This is a free update for customers using version 7.x, and is a complete package that replaces the previous version. Note that because of the version change, we recommend that you uninstall the previous version of SocketTools before installing 7.2. This update also applies to the related products such as SocketWrench, SocketTools File Transfer and SocketTools Internet Mail.

You can download it using the same link that you were provided with when you ordered the software. The release notes are available on our website.

You can download it using the same link that you were provided with when you ordered the software. The release notes are available on our website.

For those of you with an IPv6 connection, you can test that connection to us using ipv6.catalyst.com. If your IPv6 connectivity is limited to tunneling using Teredo, most browsers will not be able to connect to the site because they won’t resolve a host name to an IPv6 address if Teredo is the only IPv6 interface configured on the local system. Note that SocketTools works a bit differently. If a host name only has an IPv6 address associated with it, it will attempt to connect to the system, even if the only IPv6 interface is a Teredo tunnel.

News feeds can be accessed remotely from a web server, or locally as an XML formatted text file. The source of the feed is determined by the URI scheme that is specified. If the http or https scheme is specified, then the feed is retrieved from a web server. If the file scheme is used, the feed is considered to be local and is accessed from the disk or local network. The News Feed control provides an interface that enables you to open a feed by URL and iterate through each of the items in the feed or search for a specific feed item. The control also provides a method that can be used to parse a string that contains XML data in RSS format, where the feed may have been retrieved from other sources such as a database.

Each SocketTools Edition includes a news feed component. The Library Edition introduces a new API that can be used to access a feed with just a few function calls. The .NET Edition and ActiveX Edition include high-level components that make it simple to download a feed and enumerate each of the articles in the feed. You can download a free evaluation of SocketTools from go.catalyst.com/download

It’s clear that the transition to IPv6 is really taking on some urgency, and Internet service providers are under increasing pressure to start providing IPv6 connectivity to their customers. While the exact timetable isn’t clear, there’s no question that developers need to plan for these changes and make sure that their software is capable of supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 networks.

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64-bit Development
This has been one of the most requested features for SocketTools, and we’re pleased to include both 32-bit and 64-bit components in each of our SocketTools 7.0 products. Of course we’ve gotten quite a few questions from developers wanting to know how this will impact their applications and what kind of code changes will be required.

If you are currently using either the .NET or ActiveX components, you’ll find that there’s very little that has changed when it comes to working with SocketTools. Because they have a higher-level interface, you don’t need to worry about the core changes that were made to support 64-bit platforms. With .NET development, you’ll be able to build applications that explicitly target either the x86 or x64 platforms, or both. The most significant changes you’ll probably need to make are with how your installer deploys your application, since it will need to be aware of whether or not the installation is being performed on a 32-bit or 64-bit system.

For developers who are using the Library Edition, there will be more significant changes because of the lower-level interface presented by the SocketTools API. In particular, the size of pointers and handles are different based on whether you’re building your application for 32-bit or 64-bit systems. The signatures for some of the SocketTools functions have changed to accommodate this, and it may require that you modify your code. This is really a general programming issue, so it’s not something unique to SocketTools, but it is something to be aware of if you’re planning to port your software to 64-bit Windows.

IPv6 Networking
The other significant change that we’ve made to SocketTools is to support IPv6, the next generation Internet protocol. You may have read recently in the news that the last of the IPv4 address blocks have been released, and that we’re essentially “running out” of available IPv4 addresses. IPv6 resolves this significant problem by providing a (much) larger address space, where there are more than enough unique IPv6 addresses available for every network-enabled device.

SocketTools 7.0 includes support for both IPv4 and IPv6, and we have worked to make it as seamless as possible. For the majority of developers, there’s actually very little that you’ll need to do in order to support IPv6 in your applications. Because IPv4 is still the dominant version of the protocol that is in use today, SocketTools uses that as a default for connections. For example, if a remote host has both an IPv4 and IPv6 address, we will default to using an IPv4 connection unless you explicitly tell us that you want to use IPv6 instead. However, if that host only has an IPv6 address, that is what we’ll use.

Although SocketTools makes the transition to support IPv6 much simpler, there are changes that you’ll need to make to your applications to support it. For example, the format of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are very different. An IPv4 address looks like 192.168.0.20, while an IPv6 address can look something like fd7c:2f6a:4f4f:ba34::a32. If your software checks for the format of these addresses, it needs to be aware of the differences. You also need to make sure that you’re providing enough space to display or store an address.

Another consideration is that IPv6 support on the Windows platforms varies according to version. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 support IPv6, but it needs to be installed and configured separately. Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows 7 have IPv6 installed by default. If you attempt to establish an IPv6 connection on a system that doesn’t support it, an error will be returned that your application will need to handle.

Product Consolidation
SocketTools originally started as a single product, the Visual Edition, which included Visual Basic (VBX) and ActiveX components. As time went on, we created additional versions of SocketTools to address the emerging needs of different types of developers. These included the Library Edition with a lower-level API, the Scripting Edition for light-weight scripting and web development, and the .NET Edition for developers using the .NET platform. We also had different editions based on whether or not security features (SSL, TLS, SSH) were needed.

Product consolidation achieves two general goals. First, it simplifies and reduces the number of SocketTools editions, and second, it better reflects the current needs of developers. For these reasons, the number of SocketTools Editions has been reduced from eight to three:

SocketTools .NET Edition
SocketTools ActiveX Edition
SocketTools Library Edition

In addition, the Internet Mail and File Transfer products were each consolidated to include both the ActiveX and .NET components. The SocketWrench products were consolidated into one but continues to include the lower-level API for those developers who prefer it. The SocketTools Subscription includes every product so reflects all the changes.

We hope these changes simplify things for our existing customers and for new developers evaluating our products. If you already own a SocketTools license and want to upgrade to 7.0, here’s what you need to know:

Each SocketTools Edition now includes support for the security features that were previously only available in the Secure Editions.

The ActiveX Edition merges the components of both the Visual Edition and Scripting Edition. Developers who currently have either of those editions are directed to upgrade to the ActiveX Edition.

Each product includes both 32-bit and 64-bit components and/or libraries. Even if you aren’t currently developing software for 64-bit Windows, it will be there when you’re ready to make that transition.

There will be a single upgrade price, regardless of your current version or if you previously owned a Standard or Secure Edition of your product. The finalized upgrade pricing will be available on our website when the new products are released. Of course, those of you with an active SocketTools Subscription will be able to download the new version for free as part of your subscription service.

Thank you for your continued support of SocketTools, and if you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. If you have any technical questions about 64-bit development or IPv6 support in SocketTools, post them here and we’ll do our best to address them.

This doesn’t signal an immediate change, since each of the RIRs have IPv4 addresses they can continue to allocate, but it is significant in that it shows we need to prioritize the switch to IPv6. It’s estimated that the addresses that APNIC were given will be exhausted before June, and all of the remaining IPv4 addresses will be allocated within two years. Different RIRs allocate IP addresses at different rates, largely based on usage and population.

Whether the change has any significant impact over the next six months or the next couple of years, the writing is clearly on the wall: the 4.3 billion addresses available in IPv4 is not even close to meeting the future demands of the Internet with tens of billions of devices connected to it. The IPv6 address space is sufficiently large that it, for all practical purposes, there is no real limit. One popular analogy is that the address space is large enough that each person on the planet could have a unique IPv6 address assigned to each of the cells in their body.

As a developer, it’s important to start planning for the transition to IPv6. You don’t need to worry about the sky falling; IPv4 will continue to be used for many years. However, it’s also clear that IPv6 is the future. Large companies and government institutions are going to require that your software provides support for it. SocketTools 7 will definitely help with seamless support for both IPv4 and IPv6 connections, without requiring significant changes to your software.

Originally we had planned to release each of the SocketTools 7 Editions in two different versions, one 32-bit and one for 64-bit development. Based on feedback from our customers and the recognition that 64-bit development is in a transition period, we’ve decided to include both 32-bit and 64-bit components in the same product. You will be able to choose the versions that you want to install, with the defaults selected based on the system that you’re installing SocketTools on.

For those who are using the SocketTools .NET Editions and the Visual Editions, there will be virtually no coding changes required; the components will work in the same way, regardless of which version is being used. Because they have a higher-level interface, you don’t need to worry about the core changes that were made to support 64-bit platforms. With .NET development, you’ll be able to build applications that explicitly target either the x86 or x64 platforms, or both. The most significant changes you’ll probably need to make are with how your installer deploys your application, since it will need to be aware of whether or not the installation is being performed on a 32-bit or 64-bit system.

For developers who are using the Library Edition, there will be more significant changes because of the lower-level interface presented by the SocketTools API. In particular, the size of pointers and handles are different based on whether you’re building your application for 32-bit or 64-bit systems. The signatures for some of the SocketTools functions have changed to accommodate this, and it may require that you modify your code. This is really a general programming issue, so it’s not something unique to SocketTools, but it is something to be aware of if you’re planning to port your software to 64-bit Windows.

By including both 32-bit and 64-bit components in each of the SocketTools 7 Editions, you’ll have the best of both worlds. You can continue to develop and maintain your existing 32-bit software, while planning your transition to native 64-bit support that is clearly the future direction for the Windows platform.

To become a member of the beta testing group, please use the following link (this will be removed when beta test concludes). Once your application is received, you’ll be emailed a PDF that contains the NDA. After you email or fax the signed NDA back to us, you’ll be sent the link to the private section of the forums for beta testers and download links for the current build of the software.

It is recommended that you don’t install the beta release on a production system. The libraries and components are also set to periodically expire, so they should not be used in release software. Updates to the beta builds are planned for approximately every two weeks, and you’ll receive an email notification when a new build is uploaded. For everyone who joins us, thank you for your interest in making SocketTools an even better product!