commit 6f24ef2fb79a4e4830c3df363f8aaa3a3cfac294
Author: Your Name <you@example.com>
Date:   Thu Feb 26 11:16:17 2026 -0600

    initial commit

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93c913b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Compiler and flags
+CXX = g++
+CXXFLAGS = -pthread -Wall -Wextra -O2 -std=c++17 -lcurses
+
+# Targets
+all: main
+
+# Client build
+main: main.cpp
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) main.cpp -o main
+
+# Clean build artifacts
+clean:
+	rm -f main
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6debc47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+an attempt at a threaded ncurses network chat in c++
diff --git a/client.cpp b/client.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd58677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*this network test uses more complicated network functionality but doesnt use threads or ncurses. 
+that means you have to wait for the other end to send a message before getting to write a new message
+to run, do ./client.cpp 127.0.0.1 8080
+this one has args
+*/
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <netdb.h>
+#include <sys/uio.h>
+#include <sys/time.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <fstream>
+using namespace std;
+//Client side
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    //we need 2 things: ip address and port number, in that order
+    if(argc != 3)
+    {
+        cerr << "Usage: ip_address port" << endl; exit(0); 
+    } //grab the IP address and port number 
+    char *serverIp = argv[1]; int port = atoi(argv[2]); 
+    //create a message buffer 
+    char msg[1500]; 
+    //setup a socket and connection tools 
+    struct hostent* host = gethostbyname(serverIp); 
+    sockaddr_in sendSockAddr;   
+    bzero((char*)&sendSockAddr, sizeof(sendSockAddr)); 
+    sendSockAddr.sin_family = AF_INET; 
+    sendSockAddr.sin_addr.s_addr = 
+        inet_addr(inet_ntoa(*(struct in_addr*)*host->h_addr_list));
+    sendSockAddr.sin_port = htons(port);
+    int clientSd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    //try to connect...
+    int status = connect(clientSd,
+                         (sockaddr*) &sendSockAddr, sizeof(sendSockAddr));
+    if(status < 0)
+    {
+        cout<<"Error connecting to socket!"<<endl;// break;
+    }
+    cout << "Connected to the server!" << endl;
+    int bytesRead, bytesWritten = 0;
+    struct timeval start1, end1;
+    gettimeofday(&start1, NULL);
+    while(1)
+    {
+        cout << ">";
+        string data;
+        getline(cin, data);
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        strcpy(msg, data.c_str());
+        if(data == "exit")
+        {
+            send(clientSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+            break;
+        }
+        bytesWritten += send(clientSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+        cout << "Awaiting server response..." << endl;
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        bytesRead += recv(clientSd, (char*)&msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
+        if(!strcmp(msg, "exit"))
+        {
+            cout << "Server has quit the session" << endl;
+            break;
+        }
+        cout << "Server: " << msg << endl;
+    }
+    gettimeofday(&end1, NULL);
+    close(clientSd);
+    cout << "********Session********" << endl;
+    cout << "Bytes written: " << bytesWritten << 
+    " Bytes read: " << bytesRead << endl;
+    cout << "Elapsed time: " << (end1.tv_sec- start1.tv_sec) 
+      << " secs" << endl;
+    cout << "Connection closed" << endl;
+    return 0;    
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f825bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,489 @@
+/*an attempt at pthread and network and ncurses all in the same function
+*/
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <netdb.h>
+#include <sys/uio.h>
+#include <sys/time.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <curses.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+#include <vector>   //try to make the program work without this without doing anything awful but do it later
+
+using namespace std;
+
+const int PORT_NUM = 8888;
+const string IP_ADDRESS = "127.0.0.1";
+
+int mode = 0;       //what mode is this program in. 0 = nothing. 1 = server. 2 = client
+int serverSocketDescriptor;//a global variable for storing the server socket descriptor.
+int clientSocketDescriptor;
+vector<int> clientSocketDescriptors;//a global vector for storing client socket descriptors
+
+//keep track of the session time using global variables
+struct timeval start1, end1;
+
+//also keep track of the amount of data sent as well
+int bytesRead, bytesWritten = 0;
+
+const int LOG_LENGTH = 10;//number of text log file lines to display
+int linePos = 0;    //counter for what current position to use in the file
+
+pthread_t client_wait_thread;
+
+int writeToFile(string path, string line, bool incLineNum = true);
+void* waitForClient(void* argss);
+void* pollForClient();
+
+//clears ncurses rows in a specific region only
+void clearRows(int startingRow, int endingRow)
+{
+    //preserve the cursor location
+    int yBefore, xBefore;
+    getyx(stdscr, yBefore, xBefore);
+
+    for (int i = startingRow; i < endingRow; i++)
+    {
+        move(i, 0);
+        clrtoeol();//clear to end of line
+    }
+
+    //restore original cursor location
+    move(yBefore, xBefore);
+}
+
+//display a file using ncurses
+int displayFile(string path, int startLineNum = 0, int numLines = 10)
+{
+    ifstream file(path);
+    if (!file)
+    {
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        clearRows(0, numLines+1);       //clear the chat area
+        int lineNum = 0;
+        string line;
+
+        //print each line directly to the screen
+        int num = 0;
+        while(getline(file, line) && num <= numLines + startLineNum + 1) //while there is file content and the line number isn't too high
+        {
+            if (num >= startLineNum)
+            {
+                move(lineNum, 0);
+                printw(line.c_str());
+                lineNum++;//increment the row number after printing each line
+            }
+            num++;
+        }
+        return 0;
+    }
+}
+
+//gets the number of lines in a file. returns -1 if there was an error.
+int linesInFile(string path)
+{
+    ifstream file(path);
+    if (!file)
+    {
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        int lineNum = 0;
+        string line;
+
+        int num = 0;
+        while(getline(file, line))
+        {
+            num++;
+        }
+        return num;
+    }
+}
+
+struct waitClientArgs
+{
+    sockaddr_in newSockAddr;
+    socklen_t newSockAddrSize;
+};
+
+void* waitForClient(void* argss)
+{
+    waitClientArgs* args = static_cast<waitClientArgs*>(argss);
+    clientSocketDescriptor = accept(serverSocketDescriptor, (sockaddr *)&args->newSockAddr, &args->newSockAddrSize);
+    if (clientSocketDescriptor >= 0)
+    {
+        writeToFile("test.txt", "client connected");
+        displayFile("test.txt", linePos, LOG_LENGTH);
+    }
+    delete args;//delete to avoid memory leaks
+
+    return pollForClient();
+}
+
+void* pollForClient()
+{
+    char msg[1024];
+    while(1)
+    {
+        //receive a message from the client (listen)
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        bytesRead += recv(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
+        writeToFile("test.txt", msg);//write the client's message to file
+        displayFile("test.txt", linePos, LOG_LENGTH);
+    }
+
+    return nullptr;
+}
+
+//set up a suitable server for this
+int setupServer(int port)
+{    
+    //setup a socket and connection tools
+    sockaddr_in servAddr;
+    bzero((char*)&servAddr, sizeof(servAddr));
+    servAddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
+    servAddr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
+    servAddr.sin_port = htons(port);
+ 
+    //open stream oriented socket with internet address
+    //also keep track of the socket descriptor
+    serverSocketDescriptor = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    if(serverSocketDescriptor < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Error establishing the server socket" << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    //bind the socket to its local address
+    int bindStatus = bind(serverSocketDescriptor, (struct sockaddr*) &servAddr, 
+        sizeof(servAddr));
+    if(bindStatus < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Error binding socket to local address" << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    writeToFile("test.txt", "Waiting for a client to connect...");
+    //listen for up to 5 requests at a time
+    listen(serverSocketDescriptor, 5);
+    //receive a request from client using accept
+    //we need a new address to connect with the client
+    sockaddr_in newSockAddr;
+    socklen_t newSockAddrSize = sizeof(newSockAddr);
+    //accept, create a new socket descriptor to 
+    //handle the new connection with client
+    auto* aaa = new waitClientArgs{};//it looks stupid but it works
+    aaa->newSockAddr = newSockAddr;
+    aaa->newSockAddrSize = newSockAddrSize;
+    int rc = pthread_create(&client_wait_thread, nullptr, waitForClient, aaa);
+    pthread_detach(client_wait_thread);
+    writeToFile("test.txt", "Server started sucessfully");
+    gettimeofday(&start1, NULL);
+    
+    /*while(1)
+    {
+        //receive a message from the client (listen)
+        cout << "Awaiting client response..." << endl;
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        bytesRead += recv(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
+        if(!strcmp(msg, "exit"))
+        {
+            cout << "Client has quit the session" << endl;
+            break;
+        }
+        cout << "Client: " << msg << endl;
+        cout << ">";
+        string data;
+        getline(cin, data);
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg)); //clear the buffer
+        strcpy(msg, data.c_str());
+        if(data == "exit")
+        {
+            //send to the client that server has closed the connection
+            send(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+            break;
+        }
+        //send the message to client
+        bytesWritten += send(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+    }*/
+
+    return 0;   
+}
+
+void closeServer()
+{
+    //we need to close the socket descriptors after we're all done
+    gettimeofday(&end1, NULL);
+    close(clientSocketDescriptor);
+    close(serverSocketDescriptor);
+    cout << "********Session********" << endl;
+    cout << "Bytes written: " << bytesWritten << " Bytes read: " << bytesRead << endl;
+    cout << "Elapsed time: " << (end1.tv_sec - start1.tv_sec) 
+        << " secs" << endl;
+    cout << "Connection closed..." << endl;
+}
+
+void closeClient()
+{
+    gettimeofday(&end1, NULL);
+    close(clientSocketDescriptor);
+    cout << "********Session********" << endl;
+    cout << "Bytes written: " << bytesWritten << 
+    " Bytes read: " << bytesRead << endl;
+    cout << "Elapsed time: " << (end1.tv_sec- start1.tv_sec) 
+      << " secs" << endl;
+    cout << "Connection closed" << endl;
+}
+
+void setupClient()
+{
+    //we need 2 things: ip address and port number, in that order
+    //if(argc != 3)
+    //{
+    //    cerr << "Usage: ip_address port" << endl; exit(0); 
+    //} //grab the IP address and port number 
+    //create a message buffer 
+    char msg[1024]; 
+    //setup a socket and connection tools 
+    struct hostent* host = gethostbyname(IP_ADDRESS.c_str()); 
+    sockaddr_in sendSockAddr;   
+    bzero((char*)&sendSockAddr, sizeof(sendSockAddr)); 
+    sendSockAddr.sin_family = AF_INET; 
+    sendSockAddr.sin_addr.s_addr = 
+        inet_addr(inet_ntoa(*(struct in_addr*)*host->h_addr_list));
+    sendSockAddr.sin_port = htons(PORT_NUM);
+    clientSocketDescriptor = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    //try to connect...
+    int status = connect(clientSocketDescriptor,
+                         (sockaddr*) &sendSockAddr, sizeof(sendSockAddr));
+    if(status < 0)
+    {
+        writeToFile("test.txt", "Error connecting to socket!");
+    }
+    writeToFile("test.txt", "Connected to the server!");
+    int bytesRead, bytesWritten = 0;
+    struct timeval start1, end1;
+    gettimeofday(&start1, NULL);
+    /*while(1)s
+    {
+        cout << ">";
+        string data;
+        getline(cin, data);
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        strcpy(msg, data.c_str());
+        if(data == "exit")
+        {
+            send(clientSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+            break;
+        }
+        bytesWritten += send(clientSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+        cout << "Awaiting server response..." << endl;
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        bytesRead += recv(clientSd, (char*)&msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
+        if(!strcmp(msg, "exit"))
+        {
+            cout << "Server has quit the session" << endl;
+            break;
+        }
+        cout << "Server: " << msg << endl;
+    }*/
+}
+
+//appends a line of text to the end of a given file. returns 0 if the file existed, 1 if it didn't work
+int writeToFile(string path, string line, bool incLineNum)
+{
+    ofstream file;
+    file.open(path, ios_base::app);//open the file in append mode
+
+    if (file.is_open())
+    {
+        file << line << endl;
+        //this probably would help but theres too much broken stuff right now to be sure
+        //if (incLineNum)
+        //{
+        //    linePos++;
+        //}
+        return 0;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        //do something if it didn't work
+        return 1;//i guess that's good enough for now
+    }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    //doesnt fucking work
+    if (argc > 1 && argv[1][0] == 'c')
+    {
+        //client mode
+        mode = 2;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        //server mode
+        mode = 1;
+    }
+
+
+    initscr();//creates stdscr. important step
+    use_default_colors();//this apparently tells it to use default terminal colors whenever there is no color attribute applied
+
+    //printw("Starting server...");
+
+    //you have to do this to make the scrolling still work correctly if there was already content in the log file
+    linePos = linesInFile("test.txt") - LOG_LENGTH + 1;
+
+    char *userInput = new char[1024];
+    bool exit = false;
+
+    if (mode == 2)
+    {
+        writeToFile("test.txt", "CLIENT MODE");
+        setupClient();
+    }
+    else if (mode == 1)
+    {
+        writeToFile("test.txt", "SERVER MODE");
+        setupServer(PORT_NUM);
+    }
+
+    while (!exit)
+    {
+        displayFile("test.txt", linePos, LOG_LENGTH);
+
+        //scroll along the screen if and when required so that it stays in sync
+        if (linesInFile("test.txt") > LOG_LENGTH)
+        {
+            linePos++;
+        }
+
+        move(12, 0);
+        printw("> ");
+        getstr(userInput);
+        writeToFile("test.txt", userInput);
+        if (mode == 1)
+        {
+            send(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&userInput, strlen(userInput), 0);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            send(clientSocketDescriptor, (char*)&userInput, strlen(userInput), 0);
+        }
+    }
+
+    endwin();
+    closeServer();
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+//Server side
+int main_old(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    //for the server, we only need to specify a port number
+    if(argc != 2)
+    {
+        cerr << "Usage: port" << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    //grab the port number
+    int port = atoi(argv[1]);
+    //buffer to send and receive messages with
+    char msg[1500];
+     
+    //setup a socket and connection tools
+    sockaddr_in servAddr;
+    bzero((char*)&servAddr, sizeof(servAddr));
+    servAddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
+    servAddr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
+    servAddr.sin_port = htons(port);
+ 
+    //open stream oriented socket with internet address
+    //also keep track of the socket descriptor
+    int serverSd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    if(serverSd < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Error establishing the server socket" << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    //bind the socket to its local address
+    int bindStatus = bind(serverSd, (struct sockaddr*) &servAddr, 
+        sizeof(servAddr));
+    if(bindStatus < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Error binding socket to local address" << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    cout << "Waiting for a client to connect..." << endl;
+    //listen for up to 5 requests at a time
+    listen(serverSd, 5);
+    //receive a request from client using accept
+    //we need a new address to connect with the client
+    sockaddr_in newSockAddr;
+    socklen_t newSockAddrSize = sizeof(newSockAddr);
+    //accept, create a new socket descriptor to 
+    //handle the new connection with client
+    int newSd = accept(serverSd, (sockaddr *)&newSockAddr, &newSockAddrSize);
+    if(newSd < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Error accepting request from client!" << endl;
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    cout << "Connected with client!" << endl;
+    //lets keep track of the session time
+    struct timeval start1, end1;
+    gettimeofday(&start1, NULL);
+    //also keep track of the amount of data sent as well
+    int bytesRead, bytesWritten = 0;
+    while(1)
+    {
+        //receive a message from the client (listen)
+        cout << "Awaiting client response..." << endl;
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg));//clear the buffer
+        bytesRead += recv(newSd, (char*)&msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
+        if(!strcmp(msg, "exit"))
+        {
+            cout << "Client has quit the session" << endl;
+            break;
+        }
+        cout << "Client: " << msg << endl;
+        cout << ">";
+        string data;
+        getline(cin, data);
+        memset(&msg, 0, sizeof(msg)); //clear the buffer
+        strcpy(msg, data.c_str());
+        if(data == "exit")
+        {
+            //send to the client that server has closed the connection
+            send(newSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+            break;
+        }
+        //send the message to client
+        bytesWritten += send(newSd, (char*)&msg, strlen(msg), 0);
+    }
+    //we need to close the socket descriptors after we're all done
+    gettimeofday(&end1, NULL);
+    close(newSd);
+    close(serverSd);
+    cout << "********Session********" << endl;
+    cout << "Bytes written: " << bytesWritten << " Bytes read: " << bytesRead << endl;
+    cout << "Elapsed time: " << (end1.tv_sec - start1.tv_sec) 
+        << " secs" << endl;
+    cout << "Connection closed..." << endl;
+    return 0;   
+}
\ No newline at end of file