如何在本地Windows网络上发现我的应用程序的所有其他实例？

Question

We want to add a 'collaborative' feature to our application, so our program should be able to automatically discover all other instances of itself that are running on the same local network, without needing any extra configuration from the users.

Our application runs on Windows, so it can use any APIs provided by the OS. We are assuming a network typical for a small business, a couple of Windows PCs, some routers, etc.

Also, will there be problems with anti-viruses, firewalls, and such? We don't want to scare our users.

Answer 1

You can send broadcast packets for that but that only works within a single subnet (actually apparently a " broadcast domain " but it's usually the subnet). If you just try every IP you can think of you might trigger firewall pop-ups that suggest that your software is trying to hack the computer. I think the best way is to use broadcast for the current subnet and offer a user interface for adding other hosts.