WSServer Control

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The WSServer control is used to create a WebSocket server.

Syntax

WSServer

Remarks

The WSServer control functions as a server that facilitates incoming WebSocket connections and offers a convenient means of transmitting and receiving data over the established connections.

To start, the LocalPort property must be specified to a valid port. This port will be used to accept incoming connections. Then, call the StartListening method to start listening on the specified port. The WSServer control supports both plaintext and Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) connections. The SSLStatus event provides information about the SSL handshake. Additional SSL-related settings are also supported through the Config method. The SSLCert properties are used to select a certificate for the server.

Note: A valid certificate must be selected before the server can function.

Upon a client's connection, the WebSocketOpenRequest event will be fired. To accept the connection, simply allow the event to complete its execution. Conversely, to reject the request, the StatusCode parameter can be set to an appropriate HTTP error code, such as 401.

By default, each instance of WSServer has the capacity to handle up to 1,000 simultaneous incoming connections. You can change the maximum number of simultaneous connections by adjusting the MaxConnections configuration setting. This setting allows you to increase the limit up to 100,000 or decrease it to a lower value based on your needs.

Each connection is identified by a unique ConnectionId, an identifier generated by the component to distinguish individual connections. The ConnectionId is also included as a parameter in WSServer's events to identify the associated connection.

After receiving a connection, incoming data can be accessed through the DataIn event. To transmit data to a client, the Send, SendText, or SendFile methods can be employed.

Note: Server components are designed to process events as they occur. To ensure that events are processed in a timely manner, DoEvents should be called in a loop after the server is started.

Property List

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

Method List

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

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.

Config Settings

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

ConnectionBacklog Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the maximum number of pending connections maintained by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP subsystem.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.ConnectionBacklog[=integer]

Default Value

5

Remarks

This property contains the maximum number of pending connections maintained by the TCP/IP subsystem. This value reflects the SOMAXCONN option for the main listening socket. The default value for most systems is 5. You may set this property to a larger value if the server is expected to receive a large number of connections, and queuing them is desirable.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionCount Property (WSServer Control)

The number of records in the WSConnection arrays.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionCount

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property controls the size of the following arrays:

• WSConnectionAcceptData
• WSConnectionBytesSent
• WSConnectionConnected
• WSConnectionConnectionId
• WSConnectionDataFormat
• WSConnectionHost
• WSConnectionLineMode
• WSConnectionLocalAddress
• WSConnectionOrigin
• WSConnectionReadyToSend
• WSConnectionRemoteHost
• WSConnectionRemotePort
• WSConnectionRequestHeaders
• WSConnectionRequestURI
• WSConnectionSubProtocols
• WSConnectionTimeout

The array indices start at 0 and end at WSConnectionCount - 1.

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

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionAcceptData Property (WSServer Control)

This property indicates whether data reception is currently enabled.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionAcceptData(ConnectionId)

Default Value

True

Remarks

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

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Boolean

WSConnectionBytesSent Property (WSServer Control)

This property shows how many bytes were sent after calling Send or SendBytes .

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionBytesSent(ConnectionId)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property shows how many bytes were sent after calling Send or SendBytes. Please see Send or SendBytes for more information.

Note: This property will always return 0 when the control is operating in the synchronous mode (i.e., the WSConnectionTimeout property is set to a positive value).

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionConnected Property (WSServer Control)

This property indicates the status of individual connections.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionConnected(ConnectionId)

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property indicates the status of individual connections.

When , the connection is established. Use the Disconnect method to disconnect an existing connection.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Boolean

WSConnectionConnectionId Property (WSServer Control)

This property contains an identifier generated by the control to identify each connection.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionConnectionId(ConnectionId)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property contains an identifier generated by the control to identify each connection. This identifier is unique to this connection.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionDataFormat Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the format of the data being sent.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionDataFormat(ConnectionId)[=integer]

Possible Values

dfAutomatic(0), 
dfText(1), 
dfBinary(2), 
dfPing(9), 
dfPong(10)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property includes the format of the data being sent. When data are sent over an established connection, it is either considered as text or binary data. Text data are UTF-8 encoded. Binary data have no encoding associated with it.

Possible values are as follows:

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionHost Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the Host header value of the connected client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionHost(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property includes the Host header value of the connected client.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionLineMode Property (WSServer Control)

When LineMode is False (default), the control will fire the DataIn event once for each message received from the server.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionLineMode(ConnectionId)

Default Value

False

Remarks

When WSConnectionLineMode is False (default), the component will fire the DataIn event once for each message received from the server. When LineMode is True, the component will instead fire DataIn for each line of data received. The maximum length of a line can be controlled by the MaxLineLength configuration setting.

Note: This property is read-only and should be set through the ChangeLineMode method.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Boolean

WSConnectionLocalAddress Property (WSServer Control)

This property shows the IP address of the interface through which the connection is passing.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionLocalAddress(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property shows the IP address of the interface through which the connection is passing.

WSConnectionLocalAddress is important for multihomed hosts so that it can be used to find the particular network interface through which an individual connection is going.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionOrigin Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the origin header value of the connected client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionOrigin(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property includes the origin header value of the connected client.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionReadyToSend Property (WSServer Control)

This property indicates whether the control is ready to send data.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionReadyToSend(ConnectionId)

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property indicates whether the control is ready to send data.

This is after a client connects but will become after a failed call to Send or SendBytes. After a failed call to Send or SendBytes, the ReadyToSend event will fire and this property will be when data can be sent again.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Boolean

WSConnectionRemoteHost Property (WSServer Control)

This property shows the IP address of the connected client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionRemoteHost(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property shows the IP address of the connected client.

The connection must be valid or an error will be fired.

If the control is configured to use a SOCKS firewall, the value assigned to this property may be preceded with an "*". If this is the case, the host name is passed to the firewall unresolved and the firewall performs the DNS resolution.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionRemotePort Property (WSServer Control)

This property shows the port of the connected client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionRemotePort(ConnectionId)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property shows the port of the connected client.

The connection must be valid or an error will be fired.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

Integer

WSConnectionRequestHeaders Property (WSServer Control)

The HTTP headers sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionRequestHeaders(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

The HTTP headers sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionRequestURI Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the requested URI sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionRequestURI(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property includes the requested URI sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionSubProtocols Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the subprotocols (application-level protocols layered over the WebSocket Protocol) sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionSubProtocols(ConnectionId)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property includes the subprotocols (application-level protocols layered over the WebSocket Protocol) sent by the client in the initial WebSocket connection request.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

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

Data Type

String

WSConnectionTimeout Property (WSServer Control)

This property specifies a timeout for the control.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.WSConnectionTimeout(ConnectionId)[=integer]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property specifies a timeout for the control.

If the WSConnectionTimeout property is set to 0, all operations return immediately, potentially failing with a WOULDBLOCK error if data cannot be sent immediately.

If WSConnectionTimeout is set to a positive value, data is sent in a blocking manner and the control will wait for the operation to complete before returning control. The control will handle any potential WOULDBLOCK errors internally and automatically retry the operation for a maximum of WSConnectionTimeout seconds.

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.

Note: By default, all timeouts are inactivity timeouts, that is, the timeout period is extended by Timeout seconds when any amount of data is successfully sent or received.

The default value for the WSConnectionTimeout property is 0 (asynchronous operation).

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the WSConnectionCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

DefaultTimeout Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes initial timeout value to be used by incoming connections.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.DefaultTimeout[=integer]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property is used by the control to set the operational timeout value of all inbound connections once they are established.

By default, the timeout is 0, meaning that all inbound connections will behave asynchronously.

Data Type

Integer

Listening Property (WSServer Control)

This property indicates whether the control is listening for incoming connections on LocalPort.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Listening

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property indicates whether the control is listening for connections on the port specified by the LocalPort property. Use the StartListening and StopListening methods to control whether the control is listening.

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

Data Type

Boolean

LocalHost Property (WSServer Control)

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

Syntax

wsservercontrol.LocalHost[=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 control initiate connections (or accept in the case of server controls) 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 control 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.

Data Type

String

LocalPort Property (WSServer Control)

This property includes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port in the local host where the control listens.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.LocalPort[=integer]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property must be set before the control can start listening. If its value is 0, then the TCP/IP subsystem picks a port number at random. The port number can be found by checking the value of this property after the control is listening (i.e., after successfully assigning True to the Listening property).

The service port is not shared among servers so two controls cannot be listening on the same port at the same time.

Data Type

Integer

SSLAuthenticateClients Property (WSServer Control)

If set to True, the server asks the client(s) for a certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLAuthenticateClients[=boolean]

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property is used in conjunction with the SSLClientAuthentication event. Please refer to the documentation of the SSLClientAuthentication event for details.

Data Type

Boolean

SSLCertEffectiveDate Property (WSServer Control)

The date on which this certificate becomes valid.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertEffectiveDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which this certificate becomes valid. Before this date, it is not valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2000 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertExpirationDate Property (WSServer Control)

The date on which the certificate expires.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertExpirationDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which the certificate expires. After this date, the certificate will no longer be valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2001 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertExtendedKeyUsage Property (WSServer Control)

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertExtendedKeyUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers. These are the same as ASN.1 object identifiers (OIDs).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertFingerprint Property (WSServer Control)

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertFingerprint

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: bc:2a:72:af:fe:58:17:43:7a:5f:ba:5a:7c:90:f7:02

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertFingerprintSHA1 Property (WSServer Control)

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertFingerprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 30:7b:fa:38:65:83:ff:da:b4:4e:07:3f:17:b8:a4:ed:80:be:ff:84

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertFingerprintSHA256 Property (WSServer Control)

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertFingerprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 6a:80:5c:33:a9:43:ea:b0:96:12:8a:64:96:30:ef:4a:8a:96:86:ce:f4:c7:be:10:24:8e:2b:60:9e:f3:59:53

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertIssuer Property (WSServer Control)

The issuer of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertIssuer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The issuer of the certificate. This property contains a string representation of the name of the issuing authority for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertPrivateKey Property (WSServer Control)

The private key of the certificate (if available).

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPrivateKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The private key of the certificate (if available). The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

Note: The SSLCertPrivateKey may be available but not exportable. In this case, SSLCertPrivateKey returns an empty string.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertPrivateKeyAvailable Property (WSServer Control)

Whether a PrivateKey is available for the selected certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPrivateKeyAvailable

Default Value

False

Remarks

Whether a SSLCertPrivateKey is available for the selected certificate. If SSLCertPrivateKeyAvailable is True, the certificate may be used for authentication purposes (e.g., server authentication).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Boolean

SSLCertPrivateKeyContainer Property (WSServer Control)

The name of the PrivateKey container for the certificate (if available).

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPrivateKeyContainer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The name of the SSLCertPrivateKey container for the certificate (if available). This functionality is available only on Windows platforms.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertPublicKey Property (WSServer Control)

The public key of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPublicKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The public key of the certificate. The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertPublicKeyAlgorithm Property (WSServer Control)

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPublicKeyAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_DH") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertPublicKeyLength Property (WSServer Control)

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits).

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertPublicKeyLength

Default Value

0

Remarks

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits). Common values are 512, 1024, and 2048.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

SSLCertSerialNumber Property (WSServer Control)

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertSerialNumber

Default Value

""

Remarks

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string. The number is encoded as a series of hexadecimal digits, with each pair representing a byte of the serial number.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertSignatureAlgorithm Property (WSServer Control)

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertSignatureAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_MD5RSA") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertStore Property (WSServer Control)

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertStore[=string]

Default Value

"MY"

Remarks

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The SSLCertStoreType property denotes the type of the certificate store specified by SSLCertStore. If the store is password-protected, specify the password in SSLCertStorePassword.

SSLCertStore is used in conjunction with the SSLCertSubject property to specify client certificates. If SSLCertStore has a value, and SSLCertSubject or SSLCertEncoded is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. Please see the SSLCertSubject property for details.

Designations of certificate stores are platform dependent.

The following designations are the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

When the certificate store type is cstPFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is cstPFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .SSLCertStoreB.

Data Type

Binary String

SSLCertStorePassword Property (WSServer Control)

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertStorePassword[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

Data Type

String

SSLCertStoreType Property (WSServer Control)

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertStoreType[=integer]

Possible Values

cstUser(0), 
cstMachine(1), 
cstPFXFile(2), 
cstPFXBlob(3), 
cstJKSFile(4), 
cstJKSBlob(5), 
cstPEMKeyFile(6), 
cstPEMKeyBlob(7), 
cstPublicKeyFile(8), 
cstPublicKeyBlob(9), 
cstSSHPublicKeyBlob(10), 
cstP7BFile(11), 
cstP7BBlob(12), 
cstSSHPublicKeyFile(13), 
cstPPKFile(14), 
cstPPKBlob(15), 
cstXMLFile(16), 
cstXMLBlob(17), 
cstJWKFile(18), 
cstJWKBlob(19), 
cstSecurityKey(20), 
cstBCFKSFile(21), 
cstBCFKSBlob(22), 
cstPKCS11(23), 
cstAuto(99)

Default Value

0

Remarks

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

The control supports both public and private keys in a variety of formats. When the cstAuto value is used, the control will automatically determine the type. This property can take one of the following values:

Data Type

Integer

SSLCertSubjectAltNames Property (WSServer Control)

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertSubjectAltNames

Default Value

""

Remarks

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertThumbprintMD5 Property (WSServer Control)

The MD5 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertThumbprintMD5

Default Value

""

Remarks

The MD5 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertThumbprintSHA1 Property (WSServer Control)

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertThumbprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertThumbprintSHA256 Property (WSServer Control)

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertThumbprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertUsage Property (WSServer Control)

The text description of UsageFlags .

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of SSLCertUsageFlags.

This value will be one or more of the following strings and will be separated by commas:

• Digital Signature
• Non-Repudiation
• Key Encipherment
• Data Encipherment
• Key Agreement
• Certificate Signing
• CRL Signing
• Encipher Only

If the provider is OpenSSL, the value is a comma-separated list of X.509 certificate extension names.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertUsageFlags Property (WSServer Control)

The flags that show intended use for the certificate.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertUsageFlags

Default Value

0

Remarks

The flags that show intended use for the certificate. The value of SSLCertUsageFlags is a combination of the following flags:

Please see the SSLCertUsage property for a text representation of SSLCertUsageFlags.

This functionality currently is not available when the provider is OpenSSL.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

SSLCertVersion Property (WSServer Control)

The certificate's version number.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertVersion

Default Value

""

Remarks

The certificate's version number. The possible values are the strings "V1", "V2", and "V3".

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SSLCertSubject Property (WSServer Control)

The subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertSubject[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

The subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

This property must be set after all other certificate properties are set. When this property is set, a search is performed in the current certificate store to locate a certificate with a matching subject.

If a matching certificate is found, the property is set to the full subject of the matching certificate.

If an exact match is not found, the store is searched for subjects containing the value of the property.

If a match is still not found, the property is set to an empty string, and no certificate is selected.

The special value "*" picks a random certificate in the certificate store.

The certificate subject is a comma-separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For instance, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, E=support@nsoftware.com". Common fields and their meanings are as follows:

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

Data Type

String

SSLCertEncoded Property (WSServer Control)

The certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded).

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLCertEncoded[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

The certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded). This property is used to assign a specific certificate. The SSLCertStore and SSLCertSubject properties also may be used to specify a certificate.

When SSLCertEncoded is set, a search is initiated in the current SSLCertStore for the private key of the certificate. If the key is found, SSLCertSubject is updated to reflect the full subject of the selected certificate; otherwise, SSLCertSubject is set to an empty string.

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .SSLCertEncodedB.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Binary String

SSLProvider Property (WSServer Control)

The Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) implementation to use.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SSLProvider[=integer]

Possible Values

sslpAutomatic(0), 
sslpPlatform(1), 
sslpInternal(2)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property specifies the SSL/TLS implementation to use. In most cases the default value of 0 (Automatic) is recommended and should not be changed. When set to 0 (Automatic), the control will select whether to use the platform implementation or the internal implementation depending on the operating system as well as the TLS version being used.

Possible values are as follows:

In most cases using the default value (Automatic) is recommended. The control will select a provider depending on the current platform.

When Automatic is selected, the platform implementation is used by default. When TLS 1.3 is enabled via SSLEnabledProtocols, the internal implementation is used.

Data Type

Integer

ChangeLineMode Method (WSServer Control)

This method controls whether the control will fire DataIn when an EOL is received for the specified connection.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.ChangeLineMode ConnectionId, LineMode

Remarks

When WSConnectionLineMode is set to False (default), the component will fire the DataIn event once for each message received from the client. When LineMode is set to True, the component will instead fire DataIn for each line of data received. The maximum length of a line can be controlled by the MaxLineLength[ConnectionId]; configuration setting.

Note: This method is offered as a convenience feature, and it has no effect on the behavior of the WebSocket protocol.

Config Method (WSServer Control)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Config ConfigurationString

Remarks

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

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the control, 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.

Disconnect Method (WSServer Control)

This method disconnects the specified client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Disconnect ConnectionId

Remarks

Calling this method will disconnect the client specified by the ConnectionId parameter.

DoEvents Method (WSServer Control)

This method processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.DoEvents 

Remarks

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

Interrupt Method (WSServer Control)

This method interrupts a synchronous send to the remote host.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Interrupt ConnectionId

Remarks

This property is called using the ConnectionId if you wish to interrupt a connection and stop a file from uploading without disconnecting the client connected to the control. If you use SendFile to upload a file, the control will run synchronously on that ConnectionId until it is completed.

Ping Method (WSServer Control)

This method sends a ping request to the remote host.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Ping ConnectionId

Remarks

This method sends a ping request to the remote host and waits for a corresponding pong response.

The Timeout property specifies how long to wait for the pong response.

Send Method (WSServer Control)

This method sends binary data to the client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Send ConnectionId, Data

Remarks

This method sends the binary data specified by Data to the client specified by ConnectionId.

SendBytes Method (WSServer Control)

This method sends binary data to the specified client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SendBytes ConnectionId, Data

Remarks

This method sends binary data to the client identified by ConnectionId. To send text, use the SendText method instead.

When WSConnectionTimeout is set to 0, the control will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 25036: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can trap this error, and then try to send the data again. . The BytesSent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the ReadyToSend event before attempting to send data again.

Note: The ReadyToSend event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

This method sends binary data to the client identified by ConnectionId. To send text, use the SendText method instead.

When WSConnectionTimeout is set to 0, the control will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 25036: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can trap this error, and then try to send the data again. . The BytesSent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the ReadyToSend event before attempting to send data again.

Note: The ReadyToSend event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

SendFile Method (WSServer Control)

This method sends the file to the remote host.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SendFile ConnectionId, FileName

Remarks

This method sends the file to the client specified by the ConnectionId.

SendText Method (WSServer Control)

This method sends text data to the client.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.SendText ConnectionId, Text

Remarks

This method sends text to the client identified by ConnectionId. To send binary data, use the SendBytes method instead.

When WSConnectionTimeout is set to 0, the control will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 25036: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can trap this error, and then try to send the data again. . The BytesSent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the ReadyToSend event before attempting to send data again.

Note: The ReadyToSend event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

This method sends text to the client identified by ConnectionId. Data sent with this method will always be treated as text data regardless of the value of WSConnectionDataFormat. The control will UTF-8 encode the supplied text.

Shutdown Method (WSServer Control)

This method shuts down the server.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.Shutdown 

Remarks

This method shuts down the server. Calling this method is equivalent to calling StopListening and then breaking every client connection by calling Disconnect.

StartListening Method (WSServer Control)

This method starts listening for incoming connections.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.StartListening 

Remarks

This method begins listening for incoming connections on the port specified by LocalPort. Once listening, events will fire as new clients connect and data are transferred.

To stop listening for new connections, call StopListening. To stop listening for new connections and to disconnect all existing clients, call Shutdown.

StopListening Method (WSServer Control)

This method stops listening for new connections.

Syntax

wsservercontrol.StopListening 

Remarks

This method stops listening for new connections. After being called, any new connection attempts will be rejected. Calling this method does not disconnect existing connections.

To stop listening and to disconnect all existing clients, call Shutdown instead.

Connected Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when a WebSocket is successfully opened.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_Connected(ConnectionId As Integer)

Remarks

The Connected event is fired when a WebSocket is successfully opened on a connection.

ConnectionId identifies the connection.

ConnectionRequest Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when a request for connection comes from a remote host.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_ConnectionRequest(Address As String, Port As Integer, Accept As Boolean)

Remarks

This event indicates an incoming connection. The connection is accepted by default. Address and Port will contain information about the remote host requesting the inbound connection. If you want to refuse it, you can set the Accept parameter to False.

DataIn Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when data are received.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_DataIn(ConnectionId As Integer, DataFormat As Integer, Text As String, EOM As Boolean, EOL As Boolean)

Remarks

The DataIn event provides the data received from the client identified by the ConnectionId parameter.

The incoming data are provided through the Text parameter.

The DataFormat parameter identifies the encoding (if any) of the data. Possible value are as follows:

The EOM parameter stands for End of Message. By default, the control will fire the DataIn event as data are received. Larger messages will be fragmented and will cause the event to fire multiple times. When EOM is True within the event, this indicates the current fragment is also the final fragment of the message. The control may also be configured to buffer the message internally until the complete message is received. To enable this, set BufferMessage to True.

The EOL parameter stands for End of Line. When LineMode is False, EOL will always be False. When LineMode is True, EOL will be True if the DataIn event fired because an EOL was received and will be False if the DataIn event fired because MaxLineLength was reached.

Disconnected Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when a WebSocket connection is disconnected.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_Disconnected(ConnectionId As Integer, StatusCode As Integer, Description As String)

Remarks

When the connection is closed the StatusCode parameter may be used to determine if the disconnect occurred normally or if there was an error condition. If the connection is closed normally, the StatusCode will be 1000. The Description parameter will contain a textual description returned by the server. Common StatusCode values are as follows:

Error Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired for information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_Error(ConnectionId As Integer, ErrorCode As Integer, Description As String)

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally the control fails with an error.

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

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

Log Event (WSServer Control)

This event fires once for each log message.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_Log(ConnectionId As Integer, LogLevel As Integer, Message As String, LogType As String)

Remarks

This event fires once for each log message generated by the control. The verbosity is controlled by the LogLevel setting.

LogLevel indicates the level of message. Possible values are as follows:

The value 1 (Info) logs basic information including the URL, HTTP version, and connection status details.

The value 2 (Verbose) logs additional information about the initial HTTP request.

The value 3 (Debug) logs additional debug information (if available).

Message is the log entry.

LogType identifies the type of log entry. Possible values are as follows:

• "Info"
• "Error"
• "Verbose"
• "Debug"

Ping Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when a ping request or response is received.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_Ping(ConnectionId As Integer, Payload As String, Response As Boolean)

Remarks

This event fires when a ping request or response is received from the client identified by the ConnectionId parameter. This event is informational only. When the control receives a ping request, it will automatically reply with a pong.

Payload holds the payload of the request, if any.

Response is if the incoming packet is a ping response. If the incoming packet is a ping request this is .

ReadyToSend Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when the control is ready to send data.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_ReadyToSend(ConnectionId As Integer)

Remarks

The ReadyToSend event indicates that the underlying Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP subsystem is ready to accept data after a failed Send. This event is also fired immediately after a connection is established.

SSLClientAuthentication Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when the client presents its credentials to the server.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_SSLClientAuthentication(ConnectionId As Integer, CertEncoded As String, CertSubject As String, CertIssuer As String, Status As String, Accept As Boolean)

Remarks

This event enables the server to decide whether or not to continue. The Accept parameter is a recommendation on whether to continue or to close the connection. This is just a suggestion: application software must use its own logic to determine whether or not to continue.

When Accept is False, Status shows why the verification failed (otherwise, Status contains the string "OK").

SSLConnectionRequest Event (WSServer Control)

This event fires when a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is requested.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_SSLConnectionRequest(ConnectionId As Integer, SupportedCipherSuites As String, SupportedSignatureAlgs As String, CertStoreType As Integer, CertStore As String, CertPassword As String, CertSubject As String)

Remarks

This event fires when an SSL connection is requested and SSLProvider is set to Internal. This event provides an opportunity to select an alternative certificate to the connecting client. This event does not fire when SSLProvider is set to Platform.

This event allows the control to be configured to use both RSA and ECDSA certificates depending on the connecting client's capabilities.

ConnectionId is the connection Id of the client requesting the connection.

SupportedCipherSuites is a comma-separated list of cipher suites that the client supports.

SupportedSignatureAlgs is a comma-separated list of certificate signature algorithms that the client supports.

CertStoreType is the store type of the alternate certificate to use for this connection. The control supports both public and private keys in a variety of formats. When the cstAuto value is used, the control will automatically determine the type. This property can take one of the following values:

CertStore is the store name or location of the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

Designations of certificate stores are platform dependent.

The following designations are the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

When the certificate store type is cstPFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is cstPFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

CertPassword is the password of the certificate store containing the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

CertSubject is the subject of the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

The special value * matches any subject and will select the first certificate in the store. The certificate subject is a comma-separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For instance, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, E=support@nsoftware.com". Common fields and their meanings are as follows:

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

SSLStatus Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired to show the progress of the secure connection.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_SSLStatus(ConnectionId As Integer, Message As String)

Remarks

The event is fired for informational and logging purposes only. It is used to track the progress of the connection.

WebSocketOpenRequest Event (WSServer Control)

This event is fired when a client attempts to open a WebSocket.

Syntax

Sub wsservercontrol_WebSocketOpenRequest(ConnectionId As Integer, RequestURI As String, HostHeader As String, OriginHeader As String, SubProtocols As String, Extensions As String, RequestHeaders As String, StatusCode As Integer, ResponseHeaders As String)

Remarks

This event fires when a client connects. It provides an opportunity to inspect the WebSocket request and either accept or reject the connection attempt.

By default, the control will accept the connection. You do not need to set anything to accept the connection. The control will return a StatusCode of 101 to the connecting client, and the request will proceed as normal. To reject a connection, set StatusCode to an HTTP error code, such as 401.

ConnectionId identifies the connecting client.

RequestURI provides the URI requested by the connecting client. This may be used to implement logic to select appropriate SubProtocols or to determine if the connection should be accepted based on access restrictions to the URI.

HostHeader holds the value of the Host header sent by the client.

OriginHeader holds the value of the Origin header sent by the client.

SubProtocols holds a comma-separated list of subprotocols sent by the client (if any). Set SubProtocols to the selected value from the list sent by the client. The control will return this value to the client as the subprotocol the server has selected.

Extensions provides a list of extensions supported by the client.

RequestHeaders contains the HTTP headers sent in the request by the connecting client.

StatusCode determines success or failure. The value 101 (default) indicates success. This may be set to any HTTP status code. For instance, a value of 401 indicates an authorization failure.

ResponseHeaders may be set to include additional headers in the response. This is typically used when rejecting a request. For instance when StatusCode is set to 401, you might set ResponseHeaders to "WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Secure Realm"" to request authorization from the connecting client.

Config Settings (WSServer Control)

WebSocketServer Config Settings

TCPServer Config Settings

SSL Config Settings

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEKzCCAxOgAwIBAgIRANTET4LIkxdH6P+CFIiHvTowDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAw
... Intermediate Cert ...
eWHV5OW1K53o/atv59sOiW5K3crjFhsBOd5Q+cJJnU+SWinPKtANXMht+EDvYY2w
F0I1XhM+pKj7FjDr+XNj
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
\r \n
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEFjCCAv6gAwIBAgIQetu1SMxpnENAnnOz1P+PtTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADBp
... Root Cert ...
d8q23djXZbVYiIfE9ebr4g3152BlVCHZ2GyPdjhIuLeH21VbT/dyEHHA
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEKzCCAxOgAwIBAgIRANTET4LIkxdH6P+CFIiHvTowDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAw
... Intermediate Cert ...
eWHV5OW1K53o/atv59sOiW5K3crjFhsBOd5Q+cJJnU+SWinPKtANXMht+EDvYY2w
F0I1XhM+pKj7FjDr+XNj
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
\r \n
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEFjCCAv6gAwIBAgIQetu1SMxpnENAnnOz1P+PtTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADBp
... Root Cert ...
d8q23djXZbVYiIfE9ebr4g3152BlVCHZ2GyPdjhIuLeH21VbT/dyEHHA
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEKzCCAxOgAwIBAgIRANTET4LIkxdH6P+CFIiHvTowDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAw
... Intermediate Cert...
eWHV5OW1K53o/atv59sOiW5K3crjFhsBOd5Q+cJJnU+SWinPKtANXMht+EDvYY2w
F0I1XhM+pKj7FjDr+XNj
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
\r \n
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEFjCCAv6gAwIBAgIQetu1SMxpnENAnnOz1P+PtTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADBp
... Root Cert...
d8q23djXZbVYiIfE9ebr4g3152BlVCHZ2GyPdjhIuLeH21VbT/dyEHHA
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (WSServer Control)

WSServer Errors

SSLServer Errors

SSL Errors

TCP/IP Errors