4176FM 11/6/02 3:14 PM Page i

C# Network
™

Programming
Richard Blum

San Francisco • London

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4176FM 11/6/02 3:14 PM Page i

C# Network
™

Programming
Richard Blum

San Francisco • London

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Associate Publisher: Joel Fugazzotto

Acquisitions Editor: Denise S. Lincoln
Developmental Editor: Carol Henry
Editor: Sally Engelfried
Production Editor: Erica Yee
Technical Editor: Dan Frumin
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Cover Photographer: Carlos Navajas, The Image Bank

Copyright © 2003 SYBEX Inc., 1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501. World rights reserved. No part of this publication may
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Library of Congress Card Number: 2002111958

ISBN: 0-7821-4176-5

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4176FM 11/6/02 3:14 PM Page iv

This book is dedicated to Sister Marie Imelda,

C.S.C, who in the late 1970s fought and
struggled to teach a bunch of goofy high school
kids how to program. Thanks, Sister. “Trust in
the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge
him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Prov. 3:5-6 (NIV)
4176FM 11/6/02 3:14 PM Page v

Acknowledgments

irst, all honor, glory, and praise goes to God, who through His Son, all things are possible,
F and who gives us the gift of eternal life.
I would like to thank all the great people at Sybex for their help, guidance, and profes-
sionalism. Thanks to Denise Santoro Lincoln, the Acquisitions Editor, for offering me the
opportunity to write this book. Also, thanks to Carol Henry, the Developmental Editor,
for all her work guiding this book along and helping make my paragraphs make sense.
Many thanks to Sally Engelfried, the Copy Editor, for turning my poor grammar into
perfect sentences, and to Dan Frumin, the Technical Editor, for going above and beyond
the call of duty fixing my programs and pointing out my technical blunders. Also, thanks
to Carole McClendon at Waterside Productions for her help in arranging this book for me.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Mike and Joyce Blum, for their dedication and sup-
port, and my wife Barbara and daughters Katie Jane and Jessica for their faith, love, and under-
standing, especially while I was writing this book.
4176FM 11/6/02 3:14 PM Page vi

Contents at a Glance

Introduction xix

Part I Network Programming Basics

Chapter 1: The C# Language 3

Chapter 2: IP Programming Basics 41

Chapter 3: C# Network Programming Classes 87

Chapter 4: DNS and C# 125

Part II Network Layer Programing

Chapter 5: Connection-Oriented Sockets 167

Chapter 6: Connectionless Sockets 209

Chapter 7: Using The C# Sockets Helper Classes 249

Chapter 8: Asynchronous Sockets 291

Chapter 9: Using Threads 333

Chapter 10: IP Multicasting 375

Part III Application Layer Programming Examples

Chapter 11: ICMP 411

Chapter 12: SNMP 441

Chapter 13: SMTP 477

Chapter 14: HTTP 511

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Chapter 15: Active Directory 535

Chapter 16: Remoting 563

Chapter 17: Security 593

Index 623
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Contents

Introduction xix

Part I Network Programming Basics 1

Chapter 1 The C# Language 3

Basics of .NET 4
Common Language Runtime (CLR) 4
MSIL Code 5
Installing a C# Development Environment 6
C# Development Options 7
Downloading the .NET Framework SDK 8
Installing the .NET Framework SDK 9
The C# Runtime Environment 10
Downloading and Installing the C# Runtime Package 11
Developing with the C# Runtime 11
C# Programming Basics 12
Creating C# Programs 12
Compiling and Running C# Programs 15
Using Multiple Source Files 16
Debugging C# Programs 17
Debugging MSIL Code 22
C# Features 23
C# Namespaces 24
Using Strings in C# Programs 28
C# Streams 33
C# Exception Programming 36
Summary 39
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x Contents

Chapter 2 IP Programming Basics 41

Watching Network Traffic 42
Installing the WinPcap Programs 43
The WinDump Program 44
The Analyzer Program 48
Analyzing Network Packets 51
The Ethernet Layer 51
The IP Layer 56
The TCP Layer 61
The UDP Layer 68
Programming with TCP and UDP 69
TCP Programming Features 70
UDP Programming Features 71
Finding IP Address Information 72
Using ipconfig 72
Using the Registry 74
Using WMI 80
Using DNS 83
Summary 84

Chapter 3 C# Network Programming Classes 87

A Primer on Socket Programming 88
Socket Programming in Windows 98
C# Socket Programming 103
IP Addresses in C# 103
Using C# Sockets 108
C# Socket Exceptions 119
C# Socket Helper Classes 120
TcpClient 120
TcpListener 122
UdpClient 123
Summary 124

Chapter 4 DNS and C# 125

The Domain Name System (DNS) 127
DNS Structure 127
Finding a Hostname in DNS 130
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Contents xi

The DNS Database 131

A Sample DNS Database 136
Windows DNS Client Information 138
DNS Configuration 138
Using C# to Investigate the DNS Configuration 141
Resolving Hostnames with nslookup 144
DNS Classes in C# 153
Synchronous Methods 153
Asynchronous Methods 159
Summary 164

Part II Network Layer Programing 165

Chapter 5 Connection-Oriented Sockets 167

A Simple TCP Server 168
Creating the Server 168
Testing the Server 172
Watching the Server 172
A Simple TCP Client 173
Creating the Client 174
Testing the Client 176
When TCP Goes Bad 177
Problems with Data Buffers 177
Problems with TCP Messages 180
Solving the TCP Message Problem 184
Using C# Streams with TCP 198
The NetworkStream Class 198
The StreamReader and StreamWriter Classes 202
Summary 207

Chapter 6 Connectionless Sockets 209

A Simple UDP Application 210
The UDP Server 211
A UDP Client 215
Testing the Client and Server Programs 217
Using Connect() in a UDP Client Example 219
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xii Contents

Distinguishing UDP Messages 220

When UDP Goes Bad 223
Preventing Lost Data 223
Preventing Lost Packets 228
A Complete UDP Application 242
Catching Multiple Exceptions by Monitoring Error Codes 242
The Complete Client Program 245
Summary 247

Chapter 7 Using The C# Sockets Helper Classes 249

The TcpClient Class 250
The TcpClient Class Constructors 250
The TcpClient Class Methods 251
Creating a Simple Client Program 252
Testing the Program 254
The TcpListener Class 255
The TcpListener Class Constructors 255
The TcpListener Class Methods 256
A Simple Server Program 257
Incorporating the StreamReader and StreamWriter Classes 258
The UdpClient Class 259
The UdpClient Class Constructors 259
The UdpClient Class Methods 260
Using the UdpClient Class in Programs 260
A Simple UdpClient Server Program 262
A Simple UdpClient Client Program 263
Testing the Sample Programs 264
Moving Data across the Network 265
Moving Binary Data 265
Communicating with Other Host Types 272
Moving Complex Objects 280
Summary 288

Chapter 8 Asynchronous Sockets 291

Windows Event Programming 292
Using Events and Delegates 293
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Contents xiii

The AsyncCallback Class 297

Using Asynchronous Sockets 298
Establishing the Connection 298
Sending and Receiving Data 301
Sample Programs Using Asynchronous Sockets 304
The Client Program 305
The Server Program 312
Using Non-blocking Socket Methods 319
The Poll() Method 319
The Select() Method 324
Summary 331

Chapter 9 Using Threads 333

How Applications Run in Windows 334
Finding Process Information Using C# 335
Threads 343
Creating Threads in a Program 350
The Thread Class 350
Using the Thread Class 351
Using Threads in a Server 354
Creating a Threaded Server 354
Testing the Server 357
Watching the Threads 357
Using Threads for Sending and Receiving Data 358
The TcpChat Program 359
Testing the Chat Program and Watching the Threads 363
Thread Pools 364
The ThreadPool Class 365
A Sample ThreadPool Program 366
Testing the Program and Watching the Threads 367
Using Thread Pools in a Server 369
A ThreadPool Server 369
Testing the Program and Watching the Threads 371
Summary 373