<<As I understand it, NETIPC and TCP/IP are two different implementations
of sockets and one can not substitute for the other. Is this incorrect?>>
 
Totally (sorry ;-).
 
TCP/IP is a network transport (actually, it's two different pieces, but
that's another story). Other (mostly) comparable transports are things
like SPX/IPX, X.25, and NetBEUI.
 
Sockets is a network-programming interface. IOW, it's a way for
applications to talk to the networking system without having to go into
excruciating detail about how the networking actually happens.
 
HP's NetIPC sockets can be used for communication over links using either
X.25 or TCP/IP. Berkeley sockets are generally TCP/IP-only. Windows NT
sockets use TCP/IP, SPX/IPX, NetBEUI, or AppleTalk. A given system can
implement sockets over a number of transports; the idea of the socket
interface is to make the network look, as much as possible, the same from
"above" independent of what's actually running underneath.
 
Steve Dirickson         WestWin Consulting
(360) 598-6111  [log in to unmask]