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C# Server Enumerator

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19 Nov 20032 min read 180.4K   3.3K   52   27
Server Enumerator in .NET style

Introduction

Needing to list servers for a project I was working on, Marty Cerisano's article A C# Server Drop-down Control seemed perfect. Downloading and attempting to compile left me a little frustrated. The original code appears to be developed under a BETA version of Visual Studio .NET and would not compile under the released version. (MarshalAs.LPVoid was not defined, this has been updated in his May 30, 2002 release of his code).

I decided to rewrite the code and make it a bit more modular. I separated the code to enumerate the servers to it's own class. I removed the use of pointers and removed the use of the unsafe block.

The tricky part I found was removing the pointer use. Calculating the offset in the structure and using the Marshal.PtrToStructure() method to get correct data took some digging into the class library documentation.

There are three classes and an enumeration. They are:

  • ServerType - Enumeration listing possible server types, such as SQL Server or Terminal Server. ServerTypes can be logically OR'ed, i.e. the ServerType has the Flags attribute.
  • Servers - Collection of servers of specified type. Implements IEnumerable which allows foreach to be used.
  • ServerEnumerator - Enumerator to loop over the list of servers.
  • ServerComboBox - Example ComboBox control that uses the other classes.

Notes

  • The code will not allow you to get a list based on an AND conjunction. For example, you cannot ask for all SQL Servers that also are Terminal Servers. Attempting this, you will only get back a list of all server that are SQL Servers OR Terminal Servers. (It may be true that your SQL Server is also Terminal Server). You will have to manually query for each type and perform the intersection operation manually.
  • The AutoRefresh property will not automatically rescan the network. Setting AutoRefresh to true will cause any changes to the ServerType property to automatically call the Refresh() method. This is NOT an auto update setting.

Running the demo application

  1. Download both the source and the demo application.
  2. Extract each zip file to the same parent folder.
  3. Open the the source's solution and build.
  4. Open the demo's solution, build and run.

Using the Servers collection

C#
using System;
using NetworkManagement;        

//
// List all the SQL Server database to the 
// console (using foreach)
//
Servers servers = new Servers( ServerType.SQLServer );
foreach (String name in servers)
{
    Console.WriteLine(name);
}

//
// List all the Domains to the console.
//
Servers servers = new Servers( ServerType.DomainEnum );
IEnumerator i = servers.GetEnumerator()

while ( i.MoveNext() )
{
    string domainName = (string) i.Current;
    Console.WriteLine(domainName);
}

Using the ServerComboBox

C#
using System;
using NetworkManagement;        

public class ServerComboBoxForm : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
    private ServerComboBox sCombo1;

    private void InitializeComponent()
    {
        sCombo1 = new NetworkManagement.ServerComboBox();
        sCombo1.AutoRefresh = true; // turn force changes on
        sCombo1.ServerType = ServerType.DomainEnum;     
    }
    // other code omitted...
}

Conclusion

This is a simple example of calling Windows API functions. Included is a sample application that demonstrates using the classes.

Changes

November 18, 2003

  • Fixed the ServerType enumeration to have CLR base type of long. Should fix problem VB.NET users were experiencing.
  • Remove restriction on using unsafe code by implementing Richard_D's suggestion. Now uses Marshal class instead of unsafe block.
  • Compiled binaries are for .NET 1.1. I do not have a .NET 1.0 system available to compile, sorry.
  • Samples are no longer bound to SourceSafe. Folder structure cleaned up.

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


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Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralThe IP Adress of the computers Pin
gabybosetti2-Feb-11 2:55
gabybosetti2-Feb-11 2:55 
GeneralVery nice Pin
db_developer18-Dec-09 14:47
db_developer18-Dec-09 14:47 
QuestionGetting 0 items Pin
Paul_D10031-Oct-06 6:55
Paul_D10031-Oct-06 6:55 
GeneralEnumerate local pcs , workgroups etc...(PLEASE HELP) Pin
giddy_guitarist25-Aug-06 21:31
giddy_guitarist25-Aug-06 21:31 
Hie,

i need to know how to enumerate all pcs.. connected locally to the users computer.. also i need to display this information in a treeview.. .. i need to show the workgroups and the pcs in them....and also list all the mapped drives .... i have C# 2005 .. .NET 2.0 so i'll need to know how to do it with System.Net(i think.. i jst started C#)

would someone give me a WELL COMMNTED example code.. or perhaps a link to an article or tutorial??

Tried lots of other forums so PLEASE HELPCry | :((

Gideon


GeneralUsing your DLL in my thesis Pin
ssammut30-Mar-06 21:20
ssammut30-Mar-06 21:20 
GeneralNetwork Connectivity Issue Pin
joaopereira@zmail.pt8-Jun-05 15:12
joaopereira@zmail.pt8-Jun-05 15:12 
GeneralRe: Network Connectivity Issue Pin
Paul Smietan20-Sep-07 1:42
Paul Smietan20-Sep-07 1:42 
GeneralA slightly different way... Pin
Nakomis29-Jan-04 1:26
Nakomis29-Jan-04 1:26 
GeneralWindow 2003 Active Directory Pin
Muhammed Yaseen26-Jan-04 0:27
Muhammed Yaseen26-Jan-04 0:27 
GeneralServer.GetServerType( string name ) has a bug. Pin
Ben Houston30-Nov-03 8:43
Ben Houston30-Nov-03 8:43 
Generalthanks and how about continue Pin
Member 72504524-Nov-03 0:18
Member 72504524-Nov-03 0:18 
GeneralThanks and Problem Pin
maraymer28-Sep-03 14:45
maraymer28-Sep-03 14:45 
GeneralRe: Thanks and Problem Pin
Phil Bolduc30-Sep-03 21:13
Phil Bolduc30-Sep-03 21:13 
GeneralWindows 2003 Pin
JASM3-Aug-03 10:45
JASM3-Aug-03 10:45 
GeneralRe: Windows 2003 Pin
maraymer28-Sep-03 14:38
maraymer28-Sep-03 14:38 
GeneralTHANKS Pin
Andrei Matei10-Apr-03 5:50
Andrei Matei10-Apr-03 5:50 
GeneralUnable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
parth_41-Mar-03 9:22
parth_41-Mar-03 9:22 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
vbinfo18-Mar-03 21:44
vbinfo18-Mar-03 21:44 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
Phil Bolduc23-Mar-03 12:47
Phil Bolduc23-Mar-03 12:47 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
vbinfo23-Mar-03 20:49
vbinfo23-Mar-03 20:49 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
Phil Bolduc23-Mar-03 21:40
Phil Bolduc23-Mar-03 21:40 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
Member 35826829-Apr-03 6:05
Member 35826829-Apr-03 6:05 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
Anonymous28-May-03 12:02
Anonymous28-May-03 12:02 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
flindian19-Oct-03 6:50
flindian19-Oct-03 6:50 
GeneralRe: Unable to use Enumaration in VB Pin
Phil Bolduc21-Oct-03 21:47
Phil Bolduc21-Oct-03 21:47 

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