[Freeciv-Dev] Re: packet batches? (was: [Patch] Making city report list faster)

[Raimar Falke <rf13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, Jun 10, 2002 at 08:07:10PM +0200, Christian Knoke wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 10, 2002 at 07:52:40PM +0200, Reinier Post wrote:
> > 
> > > It also introduces the problem of possible cheating: a client can
> > > batch up its requests indefinitely, to have all of them processed
> > > without intervention.  So the server would need to impose
> > > some requirements on what kinds of requests can be batched together.
> > 
> > The amount of possible "cheating" is limited by the fixed TCP packet size.
> > At the moment, the client only calls connection_do_buffer() in the CMA.
> > Perhaps the server should prohibit the client from sending multiple
> > move requests in the same TCP packet.
> 
> How do you think it's cheating? If the user buffers everything up to
> the end. If the data receive the server too late, he is bad off.
> Also, his commands can fail. Movements can fail due to ZOC. And this
> happens in battle where you may think it is an advantage to batch the 
> move requests. In any case, he must process his batch before turn done.

> Do I miss something?

It is indeed possible for a faster client (faster means here faster to
push requests into the incoming socket buffer of the server) to get
more requests executed per "cycle".

Another thing which is unfair (at least theoretical) is that the
connections are scanned in a fixed way. So if you got a low index in
the connections array your requests are always execute before the
requests of another player. But this only matters if the server gets
more than one request from all player in one cycle.

        Raimar

-- 
 email: rf13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 "Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot."