IP Tools
This section provides an overview of the utilities and helper classes available within the System.Net.IP namespace for working with IP addresses and related network information.
Overview
The .NET Framework offers a robust set of classes for handling Internet Protocol (IP) addressing. These tools are essential for building network-aware applications, enabling communication between devices, and managing network configurations programmatically. The primary classes in this area include:
IPAddress: Represents an Internet Protocol (IP) address.IPEndPoint: Represents a network endpoint as an IP address and a port number.- Helper methods and structures for parsing, validating, and manipulating IP addresses.
Key Functionality
The IP tools in .NET facilitate a variety of operations, including:
- Creating and representing both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
- Converting IP address strings to their binary representations and vice versa.
- Validating the format of IP addresses.
- Working with network masks and prefixes.
- Resolving hostnames to IP addresses (though typically handled by higher-level classes like
Dns).
IPAddress Class
Description
The IPAddress class is the cornerstone for representing IP addresses. It supports both IPv4 and IPv6 formats, allowing for modern network compatibility.
Common Properties and Methods
AddressFamily: Gets the address family (IPv4 or IPv6).IsIPv4MappedToIPv6: Checks if the address is an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address.ToString(): Returns a string representation of the IP address.Parse(string ipString): Parses a string representation of an IP address.TryParse(string ipString, out IPAddress address): Tries to parse a string representation of an IP address without throwing an exception.
Example
using System.Net;
// Create an IPv4 address
IPAddress ipv4Addr = IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.100");
Console.WriteLine($"IPv4 Address: {ipv4Addr}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address Family: {ipv4Addr.AddressFamily}");
// Create an IPv6 address
IPAddress ipv6Addr = IPAddress.Parse("2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334");
Console.WriteLine($"IPv6 Address: {ipv6Addr}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address Family: {ipv6Addr.AddressFamily}");
// Parse from a string safely
if (IPAddress.TryParse("10.0.0.5", out IPAddress parsedAddr))
{
Console.WriteLine($"Successfully parsed: {parsedAddr}");
}
IPEndPoint Class
Description
IPEndPoint combines an IPAddress with a port number, defining a specific network endpoint for communication (e.g., a server listening on a particular port).
Common Properties and Methods
Address: Gets or sets the IP address.Port: Gets or sets the port number.Create(long socketAddress): Creates anIPEndPointfrom a socket address structure.ToString(): Returns a string representation in the format "IPAddress:Port".
Example
using System.Net;
IPAddress ipAddress = IPAddress.Loopback; // 127.0.0.1 or ::1
int port = 8080;
IPEndPoint endpoint = new IPEndPoint(ipAddress, port);
Console.WriteLine($"Endpoint: {endpoint}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address: {endpoint.Address}");
Console.WriteLine($"Port: {endpoint.Port}");
Best Practices
- Always use
TryParsemethods when dealing with user input or external data to avoid application crashes due to invalid formats. - Be mindful of IPv4 and IPv6 compatibility. Your application may need to handle both or prioritize one based on network requirements.
- When specifying endpoints for network services, ensure the port number is within the valid range (0-65535) and not already in use.