Linux System Monitor

This project demonstrates object-oriented programming concepts in C++, alongside reading system data from Linux files and displaying formatted outputs in a text-based interface, similar to the htop command-line tool.

Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• Project Structure
• Dependencies
• Building and Running the Project
• Explanation of Files
• License

Project Overview

The goal of this project is to:

1. Use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) to structure code in C++.
2. Collect and display system metrics (like CPU and memory usage) using data from the Linux /proc file system.
3. Display the information in a text-based user interface using the ncurses library.

Project Structure

• src/main.cpp: The entry point of the project. It initializes system data collection and starts the ncurses-based display.
• src/format.cpp and include/format.h: Contains functions for formatting strings, particularly for time representation.
• src/ncurses_display.cpp and include/ncurses_display.h: Handles the user interface using the ncurses library. It displays CPU, memory, and process information in the terminal.
• src/linux_parser.cpp and include/linux_parser.h: Reads system and process data from the Linux file system, especially the /proc directory.
• src/system.cpp and include/system.h: Implements a class responsible for gathering and managing overall system data, like total processes, CPU utilization, and uptime.
• src/process.cpp and include/process.h: Manages data and logic for individual processes, displaying metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption.
• src/processor.cpp and include/processor.h: Contains logic specific to CPU data collection and processing.

Dependencies

To run this project, the following dependencies must be installed:

• Linux OS (Linux kernel >= 2.6)
• cmake >= 3.11.3
• make >= 4.1
• gcc/g++ >= 7.4.0
• ncurses (a library for terminal-based GUI):
  • Install ncurses using the following command:

    sudo apt install libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev

Building and Running the Project

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/linux-system-monitor.git
   cd linux-system-monitor

2. Create a build directory and navigate into it:

   mkdir build
   cd build

3. Build the project using cmake and make:

   cmake ..
   make

4. Run the executable:

   ./monitor

Explanation of Files

• CMakeLists.txt: Defines the build configurations for the project. cmake reads this file to generate makefiles for compiling the project.
• src/format.cpp: Contains helper functions for formatting time and strings, making the output more readable.
• src/ncurses_display.cpp: Implements the display logic using the ncurses library to show real-time system data in the terminal.
• src/linux_parser.cpp: Reads raw system data from Linux's /proc file system, providing details like CPU usage, memory, and process statistics.
• src/system.cpp: Manages system-wide data like total processes, running processes, and CPU usage.
• src/process.cpp: Retrieves and manages data for individual processes, enabling detailed per-process information display.
• src/processor.cpp: Dedicated to CPU-related information, calculating real-time CPU utilization.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter a Segmentation Fault (core dumped) error, it is likely due to accessing invalid memory. Consider using gdb (GNU Debugger) to trace the error:

gdb ./monitor