Catalyst Development

We are pleased to announce that SocketTools 6.0 has been released. This new version includes several new components, including a new SSH component for secure interactive terminal sessions and remote command execution, integrated support for secure file transfers using SFTP and a new Internet Server component that allows you to build a customized, scalable, multi-threaded server with only a few lines of code. The SocketTools 6.0 components are source compatible with version 4.0 and 5.0 and support side-by-side deployment, simplifying the upgrade process so that you can spend your time improving your software, not rewriting it.

The SocketTools 6.0 Secure Editions introduce new components that implement the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which can be used to establish a secure, encrypted connection with a server. With an interface that is similar to our Telnet components, you can implement an interactive terminal session, or you can specify that you want a command executed remotely and the output returned to your application. SSH does not require complicated certificate management and is widely supported on most servers today. Of course, the SocketTools Secure Editions continue to also support the SSL and TLS security protocols, providing the widest range of options to developers who require security features for their applications.

The SocketTools Secure Editions also support file transfers using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, as well as the SSL and TLS protocols. Also commonly referred to as FTP+SSH, the SocketTools file transfer components can be used to connect to an SSH server and upload or download files, obtain directory listings and perform common file management functions. Because support for SFTP is integrated into the existing FTP components, in most cases all you need to do is specify the SSH port number without making any other changes to your code. The same interface is provided for FTP, FTP+SSL and FTP+SSH, making it easy to offer the widest range of options to your users. Another new feature of the File Transfer Protocol components is the ability to verify that the file on the local system is identical to the file on the server using an MD5 hash or CRC-32 checksum, and automatically setting the correct file transfer mode based on the type of file being uploaded or downloaded. Developers can also explicitly verify the contents of a file, and can even register their own custom file types.

One of the most complex tasks in Internet software development is creating a custom server application that can reliably handle a large number of client connections. SocketTools 6.0 introduces a new Internet Server component to simplify the development of custom servers, providing an easy-to-use framework where the only code you need to write is in response to events that are sent to your application. With a single function call, you can create a scalable, multi-threaded, event-driven server that can be used to accept connections from clients anywhere in the world, or just on your local intranet. All of the networking, thread management, synchronization and messaging are handled internally by the framework, allowing you to focus on writing your own code without worrying about the complex details of the server implementation.

Developers who need to create an e-mail application that download and store messages on the local system, the Mail Message (MIME) components and library have been expanded to provide a new storage interface that simplifies the storage, retrieval and management of message. Simply create a new storage file, and begin adding messages to it. When you need to access a stored message, you can reference it by an index number, or you can use functions to search for a particular message that contains a specific header value. For example, you can search the message store for all messages that have been sent by someone with a particular e-mail address. There’s even a compatibility mode where you can import message stores from UNIX mail systems, if needed.

SocketTools 6.0 is fully compatible with both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, and is designed to take advantage of new features introduced in Microsoft’s latest operating system. Our developers use Windows Vista and Visual Studio 2008 as their primary development platform, so we don’t simply test under Vista, we work with the operating system every day and understand how it impacts application development in the real world. Of course, SocketTools is also fully supported under Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000. If your users are upgrading to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista, then we recommend that you to upgrade to SocketTools 6.0 to ensure compatibility.

For more information, please review the SocketTools FAQ in the support section of our website. We also encourage you to download a free evaluation copy of the SocketTools 6.0 Edition that interests you. The evaluation license is valid for a single development system for 30 days, it is completely functional and can be safely installed side-by-side with earlier versions of SocketTools.