This project demonstrates a simple chat room application. It includes features such as account creation and authentication.

1. Ensure a MySQL database instance is running at 127.0.0.1:3306. The auth server will connect to this database with the username 'root' and password 'root'.
2. Import the database by executing chat_user.sql and chat_web_auth.sql.

1. Open the INFO6016_Project_2.sln solution file with Visual Studio.
2. Build the ChatClient, ChatServer, and AuthServer projects using the "Release x64" configuration.

1. Navigate to the x64/Release directory in the project folder.
2. Start the auth server by running AuthServer.exe. The auth server will connect to the MySQL database running at 127.0.0.1:3306 using the username 'root' and password 'root'. It runs at 127.0.0.1:5556 and must be started first to allow the chat server to connect to it.
3. In the same directory, start the chat server by running ChatServer.exe. The chat server will automatically connect to the auth server and runs at 127.0.0.1:5555.
4. Start a client by running ChatClient.exe [email protected] 123456789. Here, '[email protected]' is the email (username), and '123456789' is the password. Note: The password length must be at least 8 characters.
5. Execute the test steps defined in client_main.cpp by pressing the number keys 0 and 1. Press '0' to create account, '1' to authenticate account.

This project demonstrates the following features:

• Account creation with validation. Errors are shown for invalid passwords (less than 8 characters) and existing accounts.
• Account authentication with error handling for invalid passwords and non-existent accounts.

For a visual demonstration of these features, please refer to video.mp4.