DirectPlay Addressing

To deliver messages, each participant in a multiplayer game must have a unique address. Addresses can refer to either the computer on which your application is running (device address), or a computer with which your application needs to communicate (host address).

Microsoft® DirectPlay® represents addresses in the form of a URL string. That address string is then encapsulated in a DirectPlay address object that is passed as a parameter in or out of methods such as IDirectPlay8Peer::Connect.

This section describes three ways of handling DirectPlay addresses.

• DirectPlay Service Providers discusses what service providers are, and which ones are available with DirectPlay.
• DirectPlay and Ports discusses what ports are, and how to use them.
• Internet Protocol Version 6 discusses how to use Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6) with DirectPlay.
• DirectPlay URLs discusses how to construct the address string directly.
• Handling Addresses discusses how to pass address objects in the Host, EnumHosts, or Connect methods.
• DirectPlay Address Objects discusses how to manipulate the address string using the methods exposed by the address object's IDirectPlay8Address interface.
• Data Value Summary contains a table listing all the possible data values associated with DirectPlay addresses and shows which values are required for each service provider.