SocketTools Protocols

Each of the SocketTools Editions include eighteen components or libraries which implement a variety of Internet protocols. These protocols, which define how your application interacts with the remote server over the Internet or your corporate intranet, can be broken down into several groups of functionality.

File Transfer

The two primary protocols used for file transfer over the Internet are the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). SocketTools provides support for both protocols, and the Secure Editions can be used to upload and download files securely. In addition, FTP provides a number of functions to perform remote file management, such as the ability to create directories, rename and delete files, and so on.

Electronic Mail

There are a number of protocols involved when it comes to sending and receiving electronic mail. The Post Office Protocol (POP3) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4) are used to retrieve messages from a mail server and manage the user's mailbox on that server. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is used to send a message to one or more recipients. The mail messages themselves are structured according to the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) standard. Each of these protocols is fully supported by SocketTools and includes a component and/or library for creating new e-mail messages and parsing messages downloaded from a server.

Web Services

In addition to uploading and downloading files, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol is also used to communicate with web-based applications. SocketTools enables the developer to easily exchange data with these applications, and supports extensions such as WebDAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning). Programs can be created which interact with standard web forms and the Secure Editions can be used for secure, encrypted transactions between financial institutions and other commercial sites.

Terminal Services

SocketTools supports both the standard TELNET protocol and remote command execution and login services available on most UNIX platforms. Using these protocols, you can establish an interactive terminal session, similar to how character-based terminals are used. In addition, SocketTools provides a powerful terminal emulation library and component which can be used to emulate ANSI consoles and DEC VT220 terminals. This enables you to build applications that can take advantage of terminal services, without the complexity of processing sequences or understanding the underlying communication protocol.

Other Protocols

In addition to the protocols listed above, SocketTools also includes additional libraries and components designed to make building Internet-based applications even easier. For example there are components for the Domain Name Service (DNS), Finger, Gopher, Whois and Network Time protocols. There's even a component and library that can be used to encode, decode and compress data using industry standard algorithms.

SocketTools also includes our popular, award-winning SocketWrench component which can be used to create virtually any kind of client or server application. With SocketWrench, you don't need to worry about the complex Windows Sockets API or the details of sockets programming and the TCP/IP protocol. Using the Secure Editions, you can even create secure applications that implement the same standard security protocols that web servers do, all by just setting a few properties or options. With SocketTools and SocketWrench, you can create powerful Internet applications where the only limitation is your imagination.

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