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C#

Receive a 4-byte Length Prefix from a Socket

See more Socket/SSL/TLS Examples

Demonstrates Socket.ReceiveCount, which reads a four-byte length prefix as a signed 32-bit integer. A return value of -1 indicates failure.

Background. Reading the length prefix first tells the application exactly how many bytes to read for the message body, which is a reliable way to know when a full message has arrived.

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C#
bool success = false;

Chilkat.Socket socket = new Chilkat.Socket();

//  Connect to the server using TLS.
bool bTls = true;
int maxWaitMs = 5000;
success = socket.Connect("example.com",5000,bTls,maxWaitMs);
if (success == false) {
    Debug.WriteLine(socket.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

//  Read a four-byte length prefix as a signed 32-bit integer (network byte order by default).  A
//  return value of -1 indicates failure.
int messageLength = socket.ReceiveCount();
if (messageLength < 0) {
    Debug.WriteLine(socket.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

Debug.WriteLine("The peer will send " + Convert.ToString(messageLength) + " bytes.");