Article ID: 313984 - Last Review: May 19, 2005 - Revision: 3.0

Visual Basic Winsock control run-time error 429 and scalability

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This article was previously published under Q313984

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Winsock control (Mswinsck.ocx) was not designed to be created dynamically at run time. To use this control, place it on a form at design time. Otherwise, you may get run-time error 429, "ActiveX component can't create object."

Also, do not use the Winsock control in server environments, such as with Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft COM+, where scalability may be required.

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MORE INFORMATION

Run-Time Error 429

An application that creates the Winsock control dynamically at run time through the use of early binding runs at design time may fail at run time with error 429 if the application runs on a nondevelopment computer (a computer that does not have Visual Basic installed):

Run-time error '429':
ActiveX component can't create object

The error occurs because the target computer is missing the license information for the control objects that are used in the application. You might attempt to set the project reference to point to MSWINSCK.ocx, and then generate a deployment package through the use of the Package and Deployment Wizard. This would generate a setup package that contains the correct version of the Winsock control. However, the license key for the control will not be compiled into the application unless an instance of the control is placed on a form. When you try to instantiate the objects at run time, the application has no way to provide the license key, and the code will fail. For example, the following code will run properly at design time, but will fail at run time on computers that do not have Visual Basic installed:

Dim myWinSock As MSWinsockLib.Winsock

Sub Main()
    ' Early binding does not work
    Set myWinSock = New MSWinsockLib.Winsock

    myWinSock.LocalPort = 5432
    
    myWinSock.Listen
    
    MsgBox ("Listening!")
    
    myWinSock.Close
End Sub

Therefore, you must provide an instance of the Winsock control on a form so that Visual Basic can compile the license information into the application. You can make the form hidden if necessary. To do this, set the form's Visible property to "False." You can then prepare for deployment. The following code snippet demonstrates the method:

Dim myWinsock As MSWinsockLib.Winsock

Sub Main()
    ' Form1 is hidden
    Set myWinsock = Form1.myWinsock

    myWinsock.LocalPort = 5432
    
    myWinsock.Listen
    
    MsgBox ("Listening!")
    
    myWinsock.Close
End Sub

As an alternative, you can place a Winsock control object on the visual designer of a UserControl object as a constituent control, which is usually done to extend the functionality of the Winsock control or to subclass. However, this approach does not address the licensing requirement. For an application to use the wrapper object to run successfully at run time, the wrapper object must ultimately be on a form.

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Scalability

The Winsock control is designed for use in client or light-load server applications. Microsoft does not support the use of the control in multithreaded server environments, especially in IIS and COM+, where scalability may be important. Using this control in such an environment may cause unpredicatible issues including deadlocks. Microsoft recommends that you consider use of alternative technologies such as the Winsock API and the IO Completion Port (IOCP) in these cases.

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