IPPort Control
Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings Errors
The IPPort Component is a generic TCP stream client based on an asynchronous, event-driven architecture.
Syntax
IPPort
Remarks
Our main goal in designing IPPort was ease of use. The control has a minimum of properties and five events: Connected, DataIn, Disconnected, ReadyToSend, and Error. The events are relatively self-explanatory.
The connection is attempted by calling the Connect method or setting the Connected property to True, and then waiting for the Connected event. The destination is defined by setting RemoteHost and RemotePort. Data is sent by calling the Send method with Text as a parameter, or by assigning the data string to the DataToSend property.
To disconnect, you just call the Disconnect method or set the Connected property to False. The Linger property controls how the connection is terminated.
The operation of the control is almost completely asynchronous. All the calls except the ones that deal with domain name resolution operate through asynchronous messages (no blocking calls). The gain in performance is considerable when compared to using blocking calls.
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 to the remote host. |
| EOL | Used to break the incoming data stream into chunks separated by EOL. |
| FirewallAutoDetect | This property tells the component whether or not to automatically detect and use firewall system settings, if available. |
| FirewallType | This property determines the type of firewall to connect through. |
| FirewallHost | This property contains the name or IP address of firewall (optional). |
| FirewallPassword | This property contains a password if authentication is to be used when connecting through the firewall. |
| FirewallPort | This property contains the TCP port for the firewall Host . |
| FirewallUser | This property contains a user name if authentication is to be used connecting through a firewall. |
| KeepAlive | When True, KEEPALIVE packets are enabled (for long connections). |
| Linger | When set to True, connections are terminated gracefully. |
| LocalHost | The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| LocalPort | The TCP port in the local host where IPPort binds. |
| RemoteHost | The address of the remote host. Domain names are resolved to IP addresses. |
| RemotePort | The TCP port in the remote host. |
| SingleLineMode | Special mode for line-oriented protocols. |
| Timeout | A timeout for the component. |
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 remote host. |
| Disconnect | Disconnects from the remote host. |
| 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 to the remote host. |
| SendFile | Sends file to the remote host. |
| 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 (or fails). |
| ConnectionStatus | Fired to indicate changes in connection state. |
| 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 IPPort 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.
| ConnectionTimeout | Sets a separate timeout value for establishing a connection. |
| FirewallAutoDetect | Tells the component whether or not to automatically detect and use firewall system settings, if available. |
| FirewallHost | Name or IP address of firewall (optional). |
| FirewallPassword | Password to be used if authentication is to be used when connecting through the firewall. |
| FirewallPort | The TCP port for the FirewallHost;. |
| FirewallType | Determines the type of firewall to connect through. |
| FirewallUser | A user name if authentication is to be used connecting through a firewall. |
| KeepAliveTime | The inactivity time in milliseconds before a TCP keep-alive packet is sent. |
| KeepAliveInterval | The retry interval, in milliseconds, to be used when a TCP keep-alive packet is sent and no response is received. |
| Linger | When set to True, connections are terminated gracefully. |
| LingerTime | Time in seconds to have the connection linger. |
| LocalHost | The name of the local host through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| LocalPort | The TCP port in the local host where the component binds. |
| MaxLineLength | The maximum amount of data to accumulate when no EOL is found. |
| MaxTransferRate | The transfer rate limit in bytes per second. |
| RecordLength | The length of received data records. |
| TCPKeepAlive | Determines whether or not the keep alive socket option is enabled. |
| UseIPv6 | Whether to use IPv6. |
| TcpNoDelay | Whether or not to delay when sending packets. |
| AbsoluteTimeout | Determines whether timeouts are inactivity timeouts or absolute timeouts. |
| FirewallData | Used to send extra data to the firewall. |
| InBufferSize | The size in bytes of the incoming queue of the socket. |
| OutBufferSize | The size in bytes of the outgoing queue of the socket. |
| CodePage | The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations. |