aSocks is a Library of Classes and Functions that enables the Xbase++ Developer to create Internet Enabled Applications quickly and easily.

Now you can write an Internet Enabled application as easily as you would write any other Xbase++ application.

With a few lines of code you can now read and write to a remote Internet/Intranet Server instead of your local Hard Drive.  

Grab a web page, check your mail, see if there are any new posts in your favorite News Group all from within your own Xbase++ application.  With the aSocks Library, it is simple.

You can now automate user registration, via the Internet. Now you can have your customers email you when a problem occurs.  Need the Error.log file?  No problem, add it as an attachment.  Communication between you and your customers can now be quick and simple.  The possibilities are endless.

Classes included are:

• Audio
  • The audio player Class provides Methods for converting audio files in a variety of formats to the native Windows format. The Class can also be used to play the audio files, or the Multimedia API can be used in conjunction with the library to provide greater control over the audio playback.
      
• DNS
  • The Domain Name Service Class provides a way for client applications to resolve host names into IP addresses, as well as provide additional information about the host. Typically, the addresses of one or more nameservers (systems who provide this information to clients) are configured in the client's TCP/IP stack. The DNS Class allows an application to query one or more nameservers directly, without depending on the configuration of the client system.
      
• File Encoding and Decoding (ie. UUEncode)
  • The file encoding Class provides Methods for encoding and decoding binary files, typically attachments to e-mail messages. The process of encoding converts the contents of a binary file to printable 7-bit ASCII text. Decoding reverses the process, converting a previously encoded text file back into a binary file.
    There are two primary types of encoding used, uucode and base64. The uucode format is commonly used on UNIX systems and is still widely used when attaching binary files to USENET newsgroup posts. The base64 algorithm is most commonly used with e-mail attachments, and is often referred to as MIME encoding since this is the encoding method specified in the MIME standards document.
      
• FTP
  • The FTP Class allows the developer to connect to a remote server and perform file and directory maintenance functions. In addition to copying files between the local and remote host, the Class can be used to list the files on the remote system, remove and rename files, create and remove directories and perform other server-specific functions.
      
• Finger
  • The Finger Class enables the application to request information from a finger server about a specific user. The information that is typically returned is that date and time of the user's last login to that server, and if any outstanding mail messages are waiting, The actual information and format of that information depends on the server being queried.
      
• Gopher
  • The Gopher Class enables the application to search a Gopher server for a specific document or resource and return that information to the client. The Gopher protocol pre-dates the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that is used with the World Wide Web and is similar in a number of ways. Resources returned by the Gopher server may be text files, as well as binary executables, image files and encoded file archives.
      
• HTTP
  • The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Class can be used to download documents, images, audio samples and other resources from a web server, as well as post data to the server for processing.  Using the HTTP Protocol Class, the developer can create Spiders, Web Page or Site Analyzers, Create your own Search Engine, etc.
      
• ICMP
  • The Internet Control Message Protocol Class sends ICMP echo datagrams to a remote host to determine if that host is reachable over the network.
       
• MIME
  • The MailMessage Class enables the developer to easily manage mail messages. It can be used to create new messages as well as parse an existing message. The Class can be used with simple RFC 822 compliant messages, as well as RFC 1521 MIME compliant messages with multipart attachments.
      
• NNTP
  • The NNTP Class enables an application to scan, retrieve and post articles on a remote news server.
      
• POP3
  • The POP3 Class enables an application to scan and retrieve mail messages stored on a remote host.
      
• Remote Command Execution
  • The remote execution Class allows an application to execute a command on a UNIX server, with the input and output of the command redirected through the connection.
      
• SMTP
  • The SMTP Class enables an application to send electronic mail to a remote host.
      
• Telnet
  • The Telnet Class enables an application to establish a network connection with a remote host and interact with the host through a virtual terminal.
      
• Time Protocol
  • The network time Class enables the application to request the current time and date from a remote server. The values returned may either be expressed in local time (using the local host's timezone) or system time (also known as Universal Coordinated Time or Greenwich Mean Time). The Class may also be used to synchronize the local host's system clock with the remote server.
      
• WhoIs
  • The Whois Class enables the application to request information from a server about a specific domain or user. This Class would be most commonly used to query the Whois server at rs.internic.net to obtain information about a specific Internet domain name or an administrative contact at that domain or to contact and query IP Delegators such as ARIN, etc..
      
• and even Raw Sockets (WinSock)
  • The INet Class provides a higher-level interface to the Windows Sockets library. If needed, Class/Method calls can be intermixed between the Class and Windows Sockets libraries.