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Q313984: INFO: Winsock Control Run-Time Error 429 and Scalability

Article: Q313984
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 5.0,6.0,6.0 SP3,6.0 SP4,6.0 SP5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbnetwork kbAPI kbCtrl kbSDKPlatform kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbWinsock kbDSupport kbGrpDSNet
Last Modified: 31-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0, 6.0 SP3, 6.0 SP4, 6.0 SP5 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

The Microsoft Winsock control (Mswinsck.ocx) was not designed to be created
dynamically at run time. To use this control, place it on a form at design time.
Otherwise, you may get run-time error 429, "ActiveX component can't create
object."

Also, do not use the Winsock control in server environments, such as with
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft COM+, where
scalability may be required.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Run-Time Error 429
------------------

An application that creates the Winsock control dynamically at run time through
the use of early binding runs at design time may fail at run time with error 429
if the application runs on a nondevelopment computer (a computer that does not
have Visual Basic installed):

  Run-time error '429':
  ActiveX component can't create object

The error occurs because the target computer is missing the license information
for the control objects that are used in the application. You might attempt to
set the project reference to point to MSWINSCK.ocx, and then generate a
deployment package through the use of the Package and Deployment Wizard. This
would generate a setup package that contains the correct version of the Winsock
control. However, the license key for the control will not be compiled into the
application unless an instance of the control is placed on a form. When you try
to instantiate the objects at run time, the application has no way to provide
the license key, and the code will fail. For example, the following code will
run properly at design time, but will fail at run time on computers that do not
have Visual Basic installed:

  Dim myWinSock As MSWinsockLib.Winsock

  Sub Main()
      ' Early binding does not work
      Set myWinSock = New MSWinsockLib.Winsock

      myWinSock.LocalPort = 5432
      
      myWinSock.Listen
      
      MsgBox ("Listening!")
      
      myWinSock.Close
  End Sub

Therefore, you must provide an instance of the Winsock control on a form so that
Visual Basic can compile the license information into the application. You can
make the form hidden if necessary. To do this, set the form's Visible property
to "False." You can then prepare for deployment. The following code snippet
demonstrates the method:

  Dim myWinsock As MSWinsockLib.Winsock

  Sub Main()
      ' Form1 is hidden
      Set myWinsock = Form1.myWinsock

      myWinsock.LocalPort = 5432
      
      myWinsock.Listen
      
      MsgBox ("Listening!")
      
      myWinsock.Close
  End Sub

As an alternative, you can place a Winsock control object on the visual designer
of a UserControl object as a constituent control, which is usually done to
extend the functionality of the Winsock control or to subclass. However, this
approach does not address the licensing requirement. For an application to use
the wrapper object to run successfully at run time, the wrapper object must
ultimately be on a form.

Scalability
-----------

The Winsock control is designed for use in client or light-load server
applications. Microsoft does not support the use of the control in multithreaded
server environments, especially in IIS and COM+, where scalability may be
important. Using this control in such an environment may cause unpredicatible
issues including deadlocks. Microsoft recommends that you consider use of
alternative technologies such as the Winsock API and the IO Completion Port
(IOCP) in these cases.


REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q274754 INFO: Licensing Issues Related to User Controls Created with Visual
  Basic

  Q241126 INFO: Dynamically Add UserControls That Require Run-Time Licenses

  Q192800 INFO: Design Issues When Using IOCP in a Winsock Server

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbnetwork kbAPI kbCtrl kbSDKPlatform kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbWinsock kbDSupport kbGrpDSNet 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVB500 kbVB600 kbVB600SP3 kbVB600SP4 kbVB600SP5
Version           : :5.0,6.0,6.0 SP3,6.0 SP4,6.0 SP5
Issue type        : kbinfo

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