How does HexTcpQuery compare to socket components or specialized Whois, Finger, or HTTP components?
Socket components give you the ultimate in flexibility and control but require you to handle all of the data transfer and higher-level protocol details yourself. A specific application protocol component, such as an HTTP component, takes care of the communication and protocol details but limits you to its implementation of that one protocol. HexTcpQuery strikes a balance between the two extremes: it does the sending and receiving work, but leaves the higher protocols to you. As it happens, common protocols such as Whois and Finger are trivial to implement, and HTTP is not far behind. (Our TcpQuery sample demonstrates how.) Thus, HexTcpQuery seeks to provide the best of both worlds–it does most of the work for you, but gives you the flexibility to work with multiple protocols.
