{
    // Copy the one from the end over this one
    pfds[i] = pfds[*fd_count-1];

    (*fd_count)--;
}

// Main
int main(void)
{
    int listener;     // Listening socket descriptor

    int newfd;        // Newly accept()ed socket descriptor
    struct sockaddr_storage remoteaddr; // Client address
    socklen_t addrlen;

    char buf[256];    // Buffer for client data

    char remoteIP[INET6_ADDRSTRLEN];

    // Start off with room for 5 connections
    // (We'll realloc as necessary)
    int fd_count = 0;
    int fd_size = 5;
    struct pollfd *pfds = malloc(sizeof *pfds * fd_size);

    // Set up and get a listening socket
    listener = get_listener_socket();

    if (listener == -1) {
        fprintf(stderr, "error getting listening socket\n");
        exit(1);
    }

    // Add the listener to set
    pfds[0].fd = listener;
    pfds[0].events = POLLIN; // Report ready to read on incoming connection

    fd_count = 1; // For the listener

    // Main loop
    for(;;) {
        int poll_count = poll(pfds, fd_count, -1);

        if (poll_count == -1) {
            perror("poll");
            exit(1);
        }

        // Run through the existing connections looking for data to read
        for(int i = 0; i < fd_count; i++) {

            // Check if someone's ready to read
            if (pfds[i].revents & POLLIN) { // We got one!!

                if (pfds[i].fd == listener) {
                    // If listener is ready to read, handle new connection

                    addrlen = sizeof remoteaddr;
                    newfd = accept(listener,
                        (struct sockaddr *)&remoteaddr,
                        &addrlen);

                    if (newfd == -1) {
                        perror("accept");
                    } else {
                        add_to_pfds(&pfds, newfd, &fd_count, &fd_size);

                        printf("pollserver: new connection from %s on "
                            "socket %d\n",
                            inet_ntop(remoteaddr.ss_family,
                                get_in_addr((struct sockaddr*)&remoteaddr),
                                remoteIP, INET6_ADDRSTRLEN),
                            newfd);
                    }
                } else {
                    // If not the listener, we're just a regular client
                    int nbytes = recv(pfds[i].fd, buf, sizeof buf, 0);

                    int sender_fd = pfds[i].fd;

                    if (nbytes <= 0) {
                        // Got error or connection closed by client
                        if (nbytes == 0) {
                            // Connection closed
                            printf("pollserver: socket %d hung up\n", sender_fd);
                        } else {
                            perror("recv");
                        }

                        close(pfds[i].fd); // Bye!

                        del_from_pfds(pfds, i, &fd_count);

                    } else {
                        // We got some good data from a client

                        for(int j = 0; j < fd_count; j++) {
                            // Send to everyone!
                            int dest_fd = pfds[j].fd;

                            // Except the listener and ourselves
                            if (dest_fd != listener && dest_fd != sender_fd) {
                                if (send(dest_fd, buf, nbytes, 0) == -1) {
                                    perror("send");
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                } // END handle data from client
            } // END got ready-to-read from poll()
        } // END looping through file descriptors
    } // END for(;;)--and you thought it would never end!

    return 0;
}

#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int select(int numfds, fd_set *readfds, fd_set *writefds,
           fd_set *exceptfds, struct timeval *timeout);

struct timeval {
    int tv_sec;     // seconds
    int tv_usec;    // microseconds
};

/*
** select.c -- a select() demo
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#define STDIN 0  // file descriptor for standard input

int main(void)
{
    struct timeval tv;
    fd_set readfds;

    tv.tv_sec = 2;
    tv.tv_usec = 500000;

    FD_ZERO(&readfds);
    FD_SET(STDIN, &readfds);

    // don't care about writefds and exceptfds:
    select(STDIN+1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &tv);

    if (FD_ISSET(STDIN, &readfds))
        printf("A key was pressed!\n");
    else
        printf("Timed out.\n");

    return 0;
}

/*
** selectserver.c -- a cheezy multiperson chat server
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <netdb.h>

#define PORT "9034"   // port we're listening on

// get sockaddr, IPv4 or IPv6:
void *get_in_addr(struct sockaddr *sa)
{
    if (sa->sa_family == AF_INET) {
        return &(((struct sockaddr_in*)sa)->sin_addr);
    }

    return &(((struct sockaddr_in6*)sa)->sin6_addr);
}

int main(void)
{
    fd_set master;    // master file descriptor list
    fd_set read_fds;  // temp file descriptor list for select()
    int fdmax;        // maximum file descriptor number

    int listener;     // listening socket descriptor
    int newfd;        // newly accept()ed socket descriptor
    struct sockaddr_storage remoteaddr; // client address
    socklen_t addrlen;

    char buf[256];    // buffer for client data
    int nbytes;

    char remoteIP[INET6_ADDRSTRLEN];

    int yes=1;        // for setsockopt() SO_REUSEADDR, below
    int i, j, rv;

    struct addrinfo hints, *ai, *p;

    FD_ZERO(&master);    // clear the master and temp sets
    FD_ZERO(&read_fds);

    // get us a socket and bind it
    memset(&hints, 0, sizeof hints);
    hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
    hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
    hints.ai_flags = AI_PASSIVE;
    if ((rv = getaddrinfo(NULL, PORT, &hints, &ai)) != 0) {
        fprintf(stderr, "selectserver: %s\n", gai_strerror(rv));
        exit(1);
    }

    for(p = ai; p != NULL; p = p->ai_next) {
        listener = socket(p->ai_family, p->ai_socktype, p->ai_protocol);
        if (listener < 0) {
            continue;
        }

        // lose the pesky "address already in use" error message
        setsockopt(listener, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &yes, sizeof(int));

        if (bind(listener, p->ai_addr, p->ai_addrlen) < 0) {
            close(listener);
            continue;
        }

        break;
    }

    // if we got here, it means we didn't get bound
    if (p == NULL) {
        fprintf(stderr, "selectserver: failed to bind\n");
        exit(2);
    }

    freeaddrinfo(ai); // all done with this

    // listen
    if (listen(listener, 10) == -1) {
        perror("listen");
        exit(3);
    }

    // add the listener to the master set
    FD_SET(listener, &master);

    // keep track of the biggest file descriptor
    fdmax = listener; // so far, it's this one

    // main loop
    for(;;) {
        read_fds = master; // copy it
        if (select(fdmax+1, &read_fds, NULL, NULL, NULL) == -1) {
            perror("select");
            exit(4);
        }

        // run through the existing connections looking for data to read
        for(i = 0; i <= fdmax; i++) {
            if (FD_ISSET(i, &read_fds)) { // we got one!!
                if (i == listener) {
                    // handle new connections
                    addrlen = sizeof remoteaddr;
                    newfd = accept(listener,
                        (struct sockaddr *)&remoteaddr,
                        &addrlen);

                    if (newfd == -1) {
                        perror("accept");
                    } else {
                        FD_SET(newfd, &master); // add to master set
                        if (newfd > fdmax) {    // keep track of the max
                            fdmax = newfd;
                        }
                        printf("selectserver: new connection from %s on "
                            "socket %d\n",
                            inet_ntop(remoteaddr.ss_family,
                                get_in_addr((struct sockaddr*)&remoteaddr),
                                remoteIP, INET6_ADDRSTRLEN),
                            newfd);
                    }
                } else {
                    // handle data from a client
                    if ((nbytes = recv(i, buf, sizeof buf, 0)) <= 0) {
                        // got error or connection closed by client
                        if (nbytes == 0) {
                            // connection closed
                            printf("selectserver: socket %d hung up\n", i);
                        } else {
                            perror("recv");
                        }
                        close(i); // bye!
                        FD_CLR(i, &master); // remove from master set
                    } else {
                        // we got some data from a client
                        for(j = 0; j <= fdmax; j++) {
                            // send to everyone!
                            if (FD_ISSET(j, &master)) {
                                // except the listener and ourselves
                                if (j != listener && j != i) {
                                    if (send(j, buf, nbytes, 0) == -1) {
                                        perror("send");
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                } // END handle data from client
            } // END got new incoming connection
        } // END looping through file descriptors
    } // END for(;;)--and you thought it would never end!

    return 0;
}

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>

int sendall(int s, char *buf, int *len)
{
    int total = 0;        // how many bytes we've sent
    int bytesleft = *len; // how many we have left to send
    int n;

    while(total < *len) {
        n = send(s, buf+total, bytesleft, 0);
        if (n == -1) { break; }
        total += n;
        bytesleft -= n;
    }

    *len = total; // return number actually sent here

    return n==-1?-1:0; // return -1 on failure, 0 on success
}

char buf[10] = "Beej!";
int len;

len = strlen(buf);
if (sendall(s, buf, &len) == -1) {
    perror("sendall");
    printf("We only sent %d bytes because of the error!\n", len);
}

double d = 3490.15926535;

send(s, &d, sizeof d, 0);  /* DANGER--non-portable! */

double d;

recv(s, &d, sizeof d, 0);  /* DANGER--non-portable! */

#include <stdint.h>

uint32_t htonf(float f)
{
    uint32_t p;
    uint32_t sign;

    if (f < 0) { sign = 1; f = -f; }
    else { sign = 0; }

    p = ((((uint32_t)f)&0x7fff)<<16) | (sign<<31); // whole part and sign
    p |= (uint32_t)(((f - (int)f) * 65536.0f))&0xffff; // fraction

    return p;
}

float ntohf(uint32_t p)
{
    float f = ((p>>16)&0x7fff); // whole part
    f += (p&0xffff) / 65536.0f; // fraction

    if (((p>>31)&0x1) == 0x1) { f = -f; } // sign bit set

    return f;
}

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    float f = 3.1415926, f2;
    uint32_t netf;

    netf = htonf(f);  // convert to "network" form
    f2 = ntohf(netf); // convert back to test

    printf("Original: %f\n", f);        // 3.141593
    printf(" Network: 0x%08X\n", netf); // 0x0003243F
    printf("Unpacked: %f\n", f2);       // 3.141586

    return 0;
}

#define pack754_32(f) (pack754((f), 32, 8))
#define pack754_64(f) (pack754((f), 64, 11))
#define unpack754_32(i) (unpack754((i), 32, 8))
#define unpack754_64(i) (unpack754((i), 64, 11))

uint64_t pack754(long double f, unsigned bits, unsigned expbits)
{
    long double fnorm;
    int shift;
    long long sign, exp, significand;
    unsigned significandbits = bits - expbits - 1; // -1 for sign bit

    if (f == 0.0) return 0; // get this special case out of the way

    // check sign and begin normalization
    if (f < 0) { sign = 1; fnorm = -f; }
    else { sign = 0; fnorm = f; }

    // get the normalized form of f and track the exponent
    shift = 0;
    while(fnorm >= 2.0) { fnorm /= 2.0; shift++; }
    while(fnorm < 1.0) { fnorm *= 2.0; shift--; }
    fnorm = fnorm - 1.0;

    // calculate the binary form (non-float) of the significand data
    significand = fnorm * ((1LL<<significandbits) + 0.5f);

    // get the biased exponent
    exp = shift + ((1<<(expbits-1)) - 1); // shift + bias

    // return the final answer
    return (sign<<(bits-1)) | (exp<<(bits-expbits-1)) | significand;
}

long double unpack754(uint64_t i, unsigned bits, unsigned expbits)
{
    long double result;
    long long shift;
    unsigned bias;
    unsigned significandbits = bits - expbits - 1; // -1 for sign bit

    if (i == 0) return 0.0;

    // pull the significand
    result = (i&((1LL<<significandbits)-1)); // mask
    result /= (1LL<<significandbits); // convert back to float
    result += 1.0f; // add the one back on

    // deal with the exponent
    bias = (1<<(expbits-1)) - 1;
    shift = ((i>>significandbits)&((1LL<<expbits)-1)) - bias;
    while(shift > 0) { result *= 2.0; shift--; }
    while(shift < 0) { result /= 2.0; shift++; }

    // sign it
    result *= (i>>(bits-1))&1? -1.0: 1.0;

    return result;
}

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h> // defines uintN_t types
#include <inttypes.h> // defines PRIx macros

int main(void)
{
    float f = 3.1415926, f2;
    double d = 3.14159265358979323, d2;
    uint32_t fi;
    uint64_t di;

    fi = pack754_32(f);
    f2 = unpack754_32(fi);

    di = pack754_64(d);
    d2 = unpack754_64(di);

    printf("float before : %.7f\n", f);
    printf("float encoded: 0x%08" PRIx32 "\n", fi);
    printf("float after  : %.7f\n\n", f2);

    printf("double before : %.20lf\n", d);
    printf("double encoded: 0x%016" PRIx64 "\n", di);
    printf("double after  : %.20lf\n", d2);

    return 0;
}

#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <string.h>

/*
** packi16() -- store a 16-bit int into a char buffer (like htons())
*/
void packi16(unsigned char *buf, unsigned int i)
{
    *buf++ = i>>8; *buf++ = i;
}

/*
** packi32() -- store a 32-bit int into a char buffer (like htonl())
*/
void packi32(unsigned char *buf, unsigned long int i)
{
    *buf++ = i>>24; *buf++ = i>>16;
    *buf++ = i>>8;  *buf++ = i;
}

/*
** packi64() -- store a 64-bit int into a char buffer (like htonl())
*/
void packi64(unsigned char *buf, unsigned long long int i)
{
    *buf++ = i>>56; *buf++ = i>>48;
    *buf++ = i>>40; *buf++ = i>>32;
    *buf++ = i>>24; *buf++ = i>>16;
    *buf++ = i>>8;  *buf++ = i;
}

/*
** unpacki16() -- unpack a 16-bit int from a char buffer (like ntohs())
*/
int unpacki16(unsigned char *buf)
{
    unsigned int i2 = ((unsigned int)buf[0]<<8) | buf[1];
    int i;

    // change unsigned numbers to signed
    if (i2 <= 0x7fffu) { i = i2; }
    else { i = -1 - (unsigned int)(0xffffu - i2); }

    return i;
}

/*
** unpacku16() -- unpack a 16-bit unsigned from a char buffer (like ntohs())
*/
unsigned int unpacku16(unsigned char *buf)
{
    return ((unsigned int)buf[0]<<8) | buf[1];
}

/*
** unpacki32() -- unpack a 32-bit int from a char buffer (like ntohl())
*/
long int unpacki32(unsigned char *buf)
{
    unsigned long int i2 = ((unsigned long int)buf[0]<<24) |
                           ((unsigned long int)buf[1]<<16) |
                           ((unsigned long int)buf[2]<<8)  |
                           buf[3];
    long int i;

    // change unsigned numbers to signed
    if (i2 <= 0x7fffffffu) { i = i2; }
    else { i = -1 - (long int)(0xffffffffu - i2); }

    return i;
}

/*
** unpacku32() -- unpack a 32-bit unsigned from a char buffer (like ntohl())
*/
unsigned long int unpacku32(unsigned char *buf)
{
    return ((unsigned long int)buf[0]<<24) |
           ((unsigned long int)buf[1]<<16) |
           ((unsigned long int)buf[2]<<8)  |
           buf[3];
}

/*
** unpacki64() -- unpack a 64-bit int from a char buffer (like ntohl())
*/
long long int unpacki64(unsigned char *buf)
{
    unsigned long long int i2 = ((unsigned long long int)buf[0]<<56) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[1]<<48) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[2]<<40) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[3]<<32) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[4]<<24) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[5]<<16) |
                                ((unsigned long long int)buf[6]<<8)  |
                                buf[7];
    long long int i;

    // change unsigned numbers to signed
    if (i2 <= 0x7fffffffffffffffu) { i = i2; }
    else { i = -1 -(long long int)(0xffffffffffffffffu - i2); }

    return i;
}

/*
** unpacku64() -- unpack a 64-bit unsigned from a char buffer (like ntohl())
*/
unsigned long long int unpacku64(unsigned char *buf)
{
    return ((unsigned long long int)buf[0]<<56) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[1]<<48) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[2]<<40) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[3]<<32) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[4]<<24) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[5]<<16) |
           ((unsigned long long int)buf[6]<<8)  |
           buf[7];
}

/*
** pack() -- store data dictated by the format string in the buffer
**
**   bits |signed   unsigned   float   string
**   -----+----------------------------------
**      8 |   c        C
**     16 |   h        H         f
**     32 |   l        L         d
**     64 |   q        Q         g
**      - |                               s
**
**  (16-bit unsigned length is automatically prepended to strings)
*/

unsigned int pack(unsigned char *buf, char *format, ...)
{
    va_list ap;

    signed char c;              // 8-bit
    unsigned char C;

    int h;                      // 16-bit
    unsigned int H;

    long int l;                 // 32-bit
    unsigned long int L;

    long long int q;            // 64-bit
    unsigned long long int Q;

    float f;                    // floats
    double d;
    long double g;
    unsigned long long int fhold;

    char *s;                    // strings
    unsigned int len;

    unsigned int size = 0;

    va_start(ap, format);

    for(; *format != '\0'; format++) {
        switch(*format) {
        case 'c': // 8-bit
            size += 1;
            c = (signed char)va_arg(ap, int); // promoted
            *buf++ = c;
            break;

        case 'C': // 8-bit unsigned
            size += 1;
            C = (unsigned char)va_arg(ap, unsigned int); // promoted
            *buf++ = C;
            break;

        case 'h': // 16-bit
            size += 2;
            h = va_arg(ap, int);
            packi16(buf, h);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'H': // 16-bit unsigned
            size += 2;
            H = va_arg(ap, unsigned int);
            packi16(buf, H);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'l': // 32-bit
            size += 4;
            l = va_arg(ap, long int);
            packi32(buf, l);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'L': // 32-bit unsigned
            size += 4;
            L = va_arg(ap, unsigned long int);
            packi32(buf, L);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'q': // 64-bit
            size += 8;
            q = va_arg(ap, long long int);
            packi64(buf, q);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 'Q': // 64-bit unsigned
            size += 8;
            Q = va_arg(ap, unsigned long long int);
            packi64(buf, Q);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 'f': // float-16
            size += 2;
            f = (float)va_arg(ap, double); // promoted
            fhold = pack754_16(f); // convert to IEEE 754
            packi16(buf, fhold);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'd': // float-32
            size += 4;
            d = va_arg(ap, double);
            fhold = pack754_32(d); // convert to IEEE 754
            packi32(buf, fhold);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'g': // float-64
            size += 8;
            g = va_arg(ap, long double);
            fhold = pack754_64(g); // convert to IEEE 754
            packi64(buf, fhold);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 's': // string
            s = va_arg(ap, char*);
            len = strlen(s);
            size += len + 2;
            packi16(buf, len);
            buf += 2;
            memcpy(buf, s, len);
            buf += len;
            break;
        }
    }

    va_end(ap);

    return size;
}

/*
** unpack() -- unpack data dictated by the format string into the buffer
**
**   bits |signed   unsigned   float   string
**   -----+----------------------------------
**      8 |   c        C
**     16 |   h        H         f
**     32 |   l        L         d
**     64 |   q        Q         g
**      - |                               s
**
**  (string is extracted based on its stored length, but 's' can be
**  prepended with a max length)
*/
void unpack(unsigned char *buf, char *format, ...)
{
    va_list ap;

    signed char *c;              // 8-bit
    unsigned char *C;

    int *h;                      // 16-bit
    unsigned int *H;

    long int *l;                 // 32-bit
    unsigned long int *L;

    long long int *q;            // 64-bit
    unsigned long long int *Q;

    float *f;                    // floats
    double *d;
    long double *g;
    unsigned long long int fhold;

    char *s;
    unsigned int len, maxstrlen=0, count;

    va_start(ap, format);

    for(; *format != '\0'; format++) {
        switch(*format) {
        case 'c': // 8-bit
            c = va_arg(ap, signed char*);
            if (*buf <= 0x7f) { *c = *buf;} // re-sign
            else { *c = -1 - (unsigned char)(0xffu - *buf); }
            buf++;
            break;

        case 'C': // 8-bit unsigned
            C = va_arg(ap, unsigned char*);
            *C = *buf++;
            break;

        case 'h': // 16-bit
            h = va_arg(ap, int*);
            *h = unpacki16(buf);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'H': // 16-bit unsigned
            H = va_arg(ap, unsigned int*);
            *H = unpacku16(buf);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'l': // 32-bit
            l = va_arg(ap, long int*);
            *l = unpacki32(buf);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'L': // 32-bit unsigned
            L = va_arg(ap, unsigned long int*);
            *L = unpacku32(buf);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'q': // 64-bit
            q = va_arg(ap, long long int*);
            *q = unpacki64(buf);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 'Q': // 64-bit unsigned
            Q = va_arg(ap, unsigned long long int*);
            *Q = unpacku64(buf);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 'f': // float
            f = va_arg(ap, float*);
            fhold = unpacku16(buf);
            *f = unpack754_16(fhold);
            buf += 2;
            break;

        case 'd': // float-32
            d = va_arg(ap, double*);
            fhold = unpacku32(buf);
            *d = unpack754_32(fhold);
            buf += 4;
            break;

        case 'g': // float-64
            g = va_arg(ap, long double*);
            fhold = unpacku64(buf);
            *g = unpack754_64(fhold);
            buf += 8;
            break;

        case 's': // string
            s = va_arg(ap, char*);
            len = unpacku16(buf);
            buf += 2;
            if (maxstrlen > 0 && len >= maxstrlen) count = maxstrlen - 1;
            else count = len;
            memcpy(s, buf, count);
            s[count] = '\0';
            buf += len;
            break;

        default:
            if (isdigit(*format)) { // track max str len
                maxstrlen = maxstrlen * 10 + (*format-'0');
            }
        }

        if (!isdigit(*format)) maxstrlen = 0;
    }

    va_end(ap);
}

#include <stdio.h>

// various bits for floating point types--
// varies for different architectures
typedef float float32_t;
typedef double float64_t;

int main(void)
{
    unsigned char buf[1024];
    int8_t magic;
    int16_t monkeycount;
    int32_t altitude;
    float32_t absurdityfactor;
    char *s = "Great unmitigated Zot! You've found the Runestaff!";
    char s2[96];
    int16_t packetsize, ps2;

    packetsize = pack(buf, "chhlsf", (int8_t)'B', (int16_t)0, (int16_t)37, 
            (int32_t)-5, s, (float32_t)-3490.6677);
    packi16(buf+1, packetsize); // store packet size in packet for kicks

    printf("packet is %" PRId32 " bytes\n", packetsize);

    unpack(buf, "chhl96sf", &magic, &ps2, &monkeycount, &altitude, s2,
        &absurdityfactor);

    printf("'%c' %" PRId32" %" PRId16 " %" PRId32
            " \"%s\" %f\n", magic, ps2, monkeycount,
            altitude, s2, absurdityfactor);

    return 0;
}

/*
** broadcaster.c -- a datagram "client" like talker.c, except
**                  this one can broadcast
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <netdb.h>

#define SERVERPORT 4950 // the port users will be connecting to

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int sockfd;
    struct sockaddr_in their_addr; // connector's address information
    struct hostent *he;
    int numbytes;
    int broadcast = 1;
    //char broadcast = '1'; // if that doesn't work, try this

    if (argc != 3) {
        fprintf(stderr,"usage: broadcaster hostname message\n");
        exit(1);
    }

    if ((he=gethostbyname(argv[1])) == NULL) {  // get the host info
        perror("gethostbyname");
        exit(1);
    }

    if ((sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0)) == -1) {
        perror("socket");
        exit(1);
    }

    // this call is what allows broadcast packets to be sent:
    if (setsockopt(sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_BROADCAST, &broadcast,
        sizeof broadcast) == -1) {
        perror("setsockopt (SO_BROADCAST)");
        exit(1);
    }

    their_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;     // host byte order
    their_addr.sin_port = htons(SERVERPORT); // short, network byte order
    their_addr.sin_addr = *((struct in_addr *)he->h_addr);
    memset(their_addr.sin_zero, '\0', sizeof their_addr.sin_zero);

    if ((numbytes=sendto(sockfd, argv[2], strlen(argv[2]), 0,
             (struct sockaddr *)&their_addr, sizeof their_addr)) == -1) {
        perror("sendto");
        exit(1);
    }

    printf("sent %d bytes to %s\n", numbytes,
        inet_ntoa(their_addr.sin_addr));

    close(sockfd);

    return 0;
}