Winsock TCP/IP Annex
This section describes Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) functions, data structures, and controls.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Protocol name(s) | TCP, UDP |
| Description | Provides transport services over the IP networking layer: UDP for unreliable datagrams, TCP for reliable, connection-oriented byte streams. |
| Address family | AF_INET, AF_INET6 |
| Header file | Ws2tcpip.h |
Two basic types of transport services are offered: unreliable datagrams (UDP), and reliable connection oriented–byte streams (TCP). In addition, a raw socket is optionally supported. Raw sockets allow an application to communicate through protocols other than TCP and UDP such as ICMP. Raw sockets are supported on the AF_INET and AF_INET6 address families with some limitations.
This section covers extensions to Winsock that are specific to TCP/IP protocols. It also describes aspects of base Winsock functions that require special consideration or that may exhibit unique behavior when using TCP/IP.