Network

programming

Network programming
in .Net Framework

TCP and UDP sockets, unicast,

broadcast, multicast
Using network protocols HTTP, SMTP, FTP
 Lesson 6

Use of network
protocols HTTP,
SMTP, FTP

Contents
1. Review of HTTP protocol............................................. 4
1.1. Example of HTTP-request.............................................8
1.2. Example of HTTP-response..........................................8
2. Classes for Working with the HTTP............................. 9
2.1. Sending Requests Using HttpWebRequest Class........9
2.2. Receiving the Replies Using HttpWebResponse
Class.......................................................................................10
2.3. Setting Up Query Headings .......................................10
2.4. Reading Reply Headings..............................................11
2.5. Use of WebClient class.................................................12
3. Working with Electronic Mails................................... 16
2.1. Overview of post office protocols
SMTP, POP3, IMAP............................................................16
 Contents

2.1. SMTP protocol..............................................................17

3.3. .Net for classes for working with SMTP....................19
3.4. MailMessage class.........................................................20
3.5. Attachment class...........................................................22
3.6. SmtpClient class............................................................22
3.7. Example of mail sending..............................................23
3.8. POP3 protocol...............................................................27
4. Use of FTP.................................................................... 30
Overview ................................................................... 30
FTP terminology........................................................ 30
4.3. Example of typical FTP session..................................32
4.4. Classes for working with FTP.....................................33
4.5.Example of FTP use.......................................................35
5. Variants of Examination............................................. 36

3
Lesson 6

1. Review of HTTP Protocol

HTTP is a protocol of an application layer above TCP/IP,
which is used for rendering a hypertext in WWW and LANs.
Mainly it is used to transfer web-pages contents. Apart from
transferring web-pages contents, the protocol is used for data
exchange applications. The queries, headings and result codes
form the basis of the protocol. There are always two sides ex-
pressed within the protocol: a server and a client. The client
sends the request in the form:
■■ Initial string
■■ Heading (or headings)
■■ Message body,
the server returns a result in the form:
■■ Initial string with the result code (or an error code)
■■ Heading (or headings)
■■ Message body
Browsers are the clients in WWW, for example IE
or Opera. HTTP-servers like Apache and IIS can act in
the capacity of servers.
Initial string of the client query is a method that is re-
quested by the URI and protocol version (HTTP-Version).
HTTP-headings can be divided into three groups: query
headings, reply headings and headings that can be met both
within the request and reply. Fields of a query heading allow
a client transmitting additional information about the query
and the very client to the server.

4
 1. Review of HTTP Protocol

Table 1.Heading titles of HTTP-queries

No. Heading Purpose

1 Accept A list of content types supported by a browser
in the browser preference order
2 Accept-Charset Supported encoding. It matters for a server
that can output the same document in differ-
ent encodings
3 Accept-Encoding Supported encoding type. It matters for
a server that can differently encode the same
document
4 Accept-Language Supported language. It matters for a server
that can output the same document in differ-
ent language versions
5 Authorization User authorization attributes
6 From Client address
7 Host Host name from which a resource
is requested
8 If-Modified-Since Action in case of changed content
9 If-Match Act in case of coincidence
10 If-None-Match Act in case of inconsistency
11 If-Range Act in case of over dimensioning
12 If-Unmodified-Since Act in case of unchanged contents
13 Max-Forwards Maximum number of references
14 Proxy-Authorization User proxy authorization attributes
15 Range Dimensions
16 Referer URL from which we directed to this resource
17 User-Agent Browser

Initial string of server response is a Status-Line. It consists

of the protocol version (HTTP-Version), Status-Code and
Reason-Phrase that are separated by the symbols SP (space).
CR (carriage return) and LF (line feed) are not acceptable in
a Status-Line except the final CRLF sequence.

5
Lesson 6

Status-Line = HTTP-Version SP Status-Code

SP Reason-Phrase CRLF.

Table 2. Codes HTTP-server responses

No. Status-Code Reason-Phrase

1 100 Continue
2 101 Switching Protocols
3 200 OK
4 201 Created
5 202 Accepted
6 203 Non-Authoritative Information
7 204 No Content
8 205 Reset Content
9 206 Partial Content
10 300 Multiple Choices
11 301 Moved Permanently
12 302 Moved Temporarily
13 303 See Other
14 304 Not Modified
15 305 Use Proxy
16 400 Bad Request
17 401 Unauthorized
18 402 Payment Required
19 403 Forbidden
20 404 Not Found
21 405 Method Not Allowed
22 406 Not Acceptable
23 407 Proxy Authentication Required
24 408 Request Timeout
25 409 Conflict
26 410 Gone
27 411 Length Required
28 412 Prerequisite Wrong

6
 1. Review of HTTP Protocol

No. Status-Code Reason-Phrase

29 413 Request Entity Too Large
30 414 Request-URI Too Long
31 415 Unsupported Media Type
32 500 Internal Server Error
33 501 Not Implemented
34 502 Bad Gateway
35 503 ServiceUnavailable
36 504 Gateway Timeout
37 505 HTTP Version Not Supported

Client or server CAN send an object (message). An entity

consists of an entity-header and entity-body, though some
responses can include entity-headers only. An entity can be
sent either by client, or by server. Entity-body (if any) is sent
together with the HTTP query or response and has the format
and encoding that is defined by the entity-header fields. Entity-
body is only represented in the message when there is a mes-
sage-body. Entity-body is received from the message-body by
means of decoding indicated within a Transfer-Encoding field.
His body data type is defined by the heading fields Content-
Type and Content-Encoding. He define two-level encoding
ordered model: entity-body:= Content-Encoding(Content-
Type(data)). Content-Type defines main data media type (text,
image, etc.). Content-Encoding can be used for indicating any
additional content encoding applied to the data (usually for
data compressing). Content-Encoding is a property of requested
resource. There is no a default encoding. Within any HTTP/1.1
there is entity-body content. In the case when media type is
not represented by the field Content-Type, a receiver CAN try
assume a media type verifying the content and/or extension

7
Lesson 6

(extensions) in the URL name used for an identified resource.

If media type is remained unrecognized a receiver SHOULD
process it as a “application/octet-stream” type.

1.1. Example of HTTP-Request

GET /default.aspx HTTP/1.1

1.2. Example of HTTP-Response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:20:59 GMT
Server: Apache
X-Powered-By: PHP/5.2.4-2ubuntu5wm1
Last-Modified: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:20:59 GMT
Content-Language: ru
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 1234
Connection: close
(then there is a requested page in HTML)
For detailed information about HTTP-protocol use the links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1945
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616

8
 2. Classes for Working with the HTTP

2. Classes for Working

with the HTTP
.NET platform immensely simplified the interaction with
the HTTP-server by means of submitting of several high-level
namespace classes System.Net for maintaining the protocol; these
classes allow managing the headings and connections, to exercise
preliminary authentication (verification a client’s personality), enco­
ding, support of working with the proxy-server, pipeline processing:
Table 3. .Net classes for working with the HTTP
Class Namespace Basic class Description
1 HttpWebRequest System.Net WebRequest HTTP-query
2 HttpWebResponce System.Net WebResponce HTTP-response
3 WebClient System.Net Component Simple methods
of receiving and
sending data for URI
4 ServicePoint System.Net Object Handling
a connection with
URI
5 Service­Point­ System.Net Object Manages
Manager ServicePoint
objects
6 Uri System MarshalByRef Light managing URI
Object
7 UriBuilder System Object Creating and modi­
fying URI objects

2.1. Sending Requests Using HttpWebRequest Class

HttpWebRequest represents an opportunity to send the que-
ry. Let’s create and send the query:
9
Lesson 6

HttpWebRequest reqw=(HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.
Create("http://itstep.org");
reqw.GetResponse();

2.2. Receiving the Replies Using HttpWebResponse Class

However, sending a request without receiving a result
is a senseless act. Let’s elaborate a program and display on
a screen a resource content (HTML-page).

HttpWebRequest reqw=(HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.
Create("http://itstep.org");
HttpWebResponse resp= (HttpWebResponse)
reqw.GetResponse();// create a response object
StreamReader sr=new StreamReader(resp.
GetResponseStream(),Encoding.Default);//create a
//stream for reading a response
Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadToEnd()); // to display on a
//screen everything that can be read
sr.Close();

2.3. Setting Up Query Headings

Query headings allow us finely establishing interaction
with HTTP-server, for example to set up a default language
HttpWebRequest reqw=(HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.
Create("http://itstep.org");
reqw.Headers.Add("Accept-Language: ru-ru");//setting
//up a default Russian language

Besides, in order to set up the values for some headings

we can use the properties of the class.

10
 2. Classes for Working with the HTTP

Table 4. Properties of WebRequest class

Property Data type HTTP-heading
1 Accept String Accept
2 Connection string Connection
3 ContentLength Long Content-Length
4 Expect String Expect
5 IfModifiedSince DateTime If-Modified-Since
6 Referer String Referer
7 TransferEncoding String Transfer-Encoding
8 ContentType String Content-Type
9 UserAgent String User-Agent

To setup the headings through reqw.Headers.Add is

impossible­.

2.4. Reading Reply Headings

Headings reading are available from the Headers collec-
tion or from the other properties of HttpWebResponse class
indicated within a table.
Table 5. Properties of WebResponse class
Property Data type HTTP-heading
1 ContentEncoding String ContentEncoding
2 ContentLength Long ContentLength
3 ContentType String ContentType
4 LastModified DateTime LastModified
5 Server String Server

Headings reading from the collection.

HttpWebResponse resp= reqw.GetResponse();

foreach(string header in resp.Headers)
Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}",header,resp.
Headers[header]);

11
Lesson 6

2.5. Use of WebClient Class

WebClient class simplifies data exchange with the server.
For receiving the data we use DownloadData() method

//creating a web-client object

WebClient client= new WebClient();
//receiving page content
byte[] urlData = client.DownLoadData
("http://www.yandex.ru");
//transformation of receivd content into a string
//for displaying within a console
string page = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(urlData);
Console.WriteLine(page);

For obtaining the file from a server we use DownloadFile()

method

//creating a web-client object

WebClient client= new WebClient();
string fileCopy = "c:\\ttt.gif",
urlString="http://www.yandex.ru/images/point.gif";
//loading of a web-esource into a file with the
//name fileCopy
client.DownloadFile(urlString,fileCopy);

for reading the data in parts we use OpenRead() method

obtaining a stream available for reading:

//creating a web-client object

WebClient client= new WebClient();
string fileCopy = "c:\\ttt.gif",
urlString="http://www.yandex.ru/images/point.gif";
//connect URL to reading stream
Stream copy=client.OpenRead(urlString);

12
 2. Classes for Working with the HTTP

//create a stream for storing the downloaded data

FileInfo fi=new FileInfo(fileCopy);
StreamWriter sw=fi.CreateText();
//loading of a web-resource into a file with
//the name fileCopy
sw.WriteLine(copy.ReadToEnd());
sw.Close();
copy.Close();

for data transfer to a server we use OpenWrite() method

that returns the stream available for record (used for HTTP-
transfer POST):
//creating a web-client object
WebClient client= new WebClient();
string TextToUpload ="User=Vasia&passwd=okna",
urlString="http://www.yandex.ru/page22.aspx";
//transform the text into an array of bytes
byte[] uploadData=Encoding.ASCII.
GetBytes(TextToUpload);
//bind URL with a record stream
Stream upload=client.OpenWrite(urlString,"POST");
//upload data to a server
upload.Write(uploadData,0,uploadData.Length);
upload.Close();

for data transfer to a server by other HTTP-methods we use

UploadData() method
//creating a web-client object
WebClient client= new WebClient();
client.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCashe.
DefaultCredentials;
//add a HTTP-heading
client.Headers.Add("Content-Type",
"application/x-www-form-urlencoded");

13
Lesson 6

string TextToUpload = "User=Vasia&passwd=okna",

urlString="http://www.yandex.ru/page22.aspx";
//transform a text into an array of bytes
byte[] uploadData=Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(TextToUpload);
//copy data by means of GET method
byte[] respText=client.
UploadData(urlString,"GET",uploadData);
//upload the data onto the server
upload.Write(uploadData,0,uploadData.Length);
upload.Close();

Here is an example of the functioning of HttpRequest and

HttpResponce classes.
namespace HTTP_Client
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void sendButton_Click(object sender,
EventArgs e)
{
HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest)
HttpWebRequest.Create(URL.Text);
req.Method = "GET";
if (IfProxy.Checked)
{
WebProxy proxy = new
WebProxy(proxyAddr.Text);
proxy.Credentials = new
NetworkCredential(proxyUser.
Text, proxyPassword.Text);
req.Proxy = proxy;

14
 2. Classes for Working with the HTTP

}
HttpWebResponse rez = (HttpWebResponse)
req.GetResponse();
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(rez.
GetResponseStream(), Encoding.Default);
response.Text = sr.ReadToEnd();
}
}
}

In the result we receive an application that can read an ht-

ml-page and displaying it in the text editor in the text type:

15
Lesson 6

3. Working with
Electronic Mails
2.1. Overview of Post Office Protocols
SMTP, POP3, IMAP
Today sending and receiving electronic mails is performed
by means of post office protocols (POP) that use TCP/IP in
the capacity of transport protocol. To send electronic mails
we use POP SMTP, and we use POP3 for receiving thereof.
Existing IMAP protocol cannot manage both tasks, but most
often we use it instead of POP3.

16
 3. Working with Electronic Mails

2.1. SMTP Protocol

Overview
SMTP Protocol (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) defines
interaction between the servers transporting electronic mails
between a client and a server (RFC 2821). Interaction is carried
on by means of transfer of a limited number of commands
that are followed by data.
SMTP Terminology
SMTP-server is a program waiting for a client’s query for
mail sending or for receiving thereof from another SMTP-
server. SMTP-client is program addressing the server to send
it a mail. SMTP-server stores a database of registered users
and their passwords. Therefore, sending mail messages from
unauthorized users is impossible. Mailbox is memory area
(often a catalogue) on a server that stores received mails des-
ignated for a client. Mail message is a text block containing
headings, message body and attachment (one or several).
Message headings define a recipient, sender, mail address,
content type, availability of attachments, encoding type, text
encoding, message type (text-html) and others. Attachment
is an additional file that can have any type content (image,
audio file, video, program…).
SMTP Commands
Commands are sent to SMTP-server in the text form.
The first one is a text command, then its parameters. Server
response is accompanied by an error code that is followed by
reason. Exchange session can look as follows:

17
Lesson 6

open mail.olgs.gov 25
Trying...Connect to mail.olgs.gov
220 mail.olgs.gov - Server ESMTP (PMDF V4.3-10 #2381)

hello mysite.com
250 mail.olgs.gov OK, mysite.com

mail from:<[email protected]>
250 Address Ok.

rcpt to:<kravchuk@ mail.olgs.gov>

250 kravchuk@ mail.olgs.gov OK

data
354 Enter mail, end with a single ".".
SUBJECT: E-mail chapter
Ljonja, thanks for the live
.
250 OK

quit
221 Bye received. Goobye

Table 5. Overview of some SMTP-server commands

Command
No. Description
(and its 4-letter variant)
1 HELLO (HELO) SMTP-client identification
2 MAIL (MAIL) Initiates mail transaction (mail delivery)
to mailboxes
3 RECEPIENT (RCPT) Recipient identification. Several
commands per session are allowed
4 DATA (DATA) Beginning of mail data
5 SEND (SEND) Initiates mail transaction to the terminals
(outdated)

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 3. Working with Electronic Mails

Command
No. Description
(and its 4-letter variant)
6 SEND или MAIL (SOML) If a recipient is active mails are sent to
the terminal, otherwise to a mailbox
7 SEND и MAIL (SAML) Receives mails on the terminal and mailbox
8 RESET (RSET) Breaks up a current mail transaction
9 WERIFY (WRFY) Requites a recipient to verify that its
argument is a true name.
10 EXPAND (EXPN) Command to a SMTP-recipient to verify
if an argument is an address of mail-out
and if yes it returns a message address
11 HELP (HELP) Command to SMTP-recipient to return
inquiry-message about its commands
12 NOOP (NOOP) Requires from a sender not to perform
any actions, but to give a response ОК. It
is mainly used for testing
13 QUIT (QUIT) Requires to give a response ОК and
close the current connection
14 TURN (TURN) Command to SMTP-recipient either to
give ОК and change the roles, i.e. to
become a STMP- recipient, or send a re-
ject-message and remain in the role of
an SMTP-recipient

Using exchange commands we can write an smtp-client

on our own. MS.NET Framework represents a convenient set
of classes in order to simply build-in a mail-exchange within
our applications.
3.3. .Net for Classes for Working with SMTP
.Net contains a set of classes for creating a SMTP-client
and does not contain any classes for creating SMTP-server.
At first, we describe an order of message sending using
.Net classes.

19
Lesson 6

Then, a message is created and a client class after-

wards; a message is attached to a client class and a client
sends a mail message. If we need to add some attachments
we should create attachment samples that are added to
a message sample. Afterwards a received container is add-
ed to a client. If we change the attachments, information
thereof is to be contained within the header. To perform
all the actions with the mails System.Net and System.Net.
Mail spaces are required.
System.Net.Mail name space contains 3 classes and 3 enu-
merations:
Table 6. System.Net.Mail space

Class Description
1 MailMessage Electronic mail message
2 SmtpClient Realizes sending MailMessage through SMTP
3 MailAttacment Attachment within a mail message

Перечисление Description
1 MailEncoding Encoding type Base46 or UUEncode
2 MailFormat Message format Text or HTML
3 MailPriopity High, Medium, Low – message priority

Let’s review main classes out of System.Net.Mail name

space and create a mail message without an attachment and
with an attachment.

3.4. MailMessage Class

Main class is for message forming. It contains mail mes-
sage headings, message body and a collection of attachment
files. The headers include recipient’s address, sender’s address,

20
 3. Working with Electronic Mails

message date, copy address, forward address, hidden refer-

ence address, etc.
Table 7. Some member of MailMessage class

No. Property Description

1 Attachments Attachment collection
2 Bcc List for sending the copies in the form
of a mail addresses string divided by _;_
(Blind Carbon Copy)
3 Body Message body
4 BodyFormat Electronic mail format MailFormat.Text
or MailFormat.Html
5 Cc List for sending the copies in the form of a mail
addresses string divided by _;_ (Carbon Copy)
6 From Sender’s mail address
7 Subject Message subject
8 To Recipient mail address
9 Priority Message priority (MailPriority enumeration)
10 UrlContentBase HTTP-heading Content-Base. Base for all
relative Url
11 UrlContentLocation HTTP-heading Content-Location
12 Headers List of non-standard headings sent together
with the message

Creating mail message:

MailMessage post=new MailMessage();

post.From = "[email protected]";
post.To= "[email protected]";
post.Subject= "Test message";
post l.BodyFormat = MailFormat.Text;
post.Body = "post message";

Such mail message can be sent in fact.

21
Lesson 6

3.5. Attachment Class

This class is designated for creating an attachment entity,
which is further to be added to the MailMessage.Attachments
collection.
Class has 2 important properties from the viewpoint of
mail sending: Attachment.Filename — name of an attached
file, Attachment.Encoding — attachment of encoding type
(MailEncoding.Base64 and MailEncoding.UUEncode). Example
of creating a mail message with an attachment:

MailMessage post=new MailMessage();

post.From = "[email protected]";
post.To= "[email protected]";
post.Subject= "Spring Calndar";
post l.BodyFormat = MailFormat.Text;
post.Body = "1 April";
MailAttachment at=new MailAttachment();
at.Filename= @"C:\MyHohma.Jpg";
post.Attachments.Add(at);

3.6. SmtpClient Class

It is designated for sending mail message to the SMTP-
server. It contains the diagnostic tools for successful send-
ing and asynchronous sending of mails. It does not allow
learning about what happens to the mail next (whether
the mail was delivered to the recipient). There is a mes-
sage encoding opportunity using the SSL protocol (Secure
Socket Level).

22
 3. Working with Electronic Mails

Table 8. Main properties and methods

of SmtpClient class

Method Purpose
Send Mail sending
SendAsync Non-blocking mail sending
SendAsyncCancel Terminating an mail sending non-blocking
operation
Property Description
EnableSsl Encoding use
Host String — server address
Port Integer — port number
TimeOut Command Send terminating timeout
Событие Description
SendCompleted Terminating an asynchronous mail sending
operation

3.7. Example of Mail Sending

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Net.Mail;

namespace Mailer
{
class Program
{
string prompt(string query)
{
Console.WriteLine(query);
return Console.ReadLine();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{

23
Lesson 6

Program app = new Program();

//fill in the fields of mail message
app.Dialog();
//attempt to send a message
app.SendMail();
}
string to;
string from;
string subject;
string body;
string server;

void Dialog()
{
to = prompt("Input a recipient address:");
from = prompt("Input a sender’s address:");
subject = prompt("Input a subject");
body = prompt("Input message text:");
server = prompt("Input a server address:");
}

public void SendMail()

{
MailMessage message = new
MailMessage(from, to, subject, body);
SmtpClient client = new
SmtpClient(server);
Console.WriteLine("count to 100");
client.Timeout = 10000;//set up TimeOut
//10000 milliseconds

client.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
try
{
client.Send(message);
Console.WriteLine("Message sent");
}

24
 3. Working with Electronic Mails

catch (SmtpException se)

{
Console.WriteLine("Message not sent
due to "+se.Message);
}
}
}
}

In case of use a multi-window window application it is

not recommended to make a user wait till a message is sent,
it’s better to offer him to use an asynchronous mail sending
(you should change server address, login and password in
NetworkCredential):

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Net;

namespace MailSender
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{

public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}

25
Lesson 6

string server="100.30.0.30";//here we set up

//a server address

private void button2_Click(object sender,

EventArgs e)
{
//create message entity
MailMessage message = new
MailMessage(fromBox.Text, toBox.Text,
themeBox.Text,bodyBox.Text);
//create sending entity
SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient(server);
client.Port = 25;//here we set up a server port
//options for sending mails
//(login and password
client.Credentials = new
NetworkCredential("test","test");
//request an asynchronous mail sending
client.SendAsync(message,"That’s all");
}
}
}

This how an application looks like (the very application

is within the folder source).

26
 3. Working with Electronic Mails

3.8. POP3 Protocol

Post Office Protocol (POP3) defines interaction between
a server and client for receiving mail by a client. Server waits
for connection with a client, authorizes him, and performs
client’s commands related to his work with the mailbox and
finalizing operations (session): «POP3 session consists of
several modes. As soon as connection with a server is estab-
lished and server has sent its invitation, a session transits into
the AUTHORIZATION mode. In this mode a client should
identify himself on the server. After successful authentication
a session transits into TRANSACTION mode (transfer). In
this mode a client requests from a server to perform particular

27
Lesson 6

commands. When a client sends QUIT command a session

transits into an UPDATE mode. In this mode POP3 server
releases all occupied resources and terminates its work» (ac-
cording to the materials from www.codenet.ru) .
Example of Typical POP3 Session

S: +OK POP3 server ready

C: USER MonstrVB
S: +OK MonstrVB is a real hoopy frood

C: PASS mymail
S: +OK MonstrVB’s maildrop has 2 messages (320
octets)

C: QUIT
S: +OK dewey POP3 server signing off

Protocol Commands
Protocol commands
APOP [name] [digest]
A command implying sending user’s name and encoded
password (digest) to a server.
USER [name]
Sends user’s name to a server.
PASS [password]
Sends a mailbox password to a server
DELE [N messages]
Server flags an indicated message for deletion. Flagged
for deletion messages are removed only after the transaction
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 3. Working with Electronic Mails

closure (transaction closure usually happens after sending

QUIT command; besides, for example on the servers transac-
tions closure can happen after some time set up by a server).
LIST [N messages]
If there was an argument sent, then a server gives informa-
tion about an indicated message. If an argument was not sent
the server gives information about all messages that are within
a mailbox. Messages flagged for deletion are not enumerated.
NOOP
Server does nothing and responses positively.
RETR [N messages]
Server sends a message with an indicated number.
RSET
This command is used for transaction roll-back inside
the session. For example, if a user accidentally flagged any
message for deletion, he can take off a flag by sending this
command.
STAT
Server returns a number of mails in a mailbox plus a size
these mails take within a mailbox
TOP [N messages] [number of strings]
Server returns headings of an indicated message, empty
string and indicated number of the first lines of a message body.
QUIT
Session termination
At the moment.Net Framework does not contain any
classes for working with POP3-server.

29
Lesson 6

4. Use of FTP
Overview
FTP means a user interface that realizes ARPANET standard
file transfer protocol. This program allows user transferring
files between two computers interconnected by LAN or WAN.
Wherein, computer platforms can be of different types. This
is the main feature of FTP within the network.
If your system has an FTP and connected to the Internet,
you will get an access to a great number of archives stored
within the other systems.

FTP Terminology
While working with FTP we use a client-server model.
A client sends queries and receives responses along two ports of
TCP-connection (20 — data transfer port and 21 — command
transfer port). Remote directory is a file catalogue stored at
the server. A deleted file is a file on a server. Local file is a file
within a client file system.
Some FTP-commands:
dir [deleted_directory] [local_file]
ls [deleted_directory] [local_file]
Displays a list of files within a directory either for a stan-
dard output, or into this file if there is indicated a name of
a local file.
get [deleted_file] [local_file]
Requests sending the deleted file copies to your computer.
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 4. Use of FTP

In case a local file name was not assigned it will coincide

with the name of a deleted file.
mget [deleted_files]
For receiving several files
hash
Serves as a switch for indicating each received data block of
1024 bytes; increases the demonstrativeness of the procedure.
cd [deleted_directory]
To change a directory ‘cdup’ or ‘cd’ also exist for returning
by one or more
lcd
Changes a working directory on a local machine (without
an argument — transition into a user home directory)
bin (or binary)
Enables binary file transfer mode
ascii
Switches for a text files transfer mode (usually default).
prompt
Enables interactive hint. Often when we use a command
‘mget’ it would be good to input ‘prompt’ so that to avoid
multiple verifications.
pwd
Displays a name of a remote working directory.
mkdir [directory_name]
Creates a directory on a remote machine
open host [port]
Establishes a connection with an assigned FTP server

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Lesson 6

put [local_file] [deleted _ file]

Forwards file to remote system. If a name of a remote
file is not indicated, then it coincides with the name within
a local system.
quit
Synonym for ‘bye’
recv [deleted _ file] [local _ file]
It is a synonym for a command ‘get’
reget [deleted _ file] [local _ file]
“Finish of receiving” a remote file in case a part there of
is already on a local machine. Command is especially useful
for receiving big files upon various connections break ups.
delete [deleted _ file]
Removes a deleted file
close
Breaks FTP session with a remote server and returns to
a command interpreter
bye
Terminates the work with FTP server and leads to exit
from an interpreter.
4.3. Example of Typical FTP Session
220 FTP server ready.
USER ftp //Anonymus
230 Login successful.
PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,254,253,233,92)
//Client should open a connection to a transmitted IP
LIST
150 Here comes the directory listing. //Server
//transmits a list of files within a directory

32
 4. Use of FTP

226 Directory send OK.

CWD incoming
250 Directory successfully changed.
PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,254,253,207,56)
STOR gyuyfotry.avi
150 Ok to send data. //Client transmits a file contents
226 File receive OK.
QUIT
221 Goodbye.

4.4. Classes for Working with FTP

System.Object
System.MarshalByRefObject
System.Net.WebRequest
System.Net.FtpWebRequest

FtpWebRequest is a class for connection with the FTP-server.

Using the methods of this class we initiate FTP-commands
transmission to a server.
Table 8. Main properties and methods
of FtpWebRequest class

No. Method Description

1 WebRequest.Create Static method for creating an object
FtpWebRequest
2 GetResponce Receives a response from FTP-server in
a form of FtpWebResponce
3 GetRequestStream Receives a stream for data upload to
a server
4 BeginGetResponce Beginning of an asynchronous query
transfer to a server and receiving a re-
sponse
5 EndGetResponce Termination of asynchronous operation
of receiving a server’s response

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Lesson 6

No. Method Description

6 BeginGetRequestStream Asynchronous opening a stream for
uploading to a server
7 EndGetRequestStream Termination of asynchronous operation
of receiving a stream for uploading to
a server
8 Property Description
9 Method Returns or sets up an FTP-command
10 TimeOut Timeout of asynchronous operation in
milliseconds
11 UsePassive Passive or active transmission mode
12 UseBinary Data types upon transmission
13 RenameTo Name of a renaming file
14 ReadWriteTimeOut Timeout of reading or record
15 Proxy Description of a proxy-server
16 EnableSsl Use of encoding upon transmission
17 ContentType Content type
18 Credentials Data for connecting a server
19 ContentOffset Shifting of an uploading file

System.Object
System.MarshalByRefObject
    System.NetWebResponse
      System.Net.FtpWebResponse

FtpWebResponse class receives a server response and

used for processing the results of this response.
Table 8. Main properties and methods
of FtpWebResponse class

No. Methods Purpose

1 GetResponseStream Receives a stream for file reading or
uploading to a server
2 Close Releases the resources
3 Properties Description

34
 4. Use of FTP

No. Methods Purpose

4 ContentType Content type
5 ContentLength File length
6 BannerMessage Preliminary server notice
7 ExitMessage Message upon termination of FTP-session
8 WelcomeMessage Server message after connection
9 LastModified Date of the last file change
10 StatusCode Current state of FTP-session
11 StatusDescription Description of the current FTP-session state
12 IsFromCache Whether this response was received from cash

4.5.Example of FTP Use

File delete on a server

string FileName="ftp://glamurconcurs.com/lucie.jpg";
//create an FTP- query entity
FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.
Create(FileName);
//set up an FTP-command
request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.DeleteFile;
//execute a query and get a result
FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)
request.GetResponse();
//process a result
Console.WriteLine("Delete status: {0}",response.
StatusDescription);
//close a session
response.Close();

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Lesson 6

5. Exam Tasks
Variants of Examination Home Assignment (select one):
1. Build web-site tree. Restrict the references to other sites
by 1 level. Consider the possibility of self-references.
2. Load a web-site. Downloads by the references to the other
site are not allowed. Consider the possibility of self-ref-
erences.
3. Write a chat (message exchange software between several
users) on the basis of the sockets with an allocated server
4. Write a chat (message exchange software between several
users) on the basis of the datagrams
5. Write a program of network checkers game with a possi-
bility of fan presence.
6. Loading program from FTP-server with a possibility of
resume of an interrupted load in a particular time interval
of changes of loaded files on a server (updating)
7. Write a remote-access server of several clients for the base
MS ACCESS and the simplest client with a SQL-query
editor.

36
 5. Exam Tasks

37
STEP IT Academy, www.itstep.org

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