Socket Creation

The socket() call creates a socket in the specified family and of the specified type.

s = socket(family, type, protocol);

If the protocol is unspecified, the system selects a protocol that supports the requested socket type. The socket handle is returned. The socket handle is a file descriptor.

The family is specified by one of the constants that are defined in sys/socket.h. Constants that are named AF_ suite specify the address format to use in interpreting names:

AF_APPLETALK

Apple Computer Inc. Appletalk network

AF_INET6

Internet family for IPv6 and IPv4

AF_INET

Internet family for IPv4 only

AF_PUP

Xerox Corporation PUP internet

AF_UNIX

UNIX file system

Socket types are defined in sys/socket.h. These types, SOCK_STREAM, SOCK_DGRAM, or SOCK_RAW, are supported by AF_INET6, AF_INET, and AF_UNIX. For more information, see the socket(3C) man page.

The following example creates a stream socket in the Internet family:

s = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);

This call results in a stream socket. The TCP protocol provides the underlying communication. Set the protocol argument to 0, the default, in most situations. You can specify a protocol other than the default, as described in Advanced Socket Topics.