CSocketWrench::Connect Method  
 
BOOL Connect(
  LPCTSTR lpszRemoteHost,  
  UINT nRemotePort  
);
BOOL Connect(
  LPCTSTR lpszRemoteHost,  
  UINT nRemotePort,  
  UINT nProtocol,  
  UINT nTimeout,  
  DWORD dwOptions,  
  LPCTSTR lpszLocalAddress,  
  UINT nLocalPort  
);

The Connect method is used to establish a connection with a server.

Parameters

lpszHostName
A null-terminated string which specifies the host name or IP address of the system you want to connect with. This parameter cannot be a URL and must only specify the name of the remote host. If this parameter is NULL or an empty string, the method will fail with an error indicating the host name is invalid.
nRemotePort
The port number used to establish the connection. Valid port numbers range in value from 1 through 65535 and a value outside if this range will cause the function to fail. Port numbers in the range of 49152 and 65535 are referred to as dynamic ports and are generally reserved for private use by client applications. You cannot specify a port number of zero when establishing an outbound connection.
nProtocol
The protocol to be used when establishing the connection. This may be one of the following values:
Value Description
INET_PROTOCOL_TCP Specifies the Transmission Control Protocol. This protocol provides a reliable, bi-directional byte stream. This is the default protocol.
INET_PROTOCOL_UDP Specifies the User Datagram Protocol. This protocol is message oriented, sending data in discrete packets. Note that UDP is unreliable in that there is no way for the sender to know that the receiver has actually received the datagram.
nTimeout
The number of seconds to wait for a response before failing the current operation.
dwOptions
An unsigned integer used to specify one or more socket options. This parameter is constructed by using the bitwise Or operator with any of the following values:
Value Description
INET_OPTION_BROADCAST This option specifies that broadcasting should be enabled for datagrams. This option is invalid for stream sockets.
INET_OPTION_DONTROUTE This option specifies default routing should not be used. This option should not be specified unless absolutely necessary.
INET_OPTION_KEEPALIVE This option specifies that packets are to be sent to the remote system when no data is being exchanged to keep the connection active. This is only valid for stream sockets.
INET_OPTION_NODELAY This option disables the Nagle algorithm. By default, small amounts of data written to the socket are buffered, increasing efficiency and reducing network congestion. However, this buffering can negatively impact the responsiveness of certain applications. This option disables this buffering and immediately sends data packets as they are written to the socket.
INET_OPTION_NOINHERIT This option prevents the socket handle from being inherited by child processes created by the application. Using this option can mitigate situations in which a child process does not close the handle, leaving it open after the parent process has disconnected from the server.
INET_OPTION_TRUSTEDSITE This option specifies the server is trusted. The server certificate will not be validated and the connection will always be permitted. This option only affects connections using either the TLS protocol.
INET_OPTION_SECURE This option specifies that a secure connection should be established with the remote host. The specific version of TLS and other security related options are provided in the lpCredentials parameter. If the lpCredentials parameter is NULL, the connection will default to using TLS 1.2 or later and the strongest cipher suites available.
INET_OPTION_SECURE_FALLBACK This option specifies the client should permit the use of less secure cipher suites for compatibility with legacy servers. If this option is specified, the client will allow connections using TLS 1.0 and cipher suites that use RC4, MD5 and SHA1.
INET_OPTION_PREFER_IPV6 This option specifies the client should prefer the use of IPv6 if the server hostname can be resolved to both an IPv6 and IPv4 address. This option is ignored if the local system does not have IPv6 enabled, or when the hostname can only be resolved to an IPv4 address. If the server hostname can only be resolved to an IPv6 address, the client will attempt to establish a connection using IPv6 regardless if this option has been specified.
INET_OPTION_FREETHREAD This option specifies that this instance of the class may be used by any thread, and is not limited to the thread which created it. The application is responsible for ensuring that access to the class instance is synchronized across multiple threads.
lpszLocalAddress
A null-terminated string that specifies the local IP address that the socket should be bound to. If this parameter is NULL, then an appropriate address will automatically be used. A specific address should only be used if it is required by the application.
nLocalPort
The local port number that the socket should be bound to. If this parameter is set to zero, then an appropriate port number will automatically be used. A specific port number should only be used if it is required by the application.

Return Value

If the method succeeds, the return value is non-zero. If the method fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The lpszHostName parameter must specify a valid host name or IP address. Host names are resolved into an IP address by first checking the local hosts file and if the name is not found, a name server query will be performed to determine the IP address. If the Unicode version of this function is called and the host name includes non-ASCII characters, the host name will be automatically converted to an ASCII compatible format. Refer to the NormalizeHostName method for more information. To establish a connection using a URL rather than a host name, use the ConnectUrl method.

This method will block the current thread until a connection has been established or the timeout period has elapsed. To prevent it from blocking the main user interface thread, the application should create a background worker thread and establish a connection by calling the Connect method in that thread. If the application requires multiple simultaneous connections, it is recommended you create a worker thread for each connection.

If you use the INET_OPTION_SECURE option to enable a secure connection, the connection will always use implicit TLS. This means a secure session will be initiated immediately after the socket connection has been established with the server. A common example of a service which uses implicit TLS is the HTTPS protocol. Another type of secure connection is one that uses explicit TLS. This is when the client establishes a normal (non-secure) connection with the server and then explicitly switches to using a secure connection, typically by sending a command. If the server you are connecting to requires explicit TLS, you should not specify the INET_OPTION_SECURE option. Instead, connect without this option and then call the EnableSecurity method when you are ready to initiate the TLS handshake.

The dwOptions argument can be used to specify the threading model that is used by the library when a connection is established. By default, the class instance is initially attached to the thread that created it. From that point on, until the handle is released, only the owner may call methods using that instance of the class. The ownership of the class instance may be transferred from one thread to another using the AttachThread method.

Specifying the INET_OPTION_FREETHREAD option enables any thread to call any method in that instance of the class, regardless of which thread created it. It is important to note that this option disables certain internal safety checks which are performed by the library and may result in unexpected behavior unless access to the class instance is synchronized. If one thread calls a function in the library, it must ensure that no other thread will call another function at the same time using the same instance.

Requirements

Minimum Desktop Platform: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Minimum Server Platform: Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
Header File: cswsock11.h
Import Library: cswskv11.lib
Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions

See Also

ConnectUrl, Disconnect, EnableSecurity, Read, ReadLine, RegisterEvent, Write, WriteLine