do anyone know how to code a LAN app with the multicasting functionality using VB programming?

in VC you can use MAIL SLOTS for that
maybe in VB too
check it out

Arkon
[QSoft Systems]

hmm...Can pls tell me what is this MAIL SLOT..?
i still new in vb and also not very familiar with multicasting function..now i trying to squeeze myself into it.

check this out:
Mail Slots

Arkon
[QSoft Systems]

I gotta question that I just can''t clear up with your data... are you talking about server to client multicast, or client-client?

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-WarMage
...How was I supposed to know what PANDORA.SHS does?!

hmm any comp on the LAN

Arkon
[QSoft Systems]

Sorry Arkon, the question about topology was to try and clarify the original question, but I agree with you, the solution should be able to communicate to any computer on the LAN

So to state it more clearly, what kind of multicast do you need to perform, snake_zaku? Are you updating a bunch of clients from a server application or are you replicating/moving data between clients, Freenet-style? The next question is are you worried about assured delivery or any kind of ACK/NAK message receipt? Granted, on the same LAN, message receipt is rarely an issue, but if you're client-hopping, then IMO it's safe to assume your program could life a life on the cloud, and as such you may want to think up another scheme than trying to multicast.

Multithreading is going to be your answer. Although bloody impossible in VB, to be honest, VB6 and the WSOCK32.OCX does provide the Winsock object which does a fair amount of the work for you to send messages over the network. You would have to be maintaining a client list anyway, and if you're writing a LAN-only game, then the low latencies of the network (and a small, streamlined message) should keep your VB code flowing even if you can't touch more than one client at a time.

Even using the MAIL_SLOT thing, I think you will find you are doing little different from opening a socket to the remote system, and sockets are a far more universal object than a mail slot architecture.

It would be helpful to know a little more about the problem you're trying to solve, and if at all possible, you may find it beneficial to get up out of VB and switch to VC or Delphi for this project.

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-WarMage
...if it smells like fish, tastes like fish, but looks like hamburger, then OBVIOUSLY it's a FISHBURGER!

Edited by - WarMage on June 15, 2001 1:51:34 PM