java.net
Class MulticastSocket

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.net.DatagramSocket
        |
        +--java.net.MulticastSocket

public class MulticastSocket

extends DatagramSocket

Untamed: The multicast datagram socket class is useful for sending and receiving IP multicast packets. A MulticastSocket is a (UDP) DatagramSocket, with additional capabilities for joining "groups" of other multicast hosts on the internet.

A multicast group is specified by a class D IP address and by a standard UDP port number. Class D IP addresses are in the range 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255, inclusive. The address 224.0.0.0 is reserved and should not be used.

One would join a multicast group by first creating a MulticastSocket with the desired port, then invoking the joinGroup(InetAddress groupAddr) method:

 // join a Multicast group and send the group salutations
 ...
 String msg = "Hello";
 InetAddress group = InetAddress.getByName("228.5.6.7");
 MulticastSocket s = new MulticastSocket(6789);
 s.joinGroup(group);
 DatagramPacket hi = new DatagramPacket(msg.getBytes(), msg.length(),
                             group, 6789);
 s.send(hi);
 // get their responses!
 byte[] buf = new byte[1000];
 DatagramPacket recv = new DatagramPacket(buf, buf.length);
 s.receive(recv);
 ...
 // OK, I'm done talking - leave the group...
 s.leaveGroup(group);
 

When one sends a message to a multicast group, all subscribing recipients to that host and port receive the message (within the time-to-live range of the packet, see below). The socket needn't be a member of the multicast group to send messages to it.

When a socket subscribes to a multicast group/port, it receives datagrams sent by other hosts to the group/port, as do all other members of the group and port. A socket relinquishes membership in a group by the leaveGroup(InetAddress addr) method. Multiple MulticastSocket's may subscribe to a multicast group and port concurrently, and they will all receive group datagrams.

Currently applets are not allowed to use multicast sockets.

Since:

JDK1.1

Author:

Pavani Diwanji

Field Summary

private InetAddress	infAddress The "last" interface set by setInterface on this MulticastSocket
private Object	infLock The lock on the socket's interface - used by setInterface and getInterface
private Object	ttlLock The lock on the socket's TTL.

Fields inherited from class java.net.DatagramSocket

connected, connectedAddress, connectedPort, factory, impl, implClass, oldImpl

Constructor Summary

MulticastSocket()
Enabled: Create a multicast socket.

MulticastSocket(int port)
Enabled: Create a multicast socket and bind it to a specific port.

MulticastSocket(SocketAddress bindaddr)
Enabled: Create a MulticastSocket bound to the specified socket address.

Method Summary

InetAddress	getInterface() Enabled: Retrieve the address of the network interface used for multicast packets.
boolean	getLoopbackMode() Enabled: Get the setting for local loopback of multicast datagrams.
NetworkInterface	getNetworkInterface() Enabled: Get the multicast network interface set.
int	getTimeToLive() Enabled: Get the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on the socket.
byte	getTTL() Deprecated. use the getTimeToLive method instead, which returns an int instead of a byte.
void	joinGroup(InetAddress mcastaddr) Enabled: Joins a multicast group.
void	joinGroup(SocketAddress mcastaddr, NetworkInterface netIf) Enabled: Joins the specified multicast group at the specified interface.
void	leaveGroup(InetAddress mcastaddr) Enabled: Leave a multicast group.
void	leaveGroup(SocketAddress mcastaddr, NetworkInterface netIf) Enabled: Leave a multicast group on a specified local interface.
void	send(DatagramPacket p, byte ttl) Deprecated. Use the following code or its equivalent instead: ...... int ttl = mcastSocket.getTimeToLive(); mcastSocket.setTimeToLive(newttl); mcastSocket.send(p); mcastSocket.setTimeToLive(ttl); ......
void	setInterface(InetAddress inf) Enabled: Set the multicast network interface used by methods whose behavior would be affected by the value of the network interface.
void	setLoopbackMode(boolean disable) Enabled: Disable/Enable local loopback of multicast datagrams The option is used by the platform's networking code as a hint for setting whether multicast data will be looped back to the local socket.
void	setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface netIf) Enabled: Specify the network interface for outgoing multicast datagrams sent on this socket.
void	setTimeToLive(int ttl) Enabled: Set the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on this MulticastSocket in order to control the scope of the multicasts.
void	setTTL(byte ttl) Deprecated. use the setTimeToLive method instead, which uses int instead of byte as the type for ttl.

Methods inherited from class java.net.DatagramSocket

bind, close, connect, connect, createImpl, disconnect, getBroadcast, getChannel, getImpl, getInetAddress, getLocalAddress, getLocalPort, getLocalSocketAddress, getPort, getReceiveBufferSize, getRemoteSocketAddress, getReuseAddress, getSendBufferSize, getSoTimeout, getTrafficClass, isBound, isClosed, isConnected, receive, send, setBroadcast, setDatagramSocketImplFactory, setReceiveBufferSize, setReuseAddress, setSendBufferSize, setSoTimeout, setTrafficClass

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

ttlLock

private Object ttlLock

The lock on the socket's TTL. This is for set/getTTL and send(packet,ttl).

infLock

private Object infLock

The lock on the socket's interface - used by setInterface and getInterface

infAddress

private InetAddress infAddress

The "last" interface set by setInterface on this MulticastSocket

Constructor Detail

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket()
                throws IOException

Enabled: Create a multicast socket.

If there is a security manager, its checkListen method is first called with 0 as its argument to ensure the operation is allowed. This could result in a SecurityException.

When the socket is created the DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(true) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int), java.net.DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(boolean)

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket(int port)
                throws IOException

Enabled: Create a multicast socket and bind it to a specific port.

If there is a security manager, its checkListen method is first called with the port argument as its argument to ensure the operation is allowed. This could result in a SecurityException.

When the socket is created the DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(true) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

Parameters:

port - port to use

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int), java.net.DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(boolean)

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket(SocketAddress bindaddr)
                throws IOException

Enabled: Create a MulticastSocket bound to the specified socket address.

Or, if the address is null, create an unbound socket.

If there is a security manager, its checkListen method is first called with the SocketAddress port as its argument to ensure the operation is allowed. This could result in a SecurityException.

When the socket is created the DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(true) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

Parameters:

bindaddr - Socket address to bind to, or null for an unbound socket.

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int), java.net.DatagramSocket#setReuseAddress(boolean)

Method Detail

setTTL

public void setTTL(byte ttl)
            throws IOException

Deprecated. use the setTimeToLive method instead, which uses int instead of byte as the type for ttl.

Enabled: Set the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on this MulticastSocket in order to control the scope of the multicasts.

The ttl is an unsigned 8-bit quantity, and so must be in the range 0 <= ttl <= 0xFF .

Parameters:

ttl - the time-to-live

IOException

See Also:

getTTL()

setTimeToLive

public void setTimeToLive(int ttl)
                   throws IOException

Enabled: Set the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on this MulticastSocket in order to control the scope of the multicasts.

The ttl must be in the range 0 <= ttl <= 255 or an IllegalArgumentException will be thrown.

Parameters:

ttl - the time-to-live

IOException

See Also:

getTimeToLive()

getTTL

public byte getTTL()
            throws IOException

Deprecated. use the getTimeToLive method instead, which returns an int instead of a byte.

Enabled: Get the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on the socket.

Returns:

the default time-to-live value

IOException

See Also:

setTTL(byte)

getTimeToLive

public int getTimeToLive()
                  throws IOException

Enabled: Get the default time-to-live for multicast packets sent out on the socket.

Returns:

the default time-to-live value

IOException

See Also:

setTimeToLive(int)

joinGroup

public void joinGroup(InetAddress mcastaddr)
               throws IOException

Enabled: Joins a multicast group. Its behavior may be affected by setInterface or setNetworkInterface.

If there is a security manager, this method first calls its checkMulticast method with the mcastaddr argument as its argument.

Parameters:

mcastaddr - is the multicast address to join

IOException

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

leaveGroup

public void leaveGroup(InetAddress mcastaddr)
                throws IOException

Enabled: Leave a multicast group. Its behavior may be affected by setInterface or setNetworkInterface.

If there is a security manager, this method first calls its checkMulticast method with the mcastaddr argument as its argument.

Parameters:

mcastaddr - is the multicast address to leave

IOException

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

joinGroup

public void joinGroup(SocketAddress mcastaddr,
                      NetworkInterface netIf)
               throws IOException

Enabled: Joins the specified multicast group at the specified interface.

If there is a security manager, this method first calls its checkMulticast method with the mcastaddr argument as its argument.

Parameters:

mcastaddr - is the multicast address to join

netIf - specifies the local interface to receive multicast datagram packets, or null to defer to the interface set by setInterface(InetAddress) or setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface)

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if mcastaddr is null or is a SocketAddress subclass not supported by this socket

IOException

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

leaveGroup

public void leaveGroup(SocketAddress mcastaddr,
                       NetworkInterface netIf)
                throws IOException

Enabled: Leave a multicast group on a specified local interface.

If there is a security manager, this method first calls its checkMulticast method with the mcastaddr argument as its argument.

Parameters:

mcastaddr - is the multicast address to leave

netIf - specifies the local interface or null to defer to the interface set by setInterface(InetAddress) or setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface)

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if mcastaddr is null or is a SocketAddress subclass not supported by this socket

IOException

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

setInterface

public void setInterface(InetAddress inf)
                  throws SocketException

Enabled: Set the multicast network interface used by methods whose behavior would be affected by the value of the network interface. Useful for multihomed hosts.

Parameters:

inf - the InetAddress

SocketException

See Also:

getInterface()

getInterface

public InetAddress getInterface()
                         throws SocketException

Enabled: Retrieve the address of the network interface used for multicast packets.

Returns:

An InetAddress representing the address of the network interface used for multicast packets.

SocketException

See Also:

setInterface(java.net.InetAddress)

setNetworkInterface

public void setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface netIf)
                         throws SocketException

Enabled: Specify the network interface for outgoing multicast datagrams sent on this socket.

Parameters:

netIf - the interface

SocketException

Since:

1.4

See Also:

getNetworkInterface()

getNetworkInterface

public NetworkInterface getNetworkInterface()
                                     throws SocketException

Enabled: Get the multicast network interface set.

Returns:

the multicast NetworkInterface currently set

SocketException

Since:

1.4

See Also:

setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface)

setLoopbackMode

public void setLoopbackMode(boolean disable)
                     throws SocketException

Enabled: Disable/Enable local loopback of multicast datagrams The option is used by the platform's networking code as a hint for setting whether multicast data will be looped back to the local socket.

Because this option is a hint, applications that want to verify what loopback mode is set to should call getLoopbackMode()

Parameters:

disable - true to disable the LoopbackMode

Throws:

SocketException - if an error occurs while setting the value

Since:

1.4

See Also:

getLoopbackMode()

getLoopbackMode

public boolean getLoopbackMode()
                        throws SocketException

Enabled: Get the setting for local loopback of multicast datagrams.

Returns:

true if the LoopbackMode has been disabled

Throws:

SocketException - if an error occurs while getting the value

Since:

1.4

See Also:

setLoopbackMode(boolean)

send

public void send(DatagramPacket p,
                 byte ttl)
          throws IOException

Deprecated. Use the following code or its equivalent instead: ...... int ttl = mcastSocket.getTimeToLive(); mcastSocket.setTimeToLive(newttl); mcastSocket.send(p); mcastSocket.setTimeToLive(ttl); ......

Enabled: Sends a datagram packet to the destination, with a TTL (time- to-live) other than the default for the socket. This method need only be used in instances where a particular TTL is desired; otherwise it is preferable to set a TTL once on the socket, and use that default TTL for all packets. This method does not alter the default TTL for the socket. Its behavior may be affected by setInterface.

If there is a security manager, this method first performs some security checks. First, if p.getAddress().isMulticastAddress() is true, this method calls the security manager's checkMulticast method with p.getAddress() and ttl as its arguments. If the evaluation of that expression is false, this method instead calls the security manager's checkConnect method with arguments p.getAddress().getHostAddress() and p.getPort(). Each call to a security manager method could result in a SecurityException if the operation is not allowed.

Parameters:

p - is the packet to be sent. The packet should contain the destination multicast ip address and the data to be sent. One does not need to be the member of the group to send packets to a destination multicast address.

ttl - optional time to live for multicast packet. default ttl is 1.

IOException

See Also:

DatagramSocket.send(java.net.DatagramPacket), DatagramSocket.receive(java.net.DatagramPacket), SecurityManager.checkMulticast(java.net.InetAddress, byte), SecurityManager.checkConnect(java.lang.String, int)