java.net
Class MulticastSocket

java.lang.Object   
  java.net.DatagramSocket   
      java.net.MulticastSocket

public class MulticastSocket
extends DatagramSocket   

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

Constructor Summary

MulticastSocket ()
Create a multicast socket.

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

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

Method Summary

InetAddress	getInterface () Retrieve the address of the network interface used for multicast packets.
boolean	getLoopbackMode () Get the setting for local loopback of multicast datagrams.
NetworkInterface	getNetworkInterface () Get the multicast network interface set.
int	getTimeToLive () 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) Joins a multicast group.
void	joinGroup (SocketAddress mcastaddr, NetworkInterface netIf) Joins the specified multicast group at the specified interface.
void	leaveGroup (InetAddress mcastaddr) Leave a multicast group.
void	leaveGroup (SocketAddress mcastaddr, NetworkInterface netIf) 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) Set the multicast network interface used by methods whose behavior would be affected by the value of the network interface.
void	setLoopbackMode (boolean disable) 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) Specify the network interface for outgoing multicast datagrams sent on this socket.
void	setTimeToLive (int ttl) 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 , disconnect , getBroadcast , getChannel , 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

Constructor Detail

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket()
                throws IOException   

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(boolean) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while creating the MulticastSocket

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkListen method doesn't allow the operation.

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int) , DatagramSocket.setReuseAddress(boolean)

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket(int port)
                throws IOException   

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(boolean) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

Parameters:

port - port to use

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while creating the MulticastSocket

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkListen method doesn't allow the operation.

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int) , DatagramSocket.setReuseAddress(boolean)

MulticastSocket

public MulticastSocket(SocketAddress    bindaddr)
                throws IOException   

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(boolean) method is called to enable the SO_REUSEADDR socket option.

Parameters:

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

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while creating the MulticastSocket

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkListen method doesn't allow the operation.

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkListen(int) , DatagramSocket.setReuseAddress(boolean)

Method Detail

setTTL

@Deprecated
public void setTTL(byte ttl)
            throws IOException   

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

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

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while setting the default time-to-live value

See Also:

getTTL()

setTimeToLive

public void setTimeToLive(int ttl)
                   throws IOException   

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

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while setting the default time-to-live value

See Also:

getTimeToLive()

getTTL

@Deprecated
public byte getTTL()
            throws IOException   

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

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

Returns:

the default time-to-live value

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while getting the default time-to-live value

See Also:

setTTL(byte)

getTimeToLive

public int getTimeToLive()
                  throws IOException   

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

Returns:

the default time-to-live value

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O exception occurs while getting the default time-to-live value

See Also:

setTimeToLive(int)

joinGroup

public void joinGroup(InetAddress    mcastaddr)
               throws IOException   

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

Throws:

IOException - if there is an error joining or when the address is not a multicast address.

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkMulticast method doesn't allow the join.

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

leaveGroup

public void leaveGroup(InetAddress    mcastaddr)
                throws IOException   

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

Throws:

IOException - if there is an error leaving or when the address is not a multicast address.

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkMulticast method doesn't allow the operation.

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

joinGroup

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

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:

IOException - if there is an error joining or when the address is not a multicast address.

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkMulticast method doesn't allow the join.

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

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

leaveGroup

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

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:

IOException - if there is an error leaving or when the address is not a multicast address.

SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkMulticast method doesn't allow the operation.

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

Since:

1.4

See Also:

SecurityManager.checkMulticast(InetAddress)

setInterface

public void setInterface(InetAddress    inf)
                  throws SocketException   

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

Throws:

SocketException - if there is an error in the underlying protocol, such as a TCP error.

See Also:

getInterface()

getInterface

public InetAddress    getInterface()
                         throws SocketException   

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.

Throws:

SocketException - if there is an error in the underlying protocol, such as a TCP error.

See Also:

setInterface(java.net.InetAddress)

setNetworkInterface

public void setNetworkInterface(NetworkInterface    netIf)
                         throws SocketException   

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

Parameters:

netIf - the interface

Throws:

SocketException - if there is an error in the underlying protocol, such as a TCP error.

Since:

1.4

See Also:

getNetworkInterface()