Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Name

MulticastSocket

Synopsis

This subclass of DatagramSocket can send and receive multicast UDP packets. It extends DatagramSocket by adding joinGroup( ) and leaveGroup( ) methods to join and leave multicast groups. You do not have to join a group to send a packet to a multicast address, but you must join the group to receive packets sent to that address. Note that the use of a MulticastSocket is governed by a security manager.

Use setTimeToLive( ) to set a time-to-live value for any packets sent through a MulticastSocket. This constrains the number of network hops a packet can take and controls the scope of a multicast. Use setInterface( ) or setNetworkInterface( ) to specify the InetAddress or the NetworkInterface that outgoing multicast packets should use: this is useful for servers or other computers that have more than one internet address or network interface. setLoopbackMode( ) specifies whether a multicast packets sent through this socket should be send back to this socket or not. This method should really be named “setLoopbackModeDisabled( )”: passing an argument of true requests (but does not require) that the system disable loopback packets.

Figure 12-12. java.net.MulticastSocket

public class MulticastSocket extends DatagramSocket {
// Public Constructors
     public MulticastSocket( ) throws java.io.IOException;  
1.4  public MulticastSocket(SocketAddress bindaddr) throws ...