[RESOLVED] Server ComputerName

[raghavendran]

The following code retrieves the local computer name

Public Function MachineName() As String
       Dim ComputerName As String = System.Net.Dns.GetHostName
       Return ComputerName
End Function

In client-server environment (LAN) , I want the client side application to retrieve the Server's computer name. How to code it?

[thetimmer]

I just walked backwards a little from this post and came up with this...

  Dim strHostName As String = "www.americanfarmersnetwork.com"
        'string strHostName = "www.microsoft.com";
        ' Get DNS entry of specified host name
        Dim addresses() As IPAddress = Dns.GetHostEntry(strHostName).AddressList
        Dim HostName As IPHostEntry = Dns.GetHostEntry(strHostName)

        ' The DNS entry may contains more than one IP addresses.
        ' Iterate them and display each along with the type of address (AddressFamily).

        Dim sb As New System.Text.StringBuilder
        For Each address As System.Net.IPAddress In addresses
            sb.AppendLine(String.Format("{0} = {1} ({2}) Retrieved HostName = {3}", strHostName, address.ToString, address.AddressFamily.ToString, HostName.HostName.ToString))
        Next
        MessageBox.Show(sb.ToString)

[jayinthe813]

I would say it depends how your client-server needs to interact. Is your client going to talk directly to the server, or is your client going to contact a database, etc.

[raghavendran]

I need to connect to the Sql server database which is lying in the Server Computer. I use computer_name in the connection string.
My connection string is something like this....

Dbconstring = "Data Source=" & MachineName() & "\SQLEXPRESS;.....

To Retrieve ComputerName I use the function as shown in my Post #1. The MachineName() function returns the Local Computer Name.
If I start my application in the client computer, it has to retrieve the server computer's computer_name.

[techgnome]

This thread is a perfect example of why people should provide a clear explanation of what the want to do and not how.

Look into to the SQL SMO namespace -
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../hh247097.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../ms162169.aspx

within it is EnumAvailableSqlSer ers which will get you what you're looking for.


-tg

[raghavendran]

@techgnome :
In order to use the EnumAvailableSqlSer function, i need to add this reference : "Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo"
Unfortunately I did not find it in my Ref.List. I Browsed to add the requisite .dll file.
But I'm not able to locate that file either in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\SDK\Assemblies folder" or in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\SDK\Assemblies folder". Can you please help me to sort it out ? (I use VS2008 with Sql 2005)

[techgnome]

That's because SQL Server objects get loaded into the GAC. Besides, you shouldn't be setting a reference directly to the DLL... you'll find it in the .NET Objects tab, along with all the other basic stuff. You may want to sort by namespace to make it easier to find. But it's there.

-tg

[raghavendran]

The following function does it......

Imports System.Data.Sql

Public Function GetServerList() As String

        Dim Server As String = String.Empty
        Dim instance As SqlDataSourceEnumerator = SqlDataSourceEnumerator.Instance
        Dim table As System.Data.DataTable = instance.GetDataSources()

        For Each row As System.Data.DataRow In table.Rows
            Server = String.Empty
            Server = row("ServerName")
            If row("InstanceName").ToString.Length > 0 Then
                Server = Server & "\" & row("InstanceName")
            End If
            If Server = Environment.MachineName Then Exit For
        Next
        Return Server
        
End Function

This may be useful : http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlserverti...ws-powershell/

Explanation given there goes like this...

you don't even need to have SMO installed on your client machine to enumerate SQL Server instances across your organization as the .NET Framework already includes ADO.NET 2.0. ADO.NET contains the System.Data.Sql namespace which contains classes that support SQL Server-specific functionality. One of these classes is the SqlDataSourceEnumerator which can be used for enumerating all available instances of SQL Server within your local network