EasyUDPSocket → UDPSocket → SocketCore → Object

AutoDiscovery Class

AutoDiscovery uses the EasyUDPSocket class to automatically discover other REALbasic applications on the network.

Events
MemberJoined
MemberLeft

Methods
GetMemberList
SendMessageToGroup
UpdateMemberList

# Notes

The AutoDiscovery class lets you automatically discover other machines on the local network that are communicating using the EasyUDPSocket class. It does so by checking to see what other applications are using the same group name that you pass to the Register function of the EasyUDPSocket class. When a member joins (this includes your application when you first call the Register method), you will get a MemberJoined event with the IP address of the member that joined. When a member leaves, then you get a MemberLeft event with their IP as well. If you would like a list of the currently connected members, you can get an array of their IPs by calling the GetMemberList method. You can refresh the list by calling the UpdateMemberList method. It clears the internal list of connected members and re-queries the network for members.

The AutoDiscovery class is intended to make communication among network users as easy as possible. To do so, it makes use of a proprietary protocol. Because of this, it is unable to discover other communications protocols that may also be running on the network, such as iChat. Use the generic classes such as TCPSocket, UDPSocket, HTTPSocket, and so forth.

# Examples

Registering as a group member. Everyone on the network who wants to join the group needs to use the same group name.

AutoDiscovery1.Register("MyGroup")
AutoDiscovery1.UpdateMemberList

Getting the member list and displaying it in a ListBox:

Dim s(-1) as String
Dim i as Integer
s= AutoDiscovery1.GetMemberList
For i=0 to Ubound(s)
ListBox1.addrow s(i)
Next

Leaving the group.

AutoDiscovery1.Unregister("MyGroup")

Sending a message to the group.

AutoDiscovery1.SendMessageToGroup(100,"Hello world")

Receiving a message using the ReceivedMessage event:

Sub ReceivedMessage (FromIP as String, Command as Integer, Data as String)
MsgBox fromIP + " sent us " + Str(command) + ": " + Data

# See Also

EasyUDPSocket, UDPSocket classes.