CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.net-mvc
Jimmy
Jimmy

Reputation: 9815

Determine Client's Computer Name

I am building an intranet site that will display different lists based on the computer name because different computers are in different areas, is there a way (within a controller or model) to determine the client's computer name?

I have tried system.environment.machinename but that only returns the name of the server, any other ideas?

Upvotes: 45

Views: 75332

Answers (7)

Jimmy
Jimmy

Reputation: 9815

I got it working using the following:

string IP = Request.UserHostName;
string compName = CompNameHelper.DetermineCompName(IP);

code from compnamehelper:

public static string DetermineCompName(string IP)
{
    IPAddress myIP = IPAddress.Parse(IP);
    IPHostEntry GetIPHost = Dns.GetHostEntry(myIP);
    List<string> compName = GetIPHost.HostName.ToString().Split('.').ToList();
    return compName.First();
}

Upvotes: 54

hosein kardoost
hosein kardoost

Reputation: 41

code in VB :

Dim myIP As IPAddress = IPAddress.Parse(Request.UserHostName)
    Dim GetIPHost As IPHostEntry = Dns.GetHostEntry(myIP)
    Dim compName As List(Of String) = GetIPHost.HostName.ToString.Split("").ToList

    return(compName.First)

Upvotes: 4

p.campbell
p.campbell

Reputation: 100557

Here's an IE-only solution. It works in IE8, with multiple security warnings.

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
   var ax = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Network");
   document.write(ax.UserName + '<br />'); //logged in account name
   document.write(ax.ComputerName + '<br />'); //Windows PC name
</script>

Upvotes: -1

Matt Wrock
Matt Wrock

Reputation: 6640

Try this:

string name = Request.UserHostName;

Upvotes: 1

Dmytrii Nagirniak
Dmytrii Nagirniak

Reputation: 24078

No. The client's computer name is not available in any way on the server. This is the nature of the http request-response. You only can have its IP address.

A workarounds could be to retrieve machine on the client from Flash/Silverlight (I doubt JavaScript) and put in into cookie which is available on the server with each request. But there is a whole stack of issues with this approach.

Upvotes: 3

D&#39;Arcy Rittich
D&#39;Arcy Rittich

Reputation: 171351

I think you are better off using one of these methods to tie a user to a location:

  • a cookie that is set once the user self-selects their location
  • having the user login to the site so that you can track them uniquely that way
  • remembering user by IP address

There is no way of ensuring remote hostnames are unique. The same issue occurs with IP because of proxies, dynamic IP, etc., but I think it will be a little more reliable. Also, you can do geolocation by IP address.

Upvotes: 1

David Andres
David Andres

Reputation: 31781

The only way I know of to inspect the client is through the ServerVariables collection on the Request object (should be available for MVC code).

See https://web.archive.org/web/20210927201638/http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/092298-3.shtml for more information. REMOTE_HOST and REMOTE_ADDR look like candidates.

Upvotes: 0

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