How to use Named Pipes without the computer hanging if no one connects to the network?

Question

I’m looking for a way to communicate between programs on the same computer, and have been referred to Named Pipes.

It seems that the only way to connect the server is though WaitForConnection (I don’t know enough to use unmanaged code). But if no one connects to the network – the program hangs indefinitely. How do I make a connection with a timeout limit?

Thanks.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:27

2

Instead of calling the synchronous WaitForConnection method, call BeginWaitForConnection/EndWaitForConnection for a non-blocking server. See here for a similar answer.

The constructor you want is the one with 5 parameters here. You can call it like so:

NamedPipeServerStream pipeServer = new NamedPipeServerStream(
   "<pipe-name>", 
   PipeDirection.InOut, 
   1, 
   PipeTransmissionMode.Byte, 
   PipeOptions.Asynchronous);

edited May 23 '17 at 12:27

Community

1
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answered Sep 25 '11 at 14:15

Brent M. Spell

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No, these two methods exist on the NamedPipeServerStream class. – Brent M. Spell Sep 25 '11 at 14:27
Thanks. After I edited the question, I saw that that solves the problem (in the link you supplied). Thanks for the thorough answer! – ispiro Sep 25 '11 at 14:55

How to use Named Pipes without the computer hanging if no one connects to the network?

1 Answers1