Testing the Chat Relay

The CheckValve Chat Relay includes a few utilities for testing its functionality. Specifically, it includes a utility to send simulated SRCDS log messages to the Chat Relay, as well as a simple client which can connect to the Chat Relay and show relayed messages. These utilities are located in the <INSTALL_DIR>/util directory, and are provided in both Perl and Java.

Testing the message listener

The UDP message emitter sends a simulated SRCDS log message to the Chat Relay.

Perl usage:

perl udp_message_emitter.pl

Java usage:

java UDPMessageEmitter

Regardless of the invocation, the command-line options are the same:

Command line options:

--to <ip>:<port> Send messages to the listener at the specified IP and port (default = 127.0.0.1:12345)

--from <ip>:<port> Send messages from the specified IP and port (default = 127.0.0.1:2345)

--delay <num> Send a message every <num> seconds (default = 1)

--limit <num> Stop after sending <num> messages (default = no limit)

--message <string> Send <string> as the message text (default = "This is a test!")

--sayteam Make this a say_team message (default = say)

Notes:

  • You can also use the short options -t, -f, -d, -l, -m, and -s, respectively.

  • There are no required command-line arguments; the defaults will be used if none are provided.

  • When using the --from option, the specified address must be assigned to a network interface on the host.

Testing the client listener

The chat logger opens a client connection to the Chat Relay and displays messages received from the relay.

Perl usage:

perl chat_logger.pl

Java usage:

java ChatLogger

Regardless of the invocation, the command-line options are the same:

Command line options:

--chat-relay <ip>:<port> Connect to the CheckValve Chat Relay at the specified IP and port (required).

--game-server <ip>:<port> Request chat messages from the game server at the specified IP and port (required).

--limit <num> Stop the chat logger after receiving <num> messages.

--password <password> Specify the CheckValve Chat Relay password.

--quiet Suppress connection and status messages.

Notes:

  • You can also use the short options -c, -g, -l, -p, and -q, respectively.

  • The Chat Relay (-c or --chat-relay) and game server (-g or --game-server) options are required.

  • The password option (-p or --password) must be specified if the Chat Relay requires a password for client connections.

The Chat Logger utility will print chat messages to the console. If you wish to log these messages to a file, you must redirect the program's output. On DOS and most Linux shells, this is accomplished using the ">" operator to write to a new file, or the ">>" operator to append to an existing file. The following examples demonstrate logging to a file.

Example: Save chat messages to a new file:

java ChatLogger -c 127.0.0.1:12345 -g 127.0.0.1:27015 -p myPassword -q > chat-messages.txt

Example: Append chat messages to an existing file:

java ChatLogger -c 127.0.0.1:12345 -g 127.0.0.1:27015 -p myPassword -q >> chat-messages.txt

When logging chat message to a file, it may also be preferable to run the Chat Logger as a background process. The following examples demonstrate how this can be accomplished.

Example: Run the Chat Logger as a background process in a Linux shell and save messages to a new file:

java ChatLogger -c 127.0.0.1:12345 -g 127.0.0.1:27015 -p myPassword -q > chat-messages.txt &

Example: Run the Chat Logger as a background process in a DOS shell and save messages to a new file:

START /B java ChatLogger -c 127.0.0.1:12345 -g 127.0.0.1:27015 -p myPassword -q > chat-messages.txt