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YLTCPBroadcaster

YLTCPBroadcaster is a small library written in Objective-C to find every host with a given TCP port number opened on the network. It works like an UDP broadcast but for the TCP protocol.

Note: any contribution is welcome.

How it works

The main concept behind the YLTCPBroadcaster is very simple. To simulate the broadcast, the library creates a connection to every host on the network on the specified TCP port number. Then it waits for a response and in this manner it can determine whether the host is open on the given port number.

Usage

Here is the simplest way to use YLTCPBroadcaster:

YLTCPBroadcaster *bc = [YLTCPBroadcaster defaultBroadcaster];

[bc scanWithPort:8080 timeoutInterval:1.5 completionHandler:^(NSArray *hosts) {
   // E.g.: ["192.168.0.3", "192.168.0.56", "192.168.0.87"]
   NSLog(@"Available hosts: %@", hosts);
}];

However if you want to be more responsive, by displaying the host found in real time in a tableview for example, you can respond to the delegate methods like that:

YLTCPBroadcaster *bc = [YLTCPBroadcaster defaultBroadcaster];
bc.delegate          = self;

[bc scanWithPort:8080 completionHandler:nil];

-(void)tcpBroadcaster:(YLTCPBroadcaster *)broadcaster didFoundHost:(NSString *)host {
  [self.tableView beginUpdates];

  NSIndexPath *indexPath = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:_remoteHosts.count inSection:0];
  _remoteHosts           = [_remoteHosts arrayByAddingObject:host];

  [self.tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:@[indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationRight];

  [self.tableView endUpdates];
}

For more information, please take a look at the example project.

Requirements

iOS 6.0+
Xcode 6.0

Installation

The recommended approach to use YLTCPBroadcaster in your project is using the CocoaPods package manager, as it provides flexible dependency management and dead simple installation.

CocoaPods

Install CocoaPods if not already available:

$ [sudo] gem install cocoapods
$ pod setup

Go to the directory of your Xcode project, and Create and Edit your Podfile and add YLTCPBroadcaster:

$ cd /path/to/MyProject
$ touch Podfile
$ edit Podfile
source 'https://github.com/CocoaPods/Specs.git'
platform :ios, '8.0'
pod 'YLTCPBroadcaster', '~> 2.0.1'

Install into your project:

$ pod install

Open your project in Xcode from the .xcworkspace file (not the usual project file)

$ open MyProject.xcworkspace

Manually

Download the project and copy the YLTCPBroadcaster folder into your project and then simply #import "YLTCPBroadcaster.h" in the file(s) you would like to use it in.

Contact

Yannick Loriot

License (MIT)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.