[VB6] PipeRPC - RPC Over Named Pipes

[dilettante]

Title

PipeRPC, a UserControl providing remote procedure calls over Named Pipes written in VB6.

Description

PipeRPC is a VB6 UserControl that uses Named Pipes to provide a very easy to use mechanism to make calls between clients and servers running (a.) in the same machine or (b.) across a Local Area Network.

No more fighting with the Winsock control.

No more struggling with DCOM (PipeRPC is great for portable applications that use reg-free COM).

None of the ugliness of Web Services.

Feature list

Client and server functionality in one control.
Clients can make connected or disconnected (one time) calls.
Uses Named Pipes, so no firewall rules are required.
Works whether your LAN is based on TCP/IP, NetBEUI, or IPX/SPX network protocols. No TCP/IP required!
So easy.... well anyone can do it.

Screenshot

N/A since this is not a visible control at runtime.

Author name

Bob Riemersma

System requirements

Requires Windows 2000 or later.

For machine-to-machine operation:
Windows Networking enabled, firewalls must permit Windows Networking traffic ("File and Print Sharing").

A common Workgroup or Domain and common Users. The Windows Client and Server services must be running.
No special processor, disk, or memory requirements. Requires Visual Basic 6.0 development system, preferably Service Pack 6b or later, Standard Edition or better.

License info

Copyright © 2011 Robert D. Riemersma, Jr.
All Rights Reserved

PipeRPC is free for general use for any legal purpose, and derivative works are encouraged. Users are responsible for determining fitness and proper use. No liability is accepted and no warranty or guarantee of support is offered. This is “as is” software and related documentation and examples.

PipeRPC and related materials may be freely distributed in source or binary form as long as the notices are kept intact. Programs using PipeRPC do not require attribution in documentation or at runtime, however there is a Copyright property programs could use to display such information in About dialogs, etc. if desired.

Usage

Add the UserControl to your VB6 project. PipeRPC.rtf contains developer documentation, sample projects are also included in the package.

A Minimal Client and Server

Here is a "calculation client" that passes two operands and an operator to the server and displays the returned result:
Option Explicit

Private Request() As Byte
Private Response() As Byte
Private Operation As String

Private Sub cmdCalculate_Click()
Request = txtA.Text & "|" _
& Operation & "|" _
& txtB.Text
ReDim Response(199)
pipeCalculate.PipeCall Request, Response
txtResults.Text = Response
txtA.SetFocus
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
Operation = "+"
End Sub

Private Sub optOperation_Click(Index As Integer)
Operation = Choose(Index + 1, "+", "-", "*", "÷")
End Sub

Here is the calculation server:
Option Explicit

Private Sub Form_Load()
pipeCalculate.Listen
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
pipeCalculate.ClosePipe
End Sub

Private Sub pipeCalculate_Called(ByVal Pipe As Long, Request() As Byte, Response() As Byte)
Dim ReqParts() As String

ReqParts = Split(Request, "|")
On Error Resume Next
Select Case ReqParts(1)
Case "+"
Response = CStr(CDbl(ReqParts(0)) + CDbl(ReqParts(2)))
Case "-"
Response = CStr(CDbl(ReqParts(0)) - CDbl(ReqParts(2)))
Case "*"
Response = CStr(CDbl(ReqParts(0)) * CDbl(ReqParts(2)))
Case "÷"
Response = CStr(CDbl(ReqParts(0)) / CDbl(ReqParts(2)))
End Select
If Err Then Response = Err.Description
End Sub

[dilettante]

To clarify the sample code above, several properties such as the PipeName were set via the IDE Properties panel. A working version is included in the attachment above as Demo 2.

[akhileshbc]

Hi dilettante :wave:

Do you have the VB.Net equivalent ?

I'm in need of implementing a communication channel between applications which are connected in a LAN. What I have in mind is to use TCP class to create the client and listener, and do the communication. But is there a way to use Named Pipes ? :confused:

Thanks :wave:

[dilettante]

I believe that in .Net they work hard to hide Named Pipes from programmers. While you can use Named Pipes via WCF within a machine I'm pretty sure they don't allow it across a LAN (for "security reasons" they say).

So you'd have to resort to PInvoke and API calls.

TCP/IP works fine, it is just slower within a machine and requires firewall rules and stealing/reserving port numbers between and among machines. A lot of people just "Trust The Force" and pick a port number hoping it doesn't collide with another service.

But you ought to be able to use WCF with TCP between machines, saving you a lot of hand coding working with the Client and Listener.

[akhileshbc]

Thanks for the info :wave:

[dilettante]

You might look at this:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bclteam/archive/2006/12/07/introducing-pipes-justin-van-patten.aspx

[akhileshbc]

You might look at this:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bclteam/archive/2006/12/07/introducing-pipes-justin-van-patten.aspx

Thanks :wave:

I found a code sample in here (http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/VBNamedPipeServer-ce0f4531/sourcecode?itemId=18884). The author had referenced that blog you have posted too.

[dilettante]

Small corrections to just the documentation.