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Languages » C# » General     Intermediate License: The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Chameleon - Connection Settings Manager

By Tamer Oz

Chameleon is an application that allows users to easily change network configuration on each network adapter from taskbar. Chameleon offers the benefit of changing network settings according to the users location such as home or office.
C# 2.0.NET 2.0, Win2K, WinXP, Win2003, Vista, WinForms, VS2005, Architect, Dev
Posted:1 Aug 2007
Views:16,840
Bookmarked:45 times
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10 votes for this article.
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Screenshot - Chameleon.jpg

Introduction

Chameleon is an application that allows users to easily change network configuration on each network adapter from the taskbar. Chameleon offers the benefit of changing network settings according to the user's location such as home or office.

Background

The main idea of this application is changing network settings via WMI, I access WMI by using System.Management namespace. I have two objects named Connection and Profile. Connection is an object which is responsible for storing network connection information. Profile is an object which is responsible for storing profile(home, office etc.) settings such as IP, DNS, gateway etc.

The solution contains four projects. These projects are GUI, BusinessObjects, ControlLib and Helper. And there is also a setup project.

The sample application is running on the taskbar and users can change connection settings after right clicking by selecting connection and profile.

Using the code

There is a method which returns the list of available connections. This list is filled from the VMI provider.

public List<Connection> GetConnections()
{
        List<Connection> insListConnection = new List<Connection>();
        ManagementObjectSearcher m = new ManagementObjectSearcher();
        m.Query = new ObjectQuery
            ("Select * from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration 
                    Where IPEnabled = True");
        foreach (ManagementObject mo in m.Get())
        {
            Connection c = new Connection();
            c.ConnectionId = mo["Index"].ToString();
            c.ConnectionName = mo["Caption"].ToString().Substring
                        (mo["Caption"].ToString().IndexOf("]") + 1).Trim();
            insListConnection.Add(c);
        }
        return insListConnection;
}

After creating an instance and filling the connection and profile object by passing these objects as parameter to the method named SetConnectionProfile, you can change the settings on the selected network adapter.

public void SetConnectionProfile(Connection c, Profile p)
{
    ManagementObjectSearcher m = new ManagementObjectSearcher();
    m.Query = new ObjectQuery("Select *
        from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True");
    foreach (ManagementObject mo in m.Get())
    {
        if (mo["Index"].ToString()==c.ConnectionId)
        {
            mo.InvokeMethod("EnableStatic", new object[] {new string[]
                        { p.IpAddress }, new string[] { p.SubnetMask } });
                mo.InvokeMethod("SetGateways", new object[] {new string[]
                        { p.DefaultGateway }, new string[] { "1" } });
            mo.InvokeMethod("SetDNSServerSearchOrder", new object[]
                        {new string[] { p.PreferredDns} });
                    if (p.ProxyEnabled)
            {
                RegistryManager.EnableProxy = true;
                RegistryManager.BypassProxyForLocalAddresses = 
                        p.ByPassProxyForLocal;
                RegistryManager.ProxyAddress= p.ProxyAddress + ":" + 
                        p.ProxyPort;
            }
            else
            {
                RegistryManager.EnableProxy = false;
                RegistryManager.ProxyAddress = "";
                RegistryManager.BypassProxyForLocalAddresses =true;
            }
        }
    }
}

And there is another method named SetConnectionAutomatic that resets the connection settings.

public void SetConnectionAutomatic(Connection c)
{
    ManagementObjectSearcher m =new ManagementObjectSearcher();
    m.Query = new ObjectQuery("Select * from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
                                                    Where IPEnabled = True");
    foreach (ManagementObject mo in m.Get())
    {
        if (mo["Index"].ToString() == c.ConnectionId)
        {
            mo.InvokeMethod("EnableDHCP",null);
            mo.InvokeMethod("SetDNSServerSearchOrder",null);
            RegistryManager.EnableProxy = false;
            RegistryManager.ProxyAddress = "";
            RegistryManager.BypassProxyForLocalAddresses  = true;
        }
    }
}

Contact

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

About the Author

Tamer Oz


Member
Tamer Oz is a Microsoft MVP and works as Assistant Unit Manager.
Occupation: Team Leader
Company: BilgeAdam
Location: Turkey Turkey

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 Msgs 1 to 8 of 8 (Total in Forum: 8) (Refresh)FirstPrevNext
GeneralPLEASE add an option for setting a custom MAC adress PinmemberMilepp11:44 29 Jul '08  
GeneralHelal olsun. PinmemberXess6:18 26 Jun '08  
GeneralMore than 1 gateway, dns,ip Pinmemberdsand23:28 2 Oct '07  
GeneralRe: More than 1 gateway, dns,ip Pinmembervarungupta2:51 18 Feb '08  
GeneralExcellent app PinmemberGutless9:41 18 Aug '07  
GeneralFINALLY!!!! PinmemberMarko Vnucec IncitoIT23:38 8 Aug '07  
GeneralGreat app Pinmembergiammin5:06 1 Aug '07  
GeneralRe: Great app PinmemberTamerOz5:12 1 Aug '07  

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Last Updated: 1 Aug 2007
Editor: Deeksha Shenoy
Copyright 2007 by Tamer Oz
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