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| Chapter 15 The java.net Package |

# DatagramSocket

## Name

DatagramSocket

## Synopsis

Class Name:

  `java.net.DatagramSocket`

Superclass:

  `java.lang.Object`

Immediate Subclasses:

  `java.net.MulticastSocket`

Interfaces Implemented:

  None

Availability:

  JDK 1.0 or later

## Description

The `DatagramSocket` class implements packet-oriented, connectionless data communication. In Internet parlance, this is the User Datagram Protocol, commonly known as UDP (see RFC 768). Each packet wanders through the network, routed by its destination address. Different packets can take different paths through the network and may arrive in a different order than they were sent. Furthermore, packets are not even guaranteed to reach their destination. It is up to an application that uses `DatagramSocket` to determine if data is out of order or missing. While these features may seem like disadvantages of `DatagramSocket`, there is also some advantage to using this class. Primarily, communication using `DatagramSocket` is faster than `Socket` stream communication because of the lack of overhead involved.

## Class Summary

    public class java.net.DatagramSocket extends java.lang.Object {
      // Constructors
      public DatagramSocket();
      public DatagramSocket(int port);
      public DatagramSocket(int port, InetAddress laddr);     // New in 1.1
      // Instance Methods
      public void close();
      public InetAddress getLocalAddress();                   // New in 1.1
      public int getLocalPort();
      public synchronized int getSoTimeout();                 // New in 1.1
      public synchronized void receive(DatagramPacket p);
      public void send(DatagramPacket p);
      public synchronized void setSoTimeout(int timeout);     // New in 1.1
    }

## Constructors

### DatagramSocket

#### public DatagramSocket() throws SocketException

Throws

  `SocketException`

    If any kind of socket error occurs.

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to listen on the port.

Description

  This constructor creates a `DatagramSocket` that is bound to any available port on the local host machine.

#### public DatagramSocket(int port) throws SocketException

Parameters

  `port`

    A port number.

Throws

  `SocketException`

    If any kind of socket error occurs.

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to listen on the given port.

Description

  This constructor creates a `DatagramSocket` that is bound to the given port on the local host machine.

####

     public DatagramSocket(int port, InetAddress laddr) throws SocketException

Availability

  New as of JDK 1.1

Parameters

  `port`

    A port number.

  `laddr`

    A local address.

Throws

  `SocketException`

    If any kind of socket error occurs.

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to listen on the given port on the specified host.

Description

  This constructor creates a `DatagramSocket` that is bound to the given port on the specified local host machine.

## Instance Methods

### close

#### public void close()

Description

  This method closes the socket, releasing any system resources it holds.

### getLocalAddress

#### public InetAddress getLocalAddress()

Availability

  New as of JDK 1.1

Returns

  The local address of the socket.

Throws

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to retrieve the address.

Description

  This method returns the local address to which this `DatagramSocket` is bound.

### getLocalPort

#### public int getLocalPort()

Returns

  `The port` number of the socket.

Description

  This method returns the local port to which this `DatagramSocket` is bound.

### getSoTimeout

#### public synchronized int getSoTimeout() throws SocketException

Availability

  New as of JDK 1.1

Returns

  The receive time-out value for the socket.

Throws

  `SocketException`

    If any kind of socket error occurs.

Description

  This method returns the receive time-out value for this socket. A value of zero indicates that the socket waits indefinitely for an incoming packet, while a non-zero value indicates the number of milliseconds it waits.

### receive

####

     public synchronized void receive(DatagramPacket p) throws IOException

Parameters

  `p`

    The `DatagramPacket` that receives incoming data.

Throws

  `IOException`

    If any kind of I/O error occurs.

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to receive data from the packet's source.

  `InterruptedIOException`

    If a packet does not arrive before the time-out period expires.

Description

  This method receives a datagram packet on this socket. After this method returns, the given `DatagramPacket` contains the packet's data and length, and the sender's address and port number. If the data that was sent is longer that the given packet's data buffer, the data is truncated.

  If a time-out value is specified using the `setSoTimeout()` method, the method either returns with the received packet or times out, throwing an `InterruptedIOException`. If no time-out value is specified, the method blocks until it receives a packet.

### send

#### public void send(DatagramPacket p) throws IOException

Parameters

  `p`

    The `DatagramPacket` to be sent.

Throws

  `IOException`

    If any kind of I/O error occurs.

  `SecurityException`

    If the application is not allowed to send data to the packet's destination.

Description

  This method sends a packet from this socket. The packet data, packet length, destination address, and destination port number are specified by the given `DatagramPacket`.

### setSoTimeout

####

     public synchronized void setSoTimeout(int timeout) throws SocketException

Availability

  New as of JDK 1.1

Parameters

  `timeout`

    The new time-out value, in milliseconds, for this socket.

Throws

  `SocketException`

    If any kind of socket error occurs.

Description

  This method is used to set the time-out value that is used for `receive()`. A non-zero value specifies the length of time, in milliseconds, that the `DatagramSocket` should wait for an incoming packet. A value of zero indicates that the `DatagramSocket` should wait indefinitely for an incoming packet. If a time-out value is needed, this method must be called before `receive()`.

## Inherited Methods

Method | Inherited From | Method | Inherited From
--- | --- | --- | ---
`clone()` | `Object` | `equals(Object)` | `Object`
`finalize()` | `Object` | `getClass()` | `Object`
`hashCode()` | `Object` | `notify()` | `Object`
`notifyAll()` | `Object` | `toString()` | `Object`
`wait()` | `Object` | `wait(long)` | `Object`
`wait(long, int)` | `Object` |  |

## See Also

`DatagramPacket`, `DatagramSocketImpl`, `InetAddress`, `InterruptedIOException`, `IOException`, `MulticastSocket`, `SecurityException`, `Socket`, `SocketException`

DatagramPacket |  | DatagramSocketImpl