Socket Write Failure when sending File - c++

Question

I've been stuck on this issue for awhile where I'm unable to send a file through a socket. I've sent other information just fine using this method, but the problem seems to appear when I try to send a PNG file as a string.
These are the methods I use to to send and receive information:
// Sends a Message to the specified Socket
void Server::sendMessage(int socket, string message)
{
// Write the Message Size to the Socket
send(socket, itoa((message.length() + 1)), sizeof(size_t));
// Wait for Write Confirmation
bool response;
receive(socket, &response, 2);
// Write the Message to the Socket
send(socket, (char*) message.c_str(), message.length() + 1);
// Wait for Write Confirmation
receive(socket, &response, 2);
}
// Receives Message from the specified Socket
string Server::receiveMessage(int socket)
{
// Read the Message Size from the Socket
int size;
receive(socket, &size, sizeof(size_t));
// Send Write Confirmation
send(socket, itoa(true), 2);
// Receive the Message from the Socket
char message[size];
receive(socket, message, size);
// Send Write Confirmation
send(socket, itoa(true), 2);
// Return the Message as a String
string msg(message);
return msg;
}
The send and receive methods are just relays for write and read respectively. I'm only doing error checking in those methods, and it's the send method that's telling me that the write isn't working. In case it matters, this is my send method:
// Sends a Data Packet to the specified Socket
int Server::send(int socket, void* data, int size)
{
// Write the Data to the Socket
int count = write(socket, data, size);
// Make sure the Write Succeeded
if(count == -1)
{
print("$f1Error: $f0Unable to Write to Socket $t1%i$t0\n", socket);
exit(1);
}
return count;
}
I should note that the Server operates as a Thread, therefore the above three functions are static. The Client also contains the same four networking functions.
The command line breaking this happens in a separate static function which I use to handle Clients. Here is the relevant portion of said method:
// Handles each Client with a Thread
void* Server::server_handleClient(void* arg)
{
// Determine the Socket Descriptor
int socket = *((int*) arg);
free(arg);
// Create the Rover
Rover* rover = new Rover();
// Loop Indefinitely
while(true)
{
...
// Take a Picture and Send it
sendMessage(socket, rover -> takePicture());
...
}
// Delete the Rover
delete rover;
// Close the Socket
close(socket);
// Return a Successful Status
return (void*) new int(0);
}
Here you can see that I make use of a method from another class I've created. Here is the takePicture method from the Rover class, which is where I actually grab the picture:
// Takes a Picture and Returns the Photo as a String
inline string Rover::takePicture()
{
// Open the Picture File
ifstream picture;
string filepath = "./Server/Pictures/" + getDirection() + ".png";
picture.open(filepath.c_str());
// Make sure the File Opened
if(!picture.is_open())
return "";
// Read the File into a String Buffer
stringstream buffer;
buffer << picture.rdbuf();
return buffer.str();
}
So in short, the Server gets a picture from the Rover which it then sends to a Client. When I check the contents of the string for the photo, it's all there. All possible photos are reasonable in size (the photo used for testing is 674,962 bytes, and the buffer size sent is 674,963 which is expected).
I've used these methods for sending various messages, and all of that worked fine. I'm able to send strings (Like "Hello World!") and integers just fine.
Is there something that I'm doing wrong? Is the file that I'm trying to send simply too large? Is there some information that I'm missing? I need help...
Edit:
I've made a few changes with a little progress. I made one small change to the sendMessage command. The current problem is that the picture isn't being sent properly.
New sendMessage function:
// Sends a Message to the specified Socket
void Server::sendMessage(int socket, string message, bool data = false)
{
// Write the Message Size to the Socket
send(socket, itoa((message.length() + 1)), sizeof(size_t));
// Wait for Write Confirmation
bool response;
receive(socket, &response, 2);
// Determine the Type of Data to Send
if(data)
{
// Write the Message Data to the Socket
send(socket, (char*) message.data(), message.length() + 1);
}
else
{
// Write the Message to the Socket
send(socket, (char*) message.c_str(), message.length() + 1);
}
// Wait for Write Confirmation
receive(socket, &response, 2);
}
The Client's copy of this function has been updated to match as well.
Now that we're working on getting the PNG file saved, here's the function that deals with that as well:
// Handles each Client with a Thread
void* Client::client_handleServer(void* arg)
{
// Define Socket Variables
int socket = *((int*) arg);
free(arg);
...
// Export the Picture to the Client's Directory
message = receiveMessage(socket);
ofstream picture;
picture.open("./Client/Pictures/Picture.png", std::ifstream::binary);
picture << message;
picture.close();
...
}

Answer 1

Currently you are opening the file in textmode. that means any characters in the files which contain newlines "\n" are converted to new line + carriage returns "\r\n".
Open your file in binary mode, like so
picture.open(filepath.c_str(), std::ifstream::binary);
then it may work.

Answer 2

void Server::sendMessage(int socket, string message)
The problem is right here. Don't use string as a container for binary data. Pass the image around as a byte array. Same applies to this:
string Server::receiveMessage(int socket)

Answer 3

I eventually figured everything out in the long run.
Pictures are binary files, and I was using Strings which use ASCII Characters. The issue with this is that binary data does not always translate to ASCII, and Strings are terminated by null characters, whereas binary data can contain null data within it. Long story short, strings do not work.
To preserve the message handling I had in place, I ended up just converting the binary data to hexadecimal data (0-F) which could be displayed in a String.