Java API: java.net.

InetAddress

Ankit Gadgil: 11030142027 Sayak Sarkar: 11030142046

The InetAddress class is the abstraction representing an IP (Internet Protocol) address, which is either a 32-bit or 128-bit unsigned number used by IP, a lower-level protocol on which protocols like UDP and TCP are built. It has two subclasses: Inet4Address for IPv4 addresses. Inet6Address for IPv6 addresses.

In most cases, there is no need to deal directly with the subclasses, as the InetAddress abstraction covers most of the needed functionality.

The InetAddress Class

An instance of an InetAddress consists of an IP address and possibly its corresponding host name (depending on whether it is constructed with a host name or whether it has already done reverse host name resolution).
The IP address architecture is defined by RFC 790: Assigned Numbers, RFC 1918: Address Allocation for Internets, RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast, and RFC 2373: IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture.

Class Declaration:
public class InetAddress extends Object implements Serializable

The InetAddress Class

This class represents an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address. It has been defined by RFC790:Assigned Numbers, RFC1918: Address Allocation for Private Internets, and RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast

Class Declaration:
public final class Inet4Address extends InetAddress

The Inet4Address Class

This class represents an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address. It has been defined by RFC 2373: IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture. Class Declaration:
public final class Inet6Address extends InetAddress

The Inet6Address Class

unicast: An identifier for a single interface.

A packet sent to a unicast address is delivered to the interface identified by that address. The Unspecified Address -- Also called wildcard address, must never be assigned to any node. It indicates the absence of an address. The unspecified address must not be used as the destination address of an IP packet. The Loopback Addresses -- This is the address assigned to the loopback interface. Anything sent to this IP address loops around and becomes IP input on the local host. This address is often used when testing a client.

InetAddress: Address Types

multicast:

An identifier for a set of interfaces (typically belonging to different nodes). A packet sent to a multicast address is delivered to all interfaces identified by that address.

InetAddress: Address Types

Link-local addresses are designed to be used for addressing on a single link for purposes such as auto-address configuration, neighbor discovery, or when no routers are present.

Site-local addresses are designed to be used for addressing inside of a site without the need for a global prefix. Global addresses are unique across the internet.

InetAddress: IP address scope

Host name-to-IP address resolution is accomplished through the use of a combination of local machine configuration information and network naming services such as the Domain Name System (DNS) and Network Information Service(NIS).
The particular naming services(s) being used is by default the local machine configured one. For any host name, its corresponding IP address is returned. Reverse name resolution means that for any IP address, the host associated with the IP address is returned. The InetAddress class provides methods to resolve host names to their IP addresses and vice versa.

InetAddress: Host Name Resolution

The InetAddress class has a cache to store successful as well as unsuccessful host name resolutions.
By default, when a security manager is installed, in order to protect against DNS spoofing attacks, the result of positive host name resolutions are cached forever. When a security manager is not installed, the default behavior is to cache entries for a finite (implementation dependent) period of time.

The result of unsuccessful host name resolution is cached for a very short period of time (10 seconds) to improve performance. If the default behavior is not desired, then a Java security property can be set to a different Time-to-live (TTL) value for positive caching.

InetAddress: Caching

Two Java security properties control the TTL values used for positive and negative host name resolution caching:

networkaddress.cache.ttl Indicates the caching policy for successful name lookups from the name service. The value is specified as integer to indicate the number of seconds to cache the successful lookup. The default setting is to cache for an implementation specific period of time. A value of -1 indicates "cache forever".
networkaddress.cache.negative.ttl (default: 10) Indicates the caching policy for un-successful name lookups from the name service. The value is specified as integer to indicate the number of seconds to cache the failure for un-successful lookups. A value of 0 indicates "never cache". A value of -1 indicates "cache forever".

InetAddress: Caching

Two Java security properties control the TTL values used for positive and negative host name resolution caching:

networkaddress.cache.ttl Indicates the caching policy for successful name lookups from the name service. The value is specified as as integer to indicate the number of seconds to cache the successful lookup. The default setting is to cache for an implementation specific period of time. A value of -1 indicates "cache forever". networkaddress.cache.negative.ttl (default: 10) Indicates the caching policy for un-successful name lookups from the name service. The value is specified as integer to indicate the number of seconds to cache the failure for un-successful lookups. A value of 0 indicates "never cache". A value of -1 indicates "cache forever".

InetAddress: Caching

boolean

equals(Object obj) Compares this object against the specified object. getAddress() Returns the raw IP address of this InetAddress object.

byte[]

static InetAddress[] getAllByName(String host) Given the name of a host, returns an array of its IP addresses, based on the configured name service on the system.
static InetAddress getByAddress(byte[] addr) Returns an InetAddress object given the raw IP address .

static InsetAddress getByAddress(String host, byte[] addr) Create an InetAddress based on the provided host name and IP address No name service is checked for the validity of the address.

static InetAddress

getByName(String host) Determines the IP address of a host, given the host's name.

InetAddress: Methods

String

getCanonicalHostName() Gets the fully qualified domain name for this IP address. getHostAddress() Returns the IP address string in textual presentation. getHostName() Gets the host name for this IP address. getLocalHost() Returns the local host. hashCode() Returns a hashcode for this IP address. isAnyLocalAddress() Utility routine to check if the InetAddress in a wildcard address.

String

String

static InetAddress

int

boolean

InetAddress: Methods

boolean

isLinkLocalAddress() Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an link local address. isLoopbackAddress() Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a loopback address. isMCGlobal() Utility routine to check if the multicast address has global scope. isMCLinkLocal() Utility routine to check if the multicast address has link scope. isMCNodeLocal() Utility routine to check if the multicast address has node scope. isMCOrgLocal() Utility routine to check if the multicast address has organization scope.

boolean

boolean

boolean

boolean

boolean

InetAddress: Methods

boolean

isMCSiteLocal() Utility routine to check if the multicast address has site scope. isMulticastAddress() Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address.
isReachable(int timeout) Test whether that address is reachable. isReachable(NetworkInterface netif, int ttl, int timeout) Test whether that address is reachable. isSiteLocalAddres() Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a site local address. toString() Converts this IP address to a String.

boolean

boolean

boolean

boolean

String

InetAddress: Methods

Thank You