The Remote Command protocol enables an application to execute
commands on a server, with the output of the command returned to
the client. The SocketTools control actually implements three related
protocols: rexec, rshell and rlogin. The choice of protocols is
determined by the port that is selected when a connection is
The rexec protocol enables a client application to execute a
command on a server. Output from the command is returned to the
client and the connection is closed when the command terminates. The
client connects on port 512 and must provide a user name and password
to authenticate the session.
The rshell protocol is similar to rexec in that it enables a client
to execute a command on a server. Output from the command is
returned to the client and the connection is closed when the command
terminates. The client connects on port 514 and must provide a user
name. The primary difference between the rexec and rshell protocols
is that rshell does not require a password. Instead, it uses what is
called "host equivalence" to determine if the client is
permitted to execute commands as that user. On a UNIX based operating
system, host equivalence is controlled by the /etc/hosts.equiv and
the .rhosts file in the user's home directory. These files list the
host names and user names which are permitted to execute commands
using the rshell protocol. Consult your operating system manual pages
for more information about how to configure host equivalence.
The rlogin protocol is similar to Telnet in that it provides an
interactive terminal session. The connection is closed when the user
logs out or the shell process on the server is terminated. The
client connects on port 513 and must provide a user name and terminal
type. If there is an entry in the host equivalence tables for the
user and local host, then the client will be automatically logged in
and provided with a shell prompt. If there is no host equivalence,
the client will be prompted for a password. The terminal emulation
control can be used to provide ANSI or DEC VT-220 emulation services
An important consideration when deciding whether to use rexec,
rshell or rlogin is how the server is configured and the type of
command being executed. If there is no entry for the local host in the
server's host equivalence tables, then the rexec command should be used
instead of rshell.
When using rexec or rshell, it is important to keep in mind that
although the command is executed with the privileges of the specified
user, that user is not actually logged in. The user's login script is
not executed and the program will not inherit the user's normal
environment as it would during an interactive session. If you are
connecting to a UNIX system, you should not attempt to execute programs
which try to put standard input into raw mode; an example of this would
be the vi editor. If you are connecting to a Windows system, you should
not execute a program which uses a graphical interface. Only programs
which read standard input and write to standard output are suitable for
use with rexec or rshell.
The following methods are available for use by your application:
Initialize the control and validate the runtime license key for the
current process. This method is normally not used if the control is
placed on a form in languages such as Visual Basic. However, if the
control is being created dynamically using a method similar to
CreateObject, then the application must call this method to
initialize the component before setting any properties or calling any
other methods in the control.
Execute the specified command on the server. The rshell or rexec
protocol is selected based on the port number that is specified.
Output from the command will be returned to the client to be read.
When the command terminates, the connection to the server will be
Establish an interactive login session which is similar to how the
Telnet protocol works. If there is no host equivalence with the local
host, you will be prompted for a password. Output from the session
will be returned to the client, and when the client logs out the
connection will be closed.
Read the output generated by the command. Your application would
typically call this method in a loop until all of the data has been
read or an error occurs.
Search for a specific sequence of characters in the output returned
by the server. The method returns when the sequence is
encountered or when a timeout occurs. The data captured up to the
point where the character sequence was matched is returned to the
caller for processing.
Disconnect from the server and release any resources that have been
allocated for the client session. After this method is called, the
client session is no longer valid.
Unload the Windows Sockets library and release any resources that
have been allocated for the current process. This is the last method
call that the application should make prior to terminating. This is
only necessary if the application has previously called the