MultiCast Messages to multiple clients on the same machine

Question

Im trying to write a server/service that broadcasts a message on the lan ever second or so, Kind of like a service discovery.

The message needs to be rece

Answer 1

I have never done this, but it seems like "mailslots" is what you need. It will broadacast a message on the local network, and receive any replies from other workstations that know how to reply. This is how the popular "armadillo" license manager works (for making sure that registration keys aren't "over-subscribed"). My app (ClipMate) uses Armadillo to as a protection wrapper (shareware wrapper). When a registered user runs the app, it checks to see if that same key is in use by other machines on the same network. It basically says: "I'm using license 1234, how about you?" It waits for replies (i do this in a separate thread during startup so I don't block my startup). If other workstations report back that they're using the same key, I check the count against the number of seats contained in the license. I'm not entirely sure that it's as robust on Windows7....