Problem reconnecting to the named pipe - windows

Question

I have a named pipe server and client. (Doing this in VC++).
Server does
CreateNamedPipe
ConnectNamedPipe
WriteFile
Disconnect
Repeat from 2 to 4
Client does
CreateFile
ReadFile
The order of execution is as follows,
Server -- CreateNamedPipe
Client -- CreateFile
Server -- ConnectNamedPipe (should return immediately as the client is already connected)
Server -- WriteFile
Client -- ReadFile
Server -- DisconnectNamedPipe
Client -- CloseHandle
goto 2
This works fine for the first time. However problem occurs when client tries to connects for the second time. When the client tries to connect (CreateFile) for the second time before the server did ConnectNamedPipe (but after disconnectnamedpipe), it gets ERROR_PIPE_BUSY. It works if client calls createfile after the server calls ConnectNamedPipe.
Is there anyway that i can get client connected (CreateFile) before server called ConnectNamedPipe (after DisconnectNamedPipe)?
Server code:
pipe_handle.pipe = CreateNamedPipe(TEXT("\\\\.\\pipe\\testpipe1"),
PIPE_ACCESS_OUTBOUND |
FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, // read/write access
PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | // message type pipe
PIPE_READMODE_MESSAGE | // message-read mode
PIPE_WAIT, // blocking mode
PIPE_UNLIMITED_INSTANCES, // max. instances
BUFFER_SIZE, // output buffer size
BUFFER_SIZE, // input buffer size
2000, // client time-out
NULL);
if (pipe_handle.pipe == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
std::cout << "Error while creating pipe" << std::endl;
return -1;
}
std::cout <<"Connecting to named pipe" << std::endl;
std::cout<< "Somebody connected to named pipe" << std::endl;
int ac;
for (ac=0; ac<2; ac++) {
char a[25];
// Wait for some input. This helps me to start the client in other terminal.
cin >> a;
cout << "Connecting..." << endl;
ConnectNamedPipe(pipe_handle.pipe, 0);
cout << "Connect pipe returned." << endl;
// Wait for some input.
cin >> a;
string message = "Test message";
DWORD bytes_written;
if (!WriteFile(pipe_handle.pipe, message.c_str(), message.size(),
&bytes_written, NULL)) {
DWORD er = GetLastError();
char errs[200];
sprintf(errs, "Error : %ld", er);
std::cout << "Error communicating to client.";
std::cout << errs;
}
std::cout << "Written to pipe";
FlushFileBuffers(pipe_handle.pipe);
if (!DisconnectNamedPipe(pipe_handle.pipe)) {
std::cout << "Disconnect failed"<< GetLastError() << endl;
} else {
std::cout << "Disconnect successful"<<endl;
}
}
Client Code:
while (1) {
std::cout << "Returned" << std::endl;
hPipe = CreateFile(
lpszPipename, // pipe name
GENERIC_READ,
0, // no sharing
NULL, // default security attributes
OPEN_EXISTING, // opens existing pipe
FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, // default attributes
NULL); // no template file
// Break if the pipe handle is valid.
if (hPipe != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
break;
// Exit if an error other than ERROR_PIPE_BUSY occurs.
if (GetLastError() != ERROR_PIPE_BUSY) {
std::cout<< "Could not open pipe " << GetLastError() << std::endl;
return -1;
}
// All pipe instances are busy, so wait for sometime.
if ( ! WaitNamedPipe(lpszPipename, NMPWAIT_USE_DEFAULT_WAIT)) {
std::cout<< "Could not open pipe: wait timed out." << std::endl;
}
}
OVERLAPPED ol1;
memset(&ol1, 0, sizeof(ol1));
ol1.Offset = 0;
ol1.OffsetHigh = 0;
ol1.hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
HANDLE events[1];
events[0] = ol1.hEvent;
cbToWrite = (lstrlen(message)+1)*sizeof(TCHAR);
DWORD bytes_to_read = 2000;
char * buf = reinterpret_cast<char *>(malloc(bytes_to_read));
DWORD bytes_read;
std::cout << "Waiting for read" << std::endl;
bool a = ReadFile(hPipe, buf, bytes_to_read, &bytes_read, &ol1);
if ( ! fSuccess) {
std::cout << "WriteFile to pipe failed. GLE " << GetLastError() << std::endl;
}
std::cout << "Waiting for multiple objects" << std::endl;
WaitForMultipleObjects(1, events, FALSE, INFINITE);
std::cout << "multiple objects returned" << std::endl;
printf("\nMessage sent to server");
CancelIo(hPipe);
CloseHandle(hPipe);

Answer 1

If you get ERROR_PIPE_BUSY on the CreateFile() call in the client, you need to call WaitNamedPipe() and then retry when it returns. If you get a return of zero from WaitNamedPipe() that means it timed out without the pipe becoming available. You'll never see that happen if you pass NMPWAIT_WAIT_FOREVER as the timeout.
You also need to keep in mind that the pipe may become busy again between the time WaitNamedPipe() returns and you call CreateFile(); therefore, you need to do it in a loop. Like this:
while (true)
{
hPipe = CreateFile(pipeName,
GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
0,
0,
OPEN_EXISTING,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
0);
if (hPipe == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
if (GetLastError() == ERROR_PIPE_BUSY)
{
if (!WaitNamedPipe(pipeName, NMPWAIT_USE_DEFAULT_WAIT))
continue; // timeout, try again
}
else
return false; // error
}
else
break; // success
}
EDIT:
I simplified your code and now it works fine. Working server and client follow.
Server:
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
HANDLE pipe;
const DWORD BUFFER_SIZE = 1024;
pipe = CreateNamedPipe("\\\\.\\pipe\\testpipe1",
PIPE_ACCESS_OUTBOUND |
FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, // read/write access
PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | // message type pipe
PIPE_READMODE_MESSAGE | // message-read mode
PIPE_WAIT, // blocking mode
PIPE_UNLIMITED_INSTANCES, // max. instances
BUFFER_SIZE, // output buffer size
BUFFER_SIZE, // input buffer size
2000, // client time-out
NULL);
if (pipe == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
printf("Error while creating pipe\n");
return -1;
}
printf("Connecting to named pipe\n");
int ac;
for (ac=0; ac<2; ac++)
{
// Wait for some input. This helps me to start the client in other terminal.
printf("Connecting...\n");
ConnectNamedPipe(pipe, 0);
printf("Connect pipe returned.\n");
// Wait for some input.
char * message = "Test message";
DWORD bytes_written;
if (!WriteFile(pipe, message, strlen(message)+1, &bytes_written, NULL))
{
DWORD er = GetLastError();
char errs[200];
sprintf_s(errs, "Error : %ld", er);
printf("Error communicating to client.\n");
printf(errs);
}
printf("Written to pipe\n");
FlushFileBuffers(pipe);
if (!DisconnectNamedPipe(pipe))
{
printf("Disconnect failed %d\n", GetLastError());
}
else
{
printf("Disconnect successful\n");
}
}
}
Client:
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
HANDLE hPipe;
while (1)
{
printf("Returned\n");
hPipe = CreateFile("\\\\.\\pipe\\testpipe1",
GENERIC_READ,
0, // no sharing
NULL, // default security attributes
OPEN_EXISTING, // opens existing pipe
0, // default attributes
NULL); // no template file
// Break if the pipe handle is valid.
if (hPipe != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
break;
// Exit if an error other than ERROR_PIPE_BUSY occurs.
if (GetLastError() != ERROR_PIPE_BUSY)
{
printf("Could not open pipe %d\n", GetLastError());
return -1;
}
// All pipe instances are busy, so wait for sometime.
if ( ! WaitNamedPipe("\\\\.\\pipe\\testpipe1", NMPWAIT_USE_DEFAULT_WAIT))
{
printf("Could not open pipe: wait timed out.\n");
}
}
char *message = "hello";
DWORD cbToWrite = (strlen(message)+1)*sizeof(message[0]);
DWORD bytes_to_read = 2000;
char * buf = reinterpret_cast<char *>(malloc(bytes_to_read));
DWORD bytes_read;
printf("Waiting for read\n");
bytes_read = 0;
ReadFile(hPipe, buf, bytes_to_read, &bytes_read, 0);
if (bytes_read <= 0)
{
printf("ReadFile from pipe failed. GLE \n");
}
else
printf("Read %d bytes: %s\n", bytes_read, buf);
CloseHandle(hPipe);
return 0;
}

Answer 2

On the Server side when you decide to break the connection you must use chain:
1) CloseHandle (Pipe);
2) DisconnectNamedPipe (Pipe);