TCP/IP Client and Server Options

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TCP/IP Client and Server Options

When you configure TCP-Com as either a TCP/IP client or a server, you can control how bi-directional data is handled. In the TCP/IP settings section of each session window, there is a button with the caption "I/O Options" that will open an options dialog box.

Server Options:

When TCP-Com is configured as a TCP/IP Server, clicking the "I/O Options" button will present the following dialog box:

As a server, TCP-Com can accept multiple connections to a TCP/IP port from any number of clients. You can disable this functionality and only accept a single client connection by clearing the check box marked "Allow multiple client connections". You can also control how bi-directional data is handled from each connected client using the "Inbound TCP/IP data options" and the "Inbound serial data options". The meaning of each option is described below:

Inbound TCP/IP data options:

1. Transmit inbound TCP/IP data from all clients out the serial port.
This option instructs TCP-Com to accept incoming data from all connected TCP/IP clients and thus send all data received out the serial port. Data received from all clients is transmitted out the serial port as it is received.

2. Ignore inbound TCP/IP data from all clients.
This option instructs TCP-Com to discard all data received from all connected clients. This effectively turns TCP-Com into a one-way communications program. This option should be selected when you want to allow all connected clients to be able to receive data that is sent by a device into the serial port however you do not want any of the clients to be able to send anything out the serial port back to the serial device.

3. Transmit inbound data from first connected client only.
This option instructs TCP-Com to allow only the first connected client to have the ability to transmit data out the serial port. Any clients that establish a connection to TCP-Com after the first client connects will only be able to see incoming serial data and will not be able to send any data out the serial port.

Inbound serial data options:

1. Send inbound serial data to all TCP/IP clients.
This option instructs TCP-Com to send incoming serial data to all connected TCP/IP clients.

2. Ignore inbound serial data.
This option instructs TCP-Com to discard all data received through the serial port. This option should be selected only when you want to allow all connected clients to be able to transmit data out the serial port to a device however you do not want any of the clients to be able to receive any data back from the serial device.

3. Send inbound serial data to first connected client only.
This option instructs TCP-Com to allow only the first connected client to have the ability to receive data from the serial port. Any clients that establish a connection to TCP-Com after the first client connects will only be able to send data out the serial port.

Client Options:

When TCP-Com is configured as a TCP/IP Client, clicking the "I/O Options" button will present the following dialog box:

As a client, TCP-Com establishes a connection to a TCP/IP server. Normally any data received through the TCP/IP port that it connects to would be transmitted out the serial port and any data received through the serial port is sent back to the TCP/IP server. You can choose to enable or disable full 2-way communications using the following options:

1. Allow complete 2-way I/O.
This option enables fully bi-directional communications.

2. Disable output to serial port.
Selecting this option causes TCP-Com to discard all data received from the TCP/IP server that it is connected to and thus not send any data out the serial port.

3. Disable output to TCP/IP port.
Selecting this option causes TCP-Com to discard all data received through the serial port and therefore not send any serial data to the TCP/IP server.

Checking the checkbox labeled “Open TCP/IP port only when Virtual COM port is open” causes TCP-Com to open the TCP/IP client connection only when a serial communications program has opened the Virtual COM port. This option only applies if you have TCP-Com configured to create a Virtual COM port. If the application that has the Virtual COM port opened closes the virtual COM port, then TCP-Com will also close the TCP/IP client connection.

If you disable this option, then TCP-Com will open the TCP/IP client connection as soon as you activate it however any data received over the TCP/IP port will be discarded until another serial communications program opens the Virtual COM port.