New SocketWrench 6.0 Features

If you're a developer who has used previous versions of SocketWrench, or you're a new developer who needs to integrate Internet technology in your applications, SocketWrench offers everything you need to get started. Here's an overview of what's new when you upgrade to SocketWrench 6.0:

  1. Build custom server applications effortlessly. 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. SocketWrench 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Improved performance and reliability. A new internal memory management system improves how large blocks of memory are allocated and managed, both overall and on a per-client basis. In particular, complex multithreaded applications which create multiple client sessions can see increased performance and use fewer resources over the lifetime of the application.
  4. Enhanced security features. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a new encryption standard that is being widely adopted by the United States government and organizations around the world. SocketTools 6.0 supports AES on the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 platforms, enabling your application to take advantage of the latest security features without requiring any changes to your applications.
  5. Target multiple frameworks with the SocketTools .NET Edition. Assemblies for the 1.1, 2.0 and 3.5 .NET Frameworks are included in the same product, enabling developers to specifically target which framework they are using to deploy their application. Although most new development today is using Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, we realize there are still a large number of developers who are creating applications using Visual Studio .NET 2003, and we will continue to provide support for the older versions of Visual Studio. Regardless of which version of .NET you're using, the SocketTools classes have identical interfaces and are completely source-compatible with one another.
  6. Backwards compatibility with previous versions of SocketWrench. If you are currently using version 4.0 or 5.0, the components in version 6.0 have a compatible interface and will require few, if any changes to your existing code. While new features have been added, the existing class interfaces and APIs remain substantially the same. In most cases, all you will need to do is remove the old version of the control, class or library, replace it with the new version and recompile your application. Because the 6.0 components are designed to work side-by-side with previous versions, it also means that you can deploy new versions of your software without worrying about DLL conflicts or other version incompatibilities.
  7. Expanded technical reference documentation. The reference material for SocketWrench is extensive, and in version 6.0 we've worked to make it both easy to understand and comprehensive. Available in HTML Help format, the SocketWrench documentation includes a Developer's Guide to get you up and running quickly, and a Technical Reference that provides extensive documentation for every API function, class method, property and event.
  8. Expanded and updated example code, including examples for Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio .NET 2003. We've reorganized many of the examples included with SocketTools to make them easier to find, easier to understand and extend for your own use. In addition to new examples for the current version of Visual Studio, we've also retained and updated the examples for Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual C++ 6.0 because we realize that some developers continue to use the older development tools. Additional examples for third-party languages like PowerBASIC and RealBasic have also been included based on customer feedback.

For more information, please review the SocketWrench FAQ in the support section of our website. We also encourage you to download a free evaluation copy of the SocketWrench 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 SocketWrench.

If you're interested in placing an order, you can use our secure online order form. We offer electronic delivery as an option, so if you place your order during normal business hours, you can be building and redistributing your application the very same day.

If you have any further questions about SocketWrench, please be sure to contact us. We'll do our very best to respond promptly and thoroughly. We also recommend you visit our technical support forums and register there, where you can ask questions and participate in discussions with Catalyst technical support staff and other SocketWrench developers.

SocketWrench Edition

SocketWrench Links

SocketWrench 6.0
Read about what is new in the latest version of SocketWrench.

SocketWrench Overview
More information about the different SocketWrench Editions.

SocketWrench Features
An overview of the product features and benefits.

SocketWrench Tutorials
Get started using SocketWrench in your application.

Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions about SocketWrench.

Release Notes
Release notes for the current version of SocketWrench.

License Agreement
The developer license agreement for this product.