Knowledge Base Articles
OpenSSL Installation Packages for Windows
OpenSSL is an open source toolkit that implements the SSL and TLS security protocols. We have made Windows installation packages available for OpenSSL 3.5.0 which was released on April 8, 2025.
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Visual Studio .NET Frameworks
The SocketTools .NET Edition includes assemblies which support several different versions of the .NET Framework and Visual Studio. When you add a reference to an assembly, make sure you are using the correct version which corresponds to the toolchain you are using to build your projects. When you install SocketTools, assemblies for each supported version of .NET will be copied to the following folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SocketTools\11.0\Assemblies The assemblies ...
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SocketTools 11 .NET Redistribution
When you create an application using the SocketTools 11 .NET Edition components and you're ready to deploy it, you must ensure it is initialized correctly. This is done by either providing a runtime license key to the Initialize method or setting the RuntimeLicense attribute for the executable assembly. It is important to note your runtime license key is not your product serial number. If you have an evaluation version of ...
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Supported Versions of Visual Studio
The Visual Studio releases supported by SocketTools 11 depends on the edition and languages being used. The following table lists which editions are compatible with Visual Studio and whether the edition is supported with that version.
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SocketTools System Requirements
SocketTools 11 components support all modern Windows desktop and server platforms. We recommend you install the latest security updates from Windows Update and the current network drivers available for your system. At this time, the only version of SocketTools eligible for technical support is SocketTools 11 Build 2130 or later. The following Windows desktop and server operating systems are supported by SocketTools 11: Windows 11 Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows ...
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Windows and Supported TLS Versions
SocketTools uses the Microsoft CryptoAPI and Schannel security package to implement support for secure connections using TLS. Which versions of TLS are available will depend on the version of the operating system you are using.
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5/5
SocketTools and Catalyst Development have by far surpassed my expectations
I’ve been very impressed with all aspects of this project, and both SocketTools and Catalyst Development have by far surpassed my expectations. We ran into a number of roadblocks on this endeavor, and I appreciate your persistence and patience, particularly with the inconsistent test environment our client provided. I am also very impressed with the functionality of our new custom control. Very slick! Once again, thanks very much for all your hard work!
Kevin Taylor, Tailored Software, Inc. (Canada)
5/5
The documentation is amongst the best I’ve seen and used
Great product! I recently purchased the SocketWrench library and I’m pleasantly surprised by the ease of use and exceptionally intuitive API.
I wanted to replace some home-grown code with the new component and it just dropped into place and worked on the first compilation! The documentation is amongst the best I’ve seen and used, with lots of clear and concise tips and helpful information. I am very impressed with the price-quality level.
I look forward to many years of mutual benefits for both our companies.
Martin Hart, Memory Soft (Spain)
5/5
The best and most productive controls I have ever come across
Thanks for the amazing controls, the best and most productive I have ever come across. They work every time as per the detailed documentation with no gotchas. Great work.
Martin G Nagle, InfoMining PL (Australia)
5/5
I'm impressed with how you maintain backwards compatibility
I wanted to let you know how impressed I am with maintaining backwards compatibility. I had a VB6 program with 6 different implementations of the SocketWrenchCtl.SocketWrench class v4.5 (which was from 2006). I dropped the new in the updated .ocx file expecting to suddenly invoke 11 years worth of renamed properties, added dependencies and breaking changes. I have not yet changed a single line of code and so far (fingers crossed) it appears to be stable.
I just thought I'd point that out because most devs can't go 3 months without introducing a breaking change (myself included)
Russell Phillips, Echotech (Australia)