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Retrieving date and time from remote server using NetRemoteTOD in VB.NET

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6 Jan 2004 204.2K   2.8K   24   28
This article will show how to retrieve the date and time from a remote server using the NetRemoteTOD function

Introduction

This project shows how to use the NetRemoteTOD to retrieve the date/time from a remote server using VB.NET

Imports

Add the following imports line to your code:

VB.NET
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

API Functions

Add the following functions to your code:

VB.NET
Private Declare Unicode Function NetRemoteTOD Lib "netapi32" ( _
  <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)> ByVal ServerName As String, _
  ByRef BufferPtr As IntPtr) As Integer
Private Declare Function NetApiBufferFree Lib _
  "netapi32" (ByVal Buffer As IntPtr) As Integer

Structures

Add the following structure to your code:

VB.NET
Structure TIME_OF_DAY_INFO
Dim tod_elapsedt As Integer
Dim tod_msecs As Integer
Dim tod_hours As Integer
Dim tod_mins As Integer
Dim tod_secs As Integer
Dim tod_hunds As Integer
Dim tod_timezone As Integer
Dim tod_tinterval As Integer
Dim tod_day As Integer
Dim tod_month As Integer
Dim tod_year As Integer
Dim tod_weekday As Integer
End Structure

Functions

Add the following function to your code:

VB.NET
Function GetNetRemoteTOD(ByVal strServerName As String) As Date
Try
Dim iRet As Integer
Dim ptodi As IntPtr
Dim todi As TIME_OF_DAY_INFO
Dim dDate As Date
strServerName = strServerName & vbNullChar
iRet = NetRemoteTOD(strServerName, ptodi)
If iRet = 0 Then
todi = CType(Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptodi, GetType(TIME_OF_DAY_INFO)), _
  TIME_OF_DAY_INFO)
NetApiBufferFree(ptodi)
dDate = DateSerial(todi.tod_year, todi.tod_month, todi.tod_day) + " " + _
TimeSerial(todi.tod_hours, todi.tod_mins - todi.tod_timezone, todi.tod_secs)
GetNetRemoteTOD = dDate
Else
MsgBox("Error retrieving time")
End If
Catch
MsgBox("Error in GetNetRemoteTOD: " & Err.Description)
End Try
End Function

Calling the function

Here is a sample code used to call the function. "servername" is replaced with the name of the actual server that you want to get the date/time from:

VB.NET
Dim dRemoteDate As Date
dRemoteDate = GetNetRemoteTOD("servername")
MsgBox("The remote date is " & dRemoteDate)

Conclusion

That's all folks! I wanted to make this as easy to understand as possible. I am also attaching a complete sample project which has this interface:

Sample screenshot

Let me know if you have any questions.

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

 
QuestionDoesn't work in Windows 10 Pin
Gerry Lindsay29-Dec-20 7:57
Gerry Lindsay29-Dec-20 7:57 
Questionnote for test Pin
Member 100456472-Jul-17 3:49
Member 100456472-Jul-17 3:49 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Member 857381017-Jan-12 0:13
Member 857381017-Jan-12 0:13 
GeneralDay Increment/Decrement Problem Pin
M. Ousama Ghazali7-Jul-09 20:22
M. Ousama Ghazali7-Jul-09 20:22 
GeneralNetRemoteTOD Pin
cocacolacool9-Jun-09 20:41
cocacolacool9-Jun-09 20:41 
Generallinux version Pin
ctarsoaga5-Mar-07 7:47
ctarsoaga5-Mar-07 7:47 
GeneralWhere do I fill in my username and password Pin
karthik_885-Apr-06 6:16
karthik_885-Apr-06 6:16 
GeneralDoesn't work for me urgent pls... Pin
pugak23-Aug-05 18:14
pugak23-Aug-05 18:14 
GeneralDoesn't work for me urgent pls... Pin
pugak23-Aug-05 18:12
pugak23-Aug-05 18:12 
GeneralExtend to include milliseconds Pin
Member 17661643-Aug-05 7:44
Member 17661643-Aug-05 7:44 
QuestionMust have a session first, but how in .NET ? Pin
msouphy15-Jun-05 23:10
msouphy15-Jun-05 23:10 
GeneralDoesn't work with a unix server Pin
weezowazo19-Jan-05 6:19
weezowazo19-Jan-05 6:19 
GeneralSame function fixed and compressed Pin
Ted14059-Nov-04 16:39
Ted14059-Nov-04 16:39 
QuestionRe: Same function fixed and compressed Pin
DorMarchan14-May-08 5:52
DorMarchan14-May-08 5:52 
GeneralDoesn't always work Pin
Anonymous27-Sep-04 11:54
Anonymous27-Sep-04 11:54 
GeneralRe: Doesn't always work Pin
Anonymous28-Sep-04 5:17
Anonymous28-Sep-04 5:17 
GeneralRe: Doesn't always work - here's a cleaned up version Pin
plq110-May-08 19:00
plq110-May-08 19:00 
GeneralVery Good Article... Pin
jkutsor13-Jan-04 1:18
jkutsor13-Jan-04 1:18 
GeneralRe: Very Good Article... Pin
SeaWater13-Jan-04 2:14
SeaWater13-Jan-04 2:14 
Smile | :) Thanks for your comment. Exactly, a very good use for this would be to place this code in a windows service and create a custom application that could for example, monitor all your servers to make sure the system time is not off on one of your servers. It is easy to take for granted that you can now create a windows service very easy using .Net. compared to vb6. Thanks for bringing up that excellent point.

Thanks,
SeaWater
QuestionHow about net time Pin
hmlinder9-Jan-04 0:26
hmlinder9-Jan-04 0:26 
AnswerRe: How about net time Pin
SeaWater9-Jan-04 2:38
SeaWater9-Jan-04 2:38 
GeneralWhy not just use a web service Pin
hmlinder7-Jan-04 15:27
hmlinder7-Jan-04 15:27 
GeneralRe: Why not just use a web service Pin
SeaWater8-Jan-04 2:52
SeaWater8-Jan-04 2:52 
GeneralRe: Why not just use a web service Pin
Anonymous4-Feb-04 6:40
Anonymous4-Feb-04 6:40 
GeneralRe: Why not just use a web service Pin
Anonymous4-Feb-04 7:03
Anonymous4-Feb-04 7:03 

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