Cliser: The C++ Communicator Hierarchy

A Communicator is a Cliser communication abstraction for communication that simplifies the transmission of text across a network. The C++ Communicator hierarchy hides the network interface (BSD vs. TLI/XTI vs. Winsock) details, the protocol (TCP/IP vs. UDP/IP) details, and the client vs server details:

Using this hierarchy, a particular client or server can communicate simply by creating an instance of a class from the Communicator hierarchy appropriate for its needs. A client communicator requires the port and name of the remote host with which it is to communicate; a server communicator requires only the port on which it is to listen for connections.

Each of these classes supports two easy-to-use communication primitives:

• int send(string message) which can be used to send message to a remote host. A negative return value indicates an error.
• int receive(string message) which can be used to receive a message. The message is stored in message. A negative return value indicates an error.

By providing a simple, uniform network interface for all clients and servers, a Communicator simplifies the task of communication between a client/server and a server/client.