The multicast datagram socket class is useful for sending
and receiving IP multicast packets. A MulticastSocket is
a (UDP) DatagramSocket, with additional capabilities for
joining "groups" of other multicast hosts on the internet.
A multicast group is specified by a class D IP address
and by a standard UDP port number. Class D IP addresses
are in the range 224.0.0.0
to 239.255.255.255
,
inclusive. The address 224.0.0.0 is reserved and should not be used.
One would join a multicast group by first creating a MulticastSocket
with the desired port, then invoking the
joinGroup(InetAddress groupAddr)
method:
// join a Multicast group and send the group salutations
...
String msg = "Hello";
InetAddress group = InetAddress.getByName("228.5.6.7");
MulticastSocket s = new MulticastSocket(6789);
s.joinGroup(group);
DatagramPacket hi = new DatagramPacket(msg.getBytes(), msg.length(),
group, 6789);
s.send(hi);
// get their responses!
byte[] buf = new byte[1000];
DatagramPacket recv = new DatagramPacket(buf, buf.length);
s.receive(recv);
...
// OK, I'm done talking - leave the group...
s.leaveGroup(group);
When one sends a message to a multicast group,
all subscribing
recipients to that host and port receive the message (within the
time-to-live range of the packet, see below). The socket needn't
be a member of the multicast group to send messages to it.
When a socket subscribes to a multicast group/port, it receives
datagrams sent by other hosts to the group/port, as do all other
members of the group and port. A socket relinquishes membership
in a group by the leaveGroup(InetAddress addr) method.
Multiple MulticastSocket's may subscribe to a multicast group
and port concurrently, and they will all receive group datagrams.
Currently applets are not allowed to use multicast sockets.