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VB.NET

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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VB.NET
Dim success As Boolean = False

Dim socket As New Chilkat.Socket

'  Connect to the server using TLS.
Dim bTls As Boolean = True
Dim maxWaitMs As Integer = 5000
success = socket.Connect("example.com",5000,bTls,maxWaitMs)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(socket.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Read a four-byte length prefix as a signed 32-bit integer (network byte order by default).  A
'  return value of -1 indicates failure.
Dim messageLength As Integer = socket.ReceiveCount()
If (messageLength < 0) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(socket.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine("The peer will send " & messageLength & " bytes.")