diff --git a/fragment_dataformat.h b/fragment_dataformat.h
index ea25f0c..b37a002 100644
--- a/fragment_dataformat.h
+++ b/fragment_dataformat.h
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+#include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <cstring>
 
 #define START_OF_HEADER_MARKER 0xee1234ee
 
@@ -33,4 +35,20 @@ enum ERROR_CODES {
     TIMEOUT_ERROR = (1 << 3)
 };
 
+void encode_header(uint32_t *buffer, const Header &header) {
+    buffer[0] = header.startOfHeaderMarker;
+    buffer[1] = header.headerSize;
+    buffer[2] = header.fragmentSize;
+    buffer[3] = header.runNumber;
+    buffer[4] = header.detectorEventNumber;
+    buffer[5] = header.numberOfStatusElements;
+
+    std::memcpy(&buffer[6], header.statusElementsArray, header.numberOfStatusElements * sizeof(uint32_t));
+}
+
+void encode_fragment(uint32_t *buffer, const Fragment &fragment){
+    encode_header(buffer, fragment.header);
+    std::memcpy(&buffer[fragment.header.headerSize], fragment.payloadElements, (fragment.header.fragmentSize - fragment.header.headerSize) * sizeof(uint32_t));
+}
+
 
diff --git a/provider.cxx b/provider.cxx
index cf108e9..51c905e 100644
--- a/provider.cxx
+++ b/provider.cxx
@@ -67,10 +67,19 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     uint32_t event_number = 0;
 
     uint32_t run_number = 0;
-    if (argc > 1) {
-        run_number = atoi(argv[1]);
+
+    if (argc != 4) {
+        printf("Usage %s host portNumber runNumber\n", argv[0]);
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
+    const char* host = argv[1];
+    int port = atoi(argv[2]);
+    run_number = atoi(argv[3]);
+
+    int socket = makeSocket();
+    connectTo(socket, host, port);
+
     while (true) {
         Header header;
         header.runNumber = run_number;
@@ -109,6 +118,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
         
 
+        
+
 
 
         for (uint32_t i = 0; i < header.fragmentSize; i++) {