This is a multi-purpose networking tool, using plain text over TCP in different scenarii.

TCP listen

In this section, you can configure a TCP server to listen for incoming connections. The data received that way is shown in the Last message box and can be used in the other sections.

• Port: configure the listen port
• Listen: start the TCP server on the set port
• Stop server: stops listening
• Text encoding: the encoding is used to convert the incoming data into text
• Buffer size: the size of the receive buffer, in bytes
• Persistent mode: support for persistent TCP connections (as opposed to closing the connection after each message).

Log to file

You can choose to save all received data to a file. If the file doesn't exist, it is created. If the file already exists, data is appended to the end of the file.

• Log file: file path, can be relative to the executable location
• Write: toggle writing

TCP send

In this section, you have various ways of sending data, manually or automatically.

• Address(es): add targets by name or IP address, press the + button to validate input
• Auto-repeat: everything received by the Listen server will be repeated to all the destination addresses (proxy mode)
• Re-send last: send the last received message to all the destination addresses
• File: select a text file, use the ... button to browse
• Send file: send selected text file once to all destinations
• Monitor file / auto-send: toggle watching a file for modifications, sending it automatically to all destinations when a change is detected
• Plain text: enter a text to send manually
• Send text: send the text from the previous input box
• Send errors: history of all errors that occurred during sending
• Clear errors: purge error history

Status

Informations about the status of TCP Tools.

• Connection: status of the listen server, watch for errors (port already in use mostly)
• Infos: informations about the configuration of the server
• Version: application version
• Last message: last received message from listen server, with the date

Example use cases

• TCP proxy: allows monitoring data sent to a Multicam while keeping functionality active. Use Listen + Auto-repeat, optionally Log to file
• Basic receive test: allows validating network infrastructure, firewall settings, etc... Use Listen + Status
• Basic send test: allows validating network infrastructure, protocols, etc... Use Plain text + Send text
• File monitor: allows transforming file modifications into a network event. Use Monitor file / auto-send