media_client

media_client is a Rust library that implements a client for the Rustastic network, capable of sending, receiving, and assembling text and media files in a distributed network of nodes.
This project was developed as part of the Advanced Programming course (A.Y. 2024–2025) at the University of Trento.

---

🎯 Project Overview

The goal of this project is to provide a robust client capable of:

• Handling text and media files with distributed references;
• Managing network communication through packets, commands, and events;
• Assembling files from fragments (FileAssembler);
• Performing flood-based network discovery and routing;
• Integrating with the wg_2024 library for underlying network structures.

The client automatically fetches, assembles, and displays files including embedded media, opening them in the browser when required.

---

🧠 Design Highlights

1. MediaClient Architecture

The MediaClient is the main logic unit responsible for:

• Maintaining network connectivity and packet routing (Router);
• Sending and receiving messages and commands (MediaClientCommand, MediaClientEvent);
• Managing file assembly and media references (FileAssembler);
• Sending ACK/NACK packets and handling flood requests/responses.

2. FileAssembler

FileAssembler manages:

• Text files containing references to media (<img src="media_id">);
• Media file storage and association with text files;
• Generation of complete HTML files with decoded media;
• Automatic opening of assembled files in the browser.

3. Network Communication

The client communicates with other nodes using:

• Packets (Packet) of various types: MsgFragment, Ack, Nack, FloodRequest, FloodResponse;
• Flooding mechanism to discover network topology;
• Routing based on headers computed from Router.

4. Concurrency

The client uses crossbeam channels for:

• Receiving commands from the controller;
• Sending events to the controller;
• Managing packets in and out of the network asynchronously.

---

🧩 Repository Structure

src/
├── lib.rs                  # Library entry point and public exports
└── media_client/
   ├── mod.rs               # MediaClient struct and core methods
   ├── file_assembler.rs    # Handling text and media files
   ├── handle_command.rs    # MediaClientCommand processing
   ├── handle_message.rs    # Handling messages received from network
   ├── send_to.rs           # Sending packets or events to controller
   └── handle_packet/
      ├── mod.rs            # Packet processing logic (ACK, NACK, Flood)
      └── test.rs           # Unit tests

---

⚙️ Technical Stack

• Language: Rust (edition 2021)
• Dependencies:
  • wg_2024 – networking and packet structures
  • crossbeam-channel – asynchronous messaging
  • log, colored – logging and colored output
  • html_parser, image, base64 – parsing HTML and decoding media
  • webbrowser – automatic opening of files

---

🧪 Testing and Validation

Unit tests verify:

• Correct assembly of text and media files;
• Proper handling of packet types (MsgFragment, Ack, Nack, FloodRequest, FloodResponse);
• Flooding-based discovery and routing of network nodes.

Run tests with:

> cargo test

---

📚 Acknowledgements

Developed for the Advanced Programming course,
University of Trento, A.Y. 2024–2025

---

🪪 License

This project is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3).
See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html.

© 2025 Giulio Bosio