IPMonitor Component

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The IPMonitor component is used to listen to network traffic.

Syntax

nsoftware.IPWorks.IPMonitor

Remarks

The IPMonitor component will bind to a specific local host address and listen for network traffic received by the interface. The interface must support promiscuous mode (which may not work in many wireless cards because of security considerations) and must be installed on Windows 2000 or greater.

Note: If your computer connects to a switch, the switch will forward only those packets addressed to your computer. If your computer is on a hub, then you will receive everything.

The use of this component requires administrative permissions.

The first step in using the IPMonitor component is to set LocalHost to the IP address whose traffic you wish to monitor, and then set Active to True. For each packet that crosses the interface, the component will parse the header and fire an IPPacket event.

Property List

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

Method List

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

Event List

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

Config Settings

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

AcceptData Property (IPMonitor Component)

This property indicates whether data reception is currently enabled.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public bool AcceptData { get; }

Public ReadOnly Property AcceptData As Boolean

Default Value

True

Remarks

This property indicates whether data reception is currently enabled. When false, data reception is disabled and the IPPacket event will not fire. Use the PauseData and ProcessData methods to pause and resume data reception.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Active Property (IPMonitor Component)

This property indicates whether the component is active.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public bool Active { get; }

Public ReadOnly Property Active As Boolean

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property indicates whether the component is currently active and is monitoring network traffic. Use the Activate and Deactivate methods to control whether the component is active.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

IPPacket Property (IPMonitor Component)

This property includes the contents of the current packet.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public string IPPacket { get; }
public byte[] IPPacketB { get; }

Public ReadOnly Property IPPacket As String
Public ReadOnly Property IPPacketB As Byte()

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property contains the contents of the current packet. This property is available only while the IPPacket event is being processed. An empty string is returned at all other times.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

LocalHost Property (IPMonitor Component)

The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public string LocalHost { get; set; }

Public Property LocalHost As String

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property contains the name of the local host as obtained by the gethostname() system call, or if the user has assigned an IP address, the value of that address.

In multihomed hosts (machines with more than one IP interface) setting LocalHost to the IP address of an interface will make the component initiate connections (or accept in the case of server components) only through that interface. It is recommended to provide an IP address rather than a hostname when setting this property to ensure the desired interface is used.

If the component is connected, the LocalHost property shows the IP address of the interface through which the connection is made in internet dotted format (aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd). In most cases, this is the address of the local host, except for multihomed hosts (machines with more than one IP interface).

Note: LocalHost is not persistent. You must always set it in code, and never in the property window.

Activate Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method enables network monitoring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Activate();

Async Version
public async Task Activate();
public async Task Activate(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub Activate()

Async Version
Public Sub Activate() As Task
Public Sub Activate(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This methods enables network monitoring. When called, the component will create a communication endpoint (socket) that can be used to monitor network traffic.

To stop monitoring traffic, call Deactivate.

Config Method (IPMonitor Component)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public string Config(string configurationString);

Async Version
public async Task<string> Config(string configurationString);
public async Task<string> Config(string configurationString, CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Function Config(ByVal ConfigurationString As String) As String

Async Version
Public Function Config(ByVal ConfigurationString As String) As Task(Of String)
Public Function Config(ByVal ConfigurationString As String, cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task(Of String)

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every component. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the component.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

Deactivate Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method disables network monitoring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Deactivate();

Async Version
public async Task Deactivate();
public async Task Deactivate(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub Deactivate()

Async Version
Public Sub Deactivate() As Task
Public Sub Deactivate(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This methods disables network monitoring. When called, the component will stop monitoring network traffic.

DoEvents Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void DoEvents();

Async Version
public async Task DoEvents();
public async Task DoEvents(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub DoEvents()

Async Version
Public Sub DoEvents() As Task
Public Sub DoEvents(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

When DoEvents is called, the component processes any available events. If no events are available, it waits for a preset period of time, and then returns.

ListIPAddresses Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method lists the valid IP addresses for this host.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ListIPAddresses();

Async Version
public async Task ListIPAddresses();
public async Task ListIPAddresses(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub ListIPAddresses()

Async Version
Public Sub ListIPAddresses() As Task
Public Sub ListIPAddresses(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

Use this method to list all valid addresses that can be monitored. Before monitoring the network, LocalHost must be set to a valid address on the host. After a call to this method, an IPAddress event will fire for each address.

ParsePcapFile Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method parses the specified pcap file.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ParsePcapFile(string fileName);

Async Version
public async Task ParsePcapFile(string fileName);
public async Task ParsePcapFile(string fileName, CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub ParsePcapFile(ByVal fileName As String)

Async Version
Public Sub ParsePcapFile(ByVal fileName As String) As Task
Public Sub ParsePcapFile(ByVal fileName As String, cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This method parses the specified pcap (packet capture) file and fires events as if the traffic were received directly.

The component supports both the standard pcap and the newer pcap-ng file formats used by a variety of popular network capture tools. When calling this method, the file will be parsed and the IPPacket event will fire for each parsed packet.

PauseData Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method pauses data reception.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void PauseData();

Async Version
public async Task PauseData();
public async Task PauseData(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub PauseData()

Async Version
Public Sub PauseData() As Task
Public Sub PauseData(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This method pauses data reception when called. While data reception is paused, the IPPacket event will not fire. Call ProcessData to reenable data reception.

ProcessData Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method reenables data reception after a call to PauseData

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ProcessData();

Async Version
public async Task ProcessData();
public async Task ProcessData(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub ProcessData()

Async Version
Public Sub ProcessData() As Task
Public Sub ProcessData(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This method reenables data reception after a previous call to PauseData. When PauseData is called, the IPPacket event will not fire. To reenable data reception and allow IPPacket to fire, call this method.

Note: This method is used only after previously calling PauseData. It does not need to be called to process data by default.

Reset Method (IPMonitor Component)

This method will reset the component.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Reset();

Async Version
public async Task Reset();
public async Task Reset(CancellationToken cancellationToken);

Public Sub Reset()

Async Version
Public Sub Reset() As Task
Public Sub Reset(cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task

Remarks

This method will reset the component's properties to their default values.

Error Event (IPMonitor Component)

Fired when information is available about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public event OnErrorHandler OnError;

public delegate void OnErrorHandler(object sender, IPMonitorErrorEventArgs e);

public class IPMonitorErrorEventArgs : EventArgs {
  public int ErrorCode { get; }
  public string Description { get; }
}

Public Event OnError As OnErrorHandler

Public Delegate Sub OnErrorHandler(sender As Object, e As IPMonitorErrorEventArgs)

Public Class IPMonitorErrorEventArgs Inherits EventArgs
  Public ReadOnly Property ErrorCode As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Description As String
End Class

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally the component throws an exception.

The ErrorCode parameter contains an error code, and the Description parameter contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the Error Codes section.

IPAddress Event (IPMonitor Component)

This event is fired for each valid IP address on this host.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public event OnIPAddressHandler OnIPAddress;

public delegate void OnIPAddressHandler(object sender, IPMonitorIPAddressEventArgs e);

public class IPMonitorIPAddressEventArgs : EventArgs {
  public string IpAddress { get; }
}

Public Event OnIPAddress As OnIPAddressHandler

Public Delegate Sub OnIPAddressHandler(sender As Object, e As IPMonitorIPAddressEventArgs)

Public Class IPMonitorIPAddressEventArgs Inherits EventArgs
  Public ReadOnly Property IpAddress As String
End Class

Remarks

Before monitoring the network, LocalHost must be set to a valid address on the host. Use the ListIPAddresses method to list all valid addresses that can be monitored. After a call to the method, an IPAddress event will fire for each address.

IPPacket Event (IPMonitor Component)

This event is fired whenever a packet is received.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public event OnIPPacketHandler OnIPPacket;

public delegate void OnIPPacketHandler(object sender, IPMonitorIPPacketEventArgs e);

public class IPMonitorIPPacketEventArgs : EventArgs {
  public string SourceAddress { get; }
  public int SourcePort { get; }
  public string DestinationAddress { get; }
  public int DestinationPort { get; }
  public int IPVersion { get; }
  public int TOS { get; }
  public int Id { get; }
  public int Flags { get; }
  public int Offset { get; }
  public int TTL { get; }
  public int Checksum { get; }
  public int IPProtocol { get; }
  public string Payload { get; }
  public byte[] PayloadB { get; }
  public long Timestamp { get; }
}

Public Event OnIPPacket As OnIPPacketHandler

Public Delegate Sub OnIPPacketHandler(sender As Object, e As IPMonitorIPPacketEventArgs)

Public Class IPMonitorIPPacketEventArgs Inherits EventArgs
  Public ReadOnly Property SourceAddress As String
  Public ReadOnly Property SourcePort As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property DestinationAddress As String
  Public ReadOnly Property DestinationPort As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property IPVersion As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property TOS As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Id As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Flags As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Offset As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property TTL As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Checksum As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property IPProtocol As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Payload As String
  Public ReadOnly Property PayloadB As Byte()
  Public ReadOnly Property Timestamp As Long
End Class

Remarks

When Active is True or ParsePcapFile is called, the component will listen for network traffic or parse the provided file, respectively. For each packet sent across the interface in LocalHost, the component will parse the packet and fire an IPPacket event with the header fields and payload. The parameters are defined as follows:

TOS

Precedence

Flags

IPProtocol (For a full list, visit www.iana.org.)

Config Settings (IPMonitor Component)

IPMonitor Config Settings

Socket Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (IPMonitor Component)

IPMonitor Errors

SSL Errors

TCP/IP Errors