42_ft_irc

42 Ecole Common Core Projects / ft_irc

🖧 ft_irc - Internet Relay Chat Server

📌 Project Overview

ft_irc is a simple IRC server built in C++98, following the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol.
It allows multiple clients to communicate via TCP/IP using an IRC client of their choice.

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🚀 Features

• Multi-client support using poll() (or equivalent)
• Authentication system (PASS, NICK, USER commands)
• Real-time messaging (public channels and private messages)
• User roles (Operators and regular users)
• Implemented IRC commands:
  • JOIN - Join a channel
  • PART - Leave a channel
  • PRIVMSG - Send private messages
  • KICK - Remove a user from a channel
  • INVITE - Invite a user to a channel
  • TOPIC - Change or view the channel topic
  • MODE - Manage channel modes (+i, +t, +k, +o, +l)
  • QUIT - Disconnect from the server
• Message broadcasting - Messages sent to a channel are received by all members.
• Error handling - Provides warnings for invalid commands and incorrect inputs.
• Clean and modular code following OOP (Object-Oriented Programming) principles.

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⚙️ Installation & Compilation

Prerequisites

• C++98 Compiler
• An IRC client (e.g., irssi, WeeChat, HexChat, or netcat for testing)

Compilation

To build the project, run:

make

This will generate an executable called ircserv.

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🔧 Usage

To start the server, run:

./ircserv <port> <password>

• <port>: The port number on which the IRC server will listen for incoming connections.
• <password>: The connection password required by clients.

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🔗 Connecting to the IRC Server

🔹 Terminal Connection (Testing with HexChat)

For a simple connection test, run:

nc -C 127.0.0.1 6667

Then, authenticate with:

PASS mypassword
NICK mynickname
USER myusername 0 * :My Real Name

To join a channel:

JOIN #mychannel

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📜 Supported IRC Commands & Examples

Command	Description	Example
PASS	Authenticate with a password	PASS mypassword
NICK	Set a nickname	NICK Alice
USER	Set username and real name	USER Alice 0 * :Alice Doe
JOIN	Join a channel	JOIN #channelname
PART	Leave a channel	PART #channelname
PRIVMSG	Send a private message	PRIVMSG Bob :Hello!
KICK	Remove a user from a channel	KICK #channelname Bob :Reason
INVITE	Invite a user to a channel	INVITE Bob #channelname
TOPIC	View or set the channel topic	TOPIC #channelname :New topic
MODE	Manage channel settings	MODE #channelname +i
QUIT	Disconnect from the server	QUIT

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🖧 Socket Programming & Server Logic

This IRC server uses socket programming to communicate with clients. A socket is an endpoint for data exchange over a network.

🏗️ Socket Workflow

1. Create a socket - socket() function initializes a socket.
2. Bind to a port - bind() associates the socket with a specific port.
3. Listen for connections - listen() puts the socket in listening mode.
4. Accept client connections - accept() handles incoming client requests.
5. Send/Receive data - send() and recv() process messages between server and clients.
6. Close connections - close() terminates client connections.

Main Server Loop

The server continuously monitors connected clients using poll():

int retval = poll(&_pollFds[0], _pollFds.size(), -1);
if (retval == -1) {
    std::cerr << "poll Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
}

This enables non-blocking socket communication, ensuring efficient client management.

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📂 Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── Server.cpp       # Server logic
│   ├── Client.cpp       # Client management
│   ├── Channel.cpp      # Channel operations
│   ├── Cmds.cpp         # Core commands
│   ├── Cmds1.cpp        # Additional commands
│   ├── Cmds2.cpp        # Mode handling
│   ├── Tools.cpp        # Utility functions
│   ├── main.cpp         # Entry point
├── includes/
│   ├── ft_irc.hpp       # Main header file
│   ├── rpls_and_errs.hpp # Reply and error messages
├── Makefile             # Build script
├── README.md            # Documentation

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🏆 Bonus Features

Note: THERE IS NO BONUS PART IN THIS PROJECT!

• 📂 File transfer support (Client-to-client file sharing)
• 🤖 Bot integration (Automated message response bot)

Note: Bonus features will only be evaluated if all mandatory requirements are met.

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🤝 Contributing

If you'd like to contribute, feel free to fork the repository and submit a pull request. Keep the code clean and well-documented. 💡

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🎉 Special Thanks

This project was developed with my teammates ydunay and zeatilga.
Thanks to my team for their support! 🙌

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🚀 Happy coding! 💻🎯