<ply-network.h>

namespace ply

TCP/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 net_ordered[]

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

IPVersion version() const

Returns IPVersion::V4 or IPVersion::V6.

bool is_null() const

Returns true if this is a null/uninitialized address.

static constexpr IPAddress local_host(IPVersion ip_version)

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

static constexpr IPAddress from_ipv4(u32 net_ordered)

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

String to_string() const

Returns a human-readable string representation of the address.

static IPAddress from_string()

Parses an IP address from a string.

Network

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

static void initialize(IPVersion ip_version)

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 bind_tcp(u16 port)

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

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

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

static IPAddress resolve_host_name(StringView host_name,  IPVersion ip_version)

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

static IPResult last_result()

Returns the result code from the most recent network operation.

TCPConnection

Represents an established TCP connection to a remote host.

PipeWinsock in_pipe
PipeWinsock out_pipe

The underlying pipe objects for reading and writing. Typically, use create_in_stream() and create_out_stream() instead.

TCPConnection()
~TCPConnection()

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

const IPAddress& remote_address() const

Returns the IP address of the remote host.

u16 remote_port() const

Returns the port number of the remote host.

SOCKET get_handle() const

Returns the underlying socket handle. Use with care.

Stream create_in_stream()

Creates a buffered stream for reading data from the connection.

Stream create_out_stream()

Creates a buffered stream for writing data to the connection.

TCPListener

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

TCPListener(SOCKET listen_socket)

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

TCPListener(TCPListener&& other)

Move constructor.

TCPListener& operator=(TCPListener&& other)

Move assignment.

bool is_valid()

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

void end_comm()

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::bind_tcp(8080);

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

Network::shutdown();