Dns B4X (B4A / B4J) Reference Documentation

ChilkatDns

Current Version: 11.6.0

Chilkat.Dns

Configure DNS resolution and query DNS records directly from Chilkat.

Chilkat.Dns is a focused class for DNS configuration and DNS record querying. It allows applications to control the nameservers used by Chilkat, query common DNS record types into JSON, configure DNS-over-TLS preference, set DNS query timeouts, and obtain useful diagnostics through LastErrorText.

DNS record queries

Query common DNS record types and receive structured JSON results that are easy to inspect or pass to other application logic.

Nameserver control

Configure the nameservers Chilkat uses instead of relying only on the operating system's default DNS configuration.

DNS-over-TLS preference

Prefer DNS-over-TLS when appropriate for applications that need encrypted DNS lookups.

Timeout settings

Control how long DNS queries may wait before failing, which is useful for responsive applications and troubleshooting.

Application-wide behavior

Nameserver settings affect DNS resolution across Chilkat classes, not only the current Dns object.

Diagnostics

Use LastErrorText to troubleshoot DNS configuration, lookup failures, timeout problems, or nameserver connectivity issues.

Common pattern: Use Dns either to perform direct DNS lookups, or to configure the DNS behavior used by Chilkat as a whole. Because nameserver changes can affect DNS resolution across Chilkat classes, treat them as application-wide configuration rather than object-local state.

Declare / Initialize / Dispose

Sub Process_Globals
    Private obj As ChilkatDns
End Sub

' Call Initialize before first use -- typically in AppStart (B4J)
' or Activity_Create (B4A):
obj.Initialize                ' classes without events
obj.Initialize("evt")        ' classes with events: "evt" becomes the
                              ' prefix of event Subs such as evt_PercentDone
Initialize  /  Initialize (EventName As String)

Creates the underlying native Chilkat object. Classes that support events take an EventName argument: it becomes the prefix of the event Subs (<EventName>_AbortCheck, <EventName>_PercentDone, <EventName>_ProgressInfo); classes without events take no arguments. The native Chilkat library loads automatically on the first Initialize — from the APK on Android, or extracted from ChilkatB4J.jar on Windows/Linux/macOS.

IsInitialized As Boolean

True if Initialize has been called and the native object exists.

Dispose

Explicitly frees the underlying native object. Calling Dispose is optional — every ChilkatDns is also freed automatically when garbage-collected — but is recommended for long-lived objects holding sockets, sessions, or large buffers. A disposed object can be re-Initialized.

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
' read/write
DebugLogFilePath As String

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples
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HeartbeatMs
' read/write
HeartbeatMs As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

The interval in milliseconds between each AbortCheck event callback, which enables an application to abort certain method calls before they complete. By default, HeartbeatMs is set to 0, meaning no AbortCheck event callbacks will trigger.

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LastErrorHtml
' read-only
LastErrorHtml As String

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
' read-only
LastErrorText As String

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
' read-only
LastErrorXml As String

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
' read/write
LastMethodSuccess As Boolean

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: True means success, False means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

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MaxWaitMs
' read/write
MaxWaitMs As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

The maxiumum number of milliseconds to wait for the answer to a DNS query. A value of 0 is to wait indefinitely (no timeout). It's not a good idea to specify 0 (infinite timeout) or a value less than 1000 (1 second). The default value is 10000 milliseconds.

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NumNameservers
' read-only
NumNameservers As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

The number of nameservers currently being used by Chilkat for DNS queries in all objects/classes, such as for HTTP, Email, FTP, SSH, etc.

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TlsPref
' read/write
TlsPref As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Specifies the TLS preference. Possible values are:

  • 0 = No TLS
  • 1 = Prefer TLS if possible.
  • 2 = Require TLS

The default value is 0. If TLS is preferred then DNS nameservers with TLS capability will be tried first. If none succeed, then UDP/TCP will be tried. If TLS is required, then only TLS capable nameservers will be tried and all DNS queries will use TLS.

Note: To use TLS, your application needs to first specify nameservers by calling AddNameserver once per nameserver with the supportsTls argument set to True.

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UncommonOptions
' read/write
UncommonOptions As String
Introduced in version 11.4.0

This is a catch-all property to be used for uncommon needs. This property defaults to the empty string and should typically remain empty.

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VerboseLogging
' read/write
VerboseLogging As Boolean

If set to True, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is False. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
' read-only
Version As String

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

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Methods

AddDefaultNameservers
AddDefaultNameservers
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Adds the default (auto-assigned) nameservers to the collection of nameservers used by Chilkat for DNS queries and domain to IP address lookups.

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AddNameserver
AddNameserver (ipAddr As String, supportsTls As Boolean)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Adds a new nameserver to the collection of nameservers used by Chilkat for DNS queries and domain to IP address lookups. The ipAddr specifies the IPv4 address of the nameserver. The supportsTls indicates if the namserver supports DoT (DNS over TLS. DoT uses port 853 for encrypted DNS communication.) If the TlsPreference property is set to 1 or 2, then Chilkat will use TLS nameservers.

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GetNameserver
GetNameserver (index As Int) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Returns the IP address of the Nth nameserver currently used by Chilkat for DNS queries and domain to IP address lookups. The index specifies the index of the nameserver. The 1st nameserver is at index 0.

Returns Null on failure

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Query
Query (recordType As String, domain As String, answer As ChilkatJsonObject) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Performs an DNS query for domain and returns the answer in answer. The type of DNS query is specified in recordType and can be A, AAAA, ALIAS, CAA, MX, NS, SOA, TXT. Additional record types can be added as needed.

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RemoveAllNameservers
RemoveAllNameservers
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Removes all nameservers from the collection of nameservers used by Chilkat. An application can call this method to reset to 0 nameservers before adding new nameservers. If a DNS domain to IP address resolution is needed by Chilkat, then the auto-assigned nameserver IP addresses will be automaticaly restored.

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RemoveNameserver
RemoveNameserver (ipAddr As String)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Removes a nameserver from the collection of nameservers used by Chilkat. The ipAddr is the IPv4 address of the nameserver to be removed.

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Events

All Chilkat methods are synchronous: the call returns when the work is done. During a call, ChilkatDns raises three events so your application can show progress and offer a way out. The event-name prefix is the string passed to Initialize:

dns.Initialize("evt")     ' event Subs are named evt_AbortCheck, evt_PercentDone, evt_ProgressInfo
dns.HeartbeatMs = 250     ' raise evt_AbortCheck 4 times per second during Chilkat calls

AbortCheck fires at regular intervals controlled by the HeartbeatMs property (0, the default, disables it); PercentDone fires when an operation's completion percentage is known; ProgressInfo delivers named progress values. Returning True from an AbortCheck or PercentDone Sub aborts the running method. Implement only the Subs you need — events are skipped entirely when no matching Sub exists.

If a Chilkat call runs on a separate thread (e.g. via the Threading library), its events are automatically queued to the main thread. Events raised that way cannot abort by return value; set the object's AbortCurrent property to True instead.

AbortCheck
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
' Return True to abort the Chilkat method in progress.
Sub evt_AbortCheck As Boolean

Enables a method call to be aborted by triggering the AbortCheck event at intervals defined by the HeartbeatMs property. If HeartbeatMs is set to its default value of 0, no events will occur. For instance, set HeartbeatMs to 200 to trigger 5 AbortCheck events per second.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with dns.Initialize("evt")):

dns.HeartbeatMs = 250   ' fire evt_AbortCheck 4 times per second

Sub evt_AbortCheck As Boolean
    ' Called every HeartbeatMs milliseconds while a Chilkat method is running.
    Return False   ' Return True to abort the method in progress
End Sub
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PercentDone
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
' Return True to abort the Chilkat method in progress.
Sub evt_PercentDone (PctDone As Int) As Boolean

This provides the percentage completion for any method involving network communications or time-consuming processing, assuming the progress can be measured as a percentage. This event is triggered only when it's possible and logical to express the operation's progress as a percentage. The pctDone argument will range from 1 to 100. For methods that finish quickly, the number of PercentDone callbacks may vary, but the final callback will have pctDone equal to 100. For longer operations, callbacks will not exceed one per percentage point (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100).

The PercentDone callback also acts as an AbortCheck event. For fast methods where PercentDone fires, an AbortCheck event may not trigger since the PercentDone callback already provides an opportunity to abort. For longer operations, where time between PercentDone callbacks is extended, AbortCheck callbacks enable more responsive operation termination.

To abort the operation, set the abort output argument to True. This will cause the method to terminate and return a failure status or corresponding failure value.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with dns.Initialize("evt")):

Sub evt_PercentDone (PctDone As Int) As Boolean
    ' PctDone ranges from 1 to 100.
    Log("Percent done: " & PctDone)
    Return False   ' Return True to abort the method in progress
End Sub
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ProgressInfo
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
Sub evt_ProgressInfo (Name As String, Value As String)

This event callback provides tag name/value pairs that detail what occurs during a method call. To discover existing tag names, create code to handle the event, emit the pairs, and review them. Most tag names are self-explanatory.

Note: Some Chilkat methods don't fire any ProgressInfo events.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with dns.Initialize("evt")):

Sub evt_ProgressInfo (Name As String, Value As String)
    Log(Name & ": " & Value)
End Sub
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