Protocol¶

Protocol is the base abstraction that TcpListenerBase calls for connection acceptance and per-message processing. It centralizes accepting-state, connection validation, post-processing, auto-disconnect policy, error counting, and a small runtime report surface.

Source mapping¶

src/Nalix.Network/Protocols/Protocol.Core.cs
src/Nalix.Network/Protocols/Protocol.PublicMethods.cs
src/Nalix.Network/Protocols/Protocol.Lifecycle.cs
src/Nalix.Network/Protocols/Protocol.Metrics.cs

Required contract¶

Derived types must implement:

public abstract void ProcessMessage(object sender, IConnectEventArgs args);

This is the main per-message handler in the connection event pipeline.

Acceptance flow¶

OnAccept(connection, ct) currently:

rejects immediately if IsAccepting is false
validates null, disposed, and cancellation state
calls ValidateConnection(connection)
if validation passes, starts connection.TCP.BeginReceive(ct)
if validation fails, closes the connection
on unexpected errors, calls OnConnectionError(...) and disconnects

Post-process flow¶

PostProcessMessage(sender, args):

calls OnPostProcess(args)
increments TotalMessages
disconnects the connection when KeepConnectionOpen is false
on exceptions, increments TotalErrors, calls OnConnectionError(...), and disconnects

KeepConnectionOpen is backed by an atomic field and defaults to false.

Extensibility points¶

ValidateConnection(IConnection) for pre-receive admission checks
OnPostProcess(IConnectEventArgs) for after-handler logic
OnConnectionError(IConnection, Exception) for protocol-level error handling
Dispose(bool) for releasing derived resources

Operational controls¶

SetConnectionAcceptance(bool) toggles whether new connections are accepted.
IsAccepting is stored atomically.
Dispose() marks the protocol disposed and suppresses finalization.

Basic usage¶

protocol.SetConnectionAcceptance(true);
await protocol.OnAccept(connection, ct);

Diagnostics¶

GenerateReport() includes:

disposed flag
TotalMessages
TotalErrors
IsAccepting
KeepConnectionOpen