PipeClient Control

Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings Errors

The PipeClient control is a simple client for connecting and communicating over named pipes.

Syntax

PipeClient

Remarks

The PipeClient control is used to connect to an existing pipe server. After connecting the transfer of data is handled very similarly to socket communication.

To begin, first set PipeName to the name of the pipe to which the connection will be made. Call Connect or set Connected to True to establish the connection. The Connected event will fire when the connection is complete.

After connecting set DataToSend, or call Send or SendFile to send data. Incoming data is received through the DataIn event.

To disconnect call Disconnect or set Connected to False.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Operation

If the Timeout property is set to 0, the control will behave asynchronously and all operations return immediately, potentially failing with an error if they can't be completed immediately.

If Timeout is set to a positive value, the control will behave synchronously and wait for the operation to complete before returning control.

The control will use DoEvents to enter an efficient wait loop during any potential waiting period, making sure that all system events are processed immediately as they arrive. This ensures that the host application does not "freeze" and remains responsive.

If Timeout expires, and the operation is not yet complete, the control fails with an error.

Please note that by default, all timeouts are inactivity timeouts, i.e. the timeout period is extended by Timeout seconds when any amount of data is successfully sent or received.

The default value for the Timeout property is 60 seconds.

Property List

The following is the full list of the properties of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


AcceptData	Enables or disables data reception (the DataIn event).
BytesSent	The number of bytes actually sent after an assignment to DataToSend .
Connected	Triggers a connection or disconnection.
DataToSend	A string of data to be sent over the connected pipe.
EOL	Used to break the incoming data stream into chunks separated by EOL.
PipeName	The name of the pipe.
RecordLength	The length of received data records.
SingleLineMode	Special mode for line-oriented protocols.
Timeout	A timeout for the control.

Method List

The following is the full list of the methods of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Config	Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.
Connect	Connects to a named pipe.
Disconnect	Disconnects from the named pipe.
DoEvents	Processes events from the internal message queue.
GetLine	Gets a line of text from the server.
Interrupt	Interrupts the current action.
Send	Sends data over the connected pipe.
SendFile	Sends the file over the connected pipe.
SendLine	Sends a string followed by a newline.

Event List

The following is the full list of the events fired by the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Connected	Fired immediately after a connection completes.
DataIn	Fired when data (complete lines) comes in.
Disconnected	Fired when a connection is closed.
Error	Information about errors during data delivery.
ReadyToSend	Fired when the control is ready to send data.

Configuration Settings

The following is a list of configuration settings for the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


AbsoluteTimeout	Determines whether timeouts are inactivity timeouts or absolute timeouts.
InBufferSize	The size in bytes of the output buffer.
MaxLineLength	The maximum amount of data to accumulate when no EOL is found.
OutBufferSize	The size in bytes of the input buffer.
PipeDirection	Determines the direction data flows.
CodePage	The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations.
UseInternalSecurityAPI	Tells the control whether or not to use the system security libraries or an internal implementation.