Header file:<ply-network.h>Namespace:plyTCP/IP Networking

Plywood provides a portable networking API for TCP/IP communication. The API supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Before using any networking functions, you must call Network::initialize(). When finished, call Network::shutdown().

IPAddress

Represents an IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6).

u32 netOrdered[]

The raw address bytes in network byte order. For IPv4, only netOrdered[0] is used.

IPVersion version() const

Returns IPVersion::V4 or IPVersion::V6.

bool isNull() const

Returns true if this is a null/uninitialized address.

static constexpr IPAddress localHost(IPVersion ipVersion)

Returns the localhost address (127.0.0.1 for IPv4, ::1 for IPv6).

static constexpr IPAddress from_ipv4(u32 netOrdered)

Creates an IPv4 address from a 32-bit value in network byte order.

String toString() const

Returns a human-readable string representation of the address.

static IPAddress fromString()

Parses an IP address from a string.

Network

The Network class provides static methods for network initialization and connection management.

static void initialize(IPVersion ipVersion)

Initializes the networking subsystem. Must be called before any other networking functions. Specify IPVersion::V4 or IPVersion::V6.

static void shutdown()

Shuts down the networking subsystem and releases resources.

static TCPListener bindTcp(u16 port)

Creates a TCP listener bound to the specified port. The listener can accept incoming connections.

static Owned<TCPConnection> connectTcp(const IPAddress& address,  u16 port)

Establishes a TCP connection to the specified address and port. Returns null on failure.

static IPAddress resolveHostName(StringView hostName,  IPVersion ipVersion)

Resolves a hostname (e.g., "example.com") to an IP address using DNS.

static IPResult lastResult()

Returns the result code from the most recent network operation.

TCPConnection

Represents an established TCP connection to a remote host.

PipeWinsock inPipe
PipeWinsock outPipe

The underlying pipe objects for reading and writing. Typically, use createInStream() and createOutStream() instead.

TCPConnection()
~TCPConnection()

Constructor and destructor. Connections are typically created via Network::connectTcp() or TCPListener::accept().

const IPAddress& remoteAddress() const

Returns the IP address of the remote host.

u16 remotePort() const

Returns the port number of the remote host.

SOCKET getHandle() const

Returns the underlying socket handle. Use with care.

Stream createInStream()

Creates a buffered stream for reading data from the connection.

Stream createOutStream()

Creates a buffered stream for writing data to the connection.

TCPListener

A TCPListener listens for incoming TCP connections on a specific port.

TCPListener(SOCKET listenSocket)

Constructs a listener from a socket handle. Typically created via Network::bindTcp().

TCPListener(TCPListener&& other)

Move constructor.

TCPListener& operator=(TCPListener&& other)

Move assignment.

bool isValid()

Returns true if the listener is bound to a valid socket.

void endComm()

Signals that no more connections will be accepted. Causes any blocking accept() call to return.

void close()

Closes the listener socket.

Owned<TCPConnection> accept()

Blocks until a client connects, then returns the new connection. Returns null if the listener was closed.

// Simple echo server
Network::initialize(IPVersion::V4);
TCPListener listener = Network::bindTcp(8080);

while (true) {
    Owned<TCPConnection> conn = listener.accept();
    if (!conn) break;
    
    Stream in = conn->createInStream();
    Stream out = conn->createOutStream();
    
    String line = readLine(in);
    out.write(line);
    out.write("\n");
    out.flush();
}

Network::shutdown();