ESP32: Send a simple TCP Message and receive the response - tcp

Question

I want to do the same request as with the netcat "nc" command on my computer with an ESP32:
Computer:
$ nc tcpbin.com 4242
Test
Test
What I've tried so far:
Create a wifi client and listen to an answer:
Connect to a tcp server
write a message
wait and read the answer
#include <Arduino.h>
#include <WiFi.h>
WiFiClient localClient;
const char* ssid = "...";
const char* password = "...";
const uint port = 4242;
const char* ip = "45.79.112.203"; // tcpbin.com's ip
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
Serial.println("Connect Wlan");
WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}
void loop() {
sendRequest();
delay(200);
}
void sendRequest() {
if(!localClient.connected()) {
if (localClient.connect(ip, port)) {
Serial.println("localClient connected");
localClient.write('A'); //Single char
Serial.println("msg sent");
}
}
if(localClient.connected()) {
Serial.println("Start reading");
if (localClient.available() > 0) {
char c = localClient.read();
Serial.print(c);
}
Serial.println("Stop reading");
}
}
I'm pretty sure that I misunderstood something of the tcp concept during the implementation. However, after various approaches and trying other code snippets, I can't come up with a solution.
thank you in advance
regards
Leon

Answer 1

There are several issues with your code.
If you test nc, you will notice that the server will not acknowledge back until your press 'return'. You are sending a single byte without termination in your code, so the server is waiting for subsequent data. To terminate the data, you need to send a '\n', or instead of using client.write('A'), use client.println('A').
A network response take time, your current code expecting immediate response without waiting with if (localClient.available() > 0).
Here is the code that will work:
void sendRequest() {
if (localClient.connect(ip, port)) { // Establish a connection
if (localClient.connected()) {
localClient.println('A'); // send data
Serial.println("[Tx] A");
}
while (!localClient.available()); // wait for response
String str = localClient.readStringUntil('\n'); // read entire response
Serial.print("[Rx] ");
Serial.println(str);
}
}