[SwaroopH]

Hallo friends, am new with C#,

My Question is how can i grab a username from my LAN network where atleast 50 PC's are connected.
i am able to get my username using this code :

 Lable1=System.Environment.Username; 

how can i get a username from Other Computer..please suggest a resolution..

Thanks in Advance

[Curtis Rutland]

You basically can't. You want to get the logged on user of a computer that your program is not running on? That's either management software or malware.

[SwaroopH]

I just want to make a Attendence System based on those LAN computers and there User's.
for that reason i want those all username's which are connected to my LAN.
If there is any other better way to make this software then please let me know.

Thanks Curtis Rutland..for answering..

[Skydiver]

Well, if you are managing those machines, you can have a small program on each machine's StartUp folder that phones home to say that the user logged in. But then that also smells a lot like malware. Oh wait, the IT department of the company I work for already does something very similar... So it must be management software and not malware in that context.

Actually, if your LAN is using Active Directory (assuming you have a PC based network), then I believe that the AD logs will tell you who is on which machine.

[tlhIn`toq]

I think you lack and understanding of networking.
You don't log into "the network". You log into a PC. You can connect to a shared drive on a server: Either with the same login as the PC or a different set of credentials.

As Curtis pointed out this method sounds a LOT like malware. If you want to create an attendance system then you should make a small client/server set of programs and have the employee 'clock in' through that package.

[SwaroopH]

Any other way to make a Attendence system on LAN Where i get a specific information like Username and Machine name. if so then please let me know.

Any New Idea is appreciated..

Thanks ...Skydiver ..for not to declare this as a Malware...its a really a management Sofware to track the Username and Machine name for Attendance purpose only..

[tlhIn`toq]

Other than the existing suggestion you mean?

tlhIn`toq, on 10 July 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

If you want to create an attendance system then you should make a small client/server set of programs and have the employee 'clock in' through that package.

What is wrong with that suggestion? Its the right way to do it. That you want to NOT do it that way makes me think you don't have permission to install software on those machines: IE You are not part of the approved IT department - IE: This is unapproved/malware.

[SwaroopH]

tlhIn`toq, on 10 July 2012 - 02:43 PM, said:

I think you lack and understanding of networking.
You don't log into "the network". You log into a PC. You can connect to a shared drive on a server: Either with the same login as the PC or a different set of credentials.

As Curtis pointed out this method sounds a LOT like malware. If you want to create an attendance system then you should make a small client/server set of programs and have the employee 'clock in' through that package.

Yup because am new to C# already and Netwoking as well..thts why i need a good suggestion.
Would be better sir if you give me or suggest me an idea..

What need to code and where?...because i am confused..Or else i will drop this idea to make a attendence Programmee.

[SwaroopH]

tlhIn`toq, on 10 July 2012 - 03:00 PM, said:

Other than the existing suggestion you mean?

tlhIn`toq, on 10 July 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

If you want to create an attendance system then you should make a small client/server set of programs and have the employee 'clock in' through that package.

What is wrong with that suggestion? Its the right way to do it. That you want to NOT do it that way makes me think you don't have permission to install software on those machines: IE You are not part of the approved IT department - IE: This is unapproved/malware.

Lol...your suggestion is very good Mr....and FYI..i have the rights to install anything on whole network system...but dont know how to implement your idea (if u write it down in brief thn may be i will understand) (actually dont knw what to write down in code ..nothing else). and would be nice if u stop declaring it as a Malware..please.

[tlhIn`toq]

tlhIn`toq, on 10 July 2012 - 02:43 PM, said:

If you want to create an attendance system then you should make a small client/server set of programs and have the employee 'clock in' through that package.

Skydiver, on 10 July 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

Well, if you are managing those machines, you can have a small program on each machine's StartUp folder that phones home to say that the user logged in.

SwaroopH, on 10 July 2012 - 04:00 PM, said:

Yup because am new to C# already and Netwoking as well..thts why i need a good suggestion.
Would be better sir if you give me or suggest me an idea..

We have already given you a good suggestion several times.

SwaroopH, on 10 July 2012 - 04:00 PM, said:

What need to code and where?...because i am confused..Or else i will drop this idea to make a attendence Programmee.

Ohhhhh.... You want us to write your program for you - THat's your idea of a 'suggestion'.

It doesn't work that way. We aren't your code monkeys;

You need to make an attempt to write your own software and we will help you with specific problems.

Quote

Where do I start?

You start by learning a coding language FIRST.
Learn to plan before you type.
THEN you start designing software with a purpose.


If this sounds like you

Newbie/Rookie said:

I have a little programming experience but I need to write ...

read this section

Spoiler

You need to start there. I can't say "I have little experience in speaking Russian, but I have been assigned to write a mystery novel in Russian. Can you help me?"

We can help you by saying "First learn basic programming and the language of C#. Then take on assignments." Could someone here write this program for you? Sure. Could someone here map out all the processes you need to follow and do the Software Design part of this in the slim hope you could code it from there? Sure. But we don't volunteer to do the job that you're either getting paid for, or getting a grade for. You may want to read this.

For now, just work on the lessons. Do a self-teaching book from cover to cover. Then consider writing a program.

Don't try to create a useful working program to fit a need of yours (or a for-pay contract) as your introduction to coding project. When you are learning to code you don't know enough to code a program, let alone know how to engineer the architecture of a program. It would be like saying "I don't know how to read sheet music, or play an instrument. I think I'll write a 3 act opera as my first learning experience."

I don't say this to be mean. We've seen lots of new coders take this approach and we know it doesn't work. Trying to design your own programs before you understand the basics of the code language you've chosen just leads to problems, frustrations, and 'swiss-cheese' education (lots of holes).

Otherwise, you can just jump to the resources here:
Some of the tutorials below are for C# or Java not C, C++, VB.NET [...]. But the conceptual stuff of classes, object oriented design, events etc. are not language specific and should give you enough guidance in theory of program development for you to be able to look-up specific code example in your chosen coding language.

---

Resources, references and suggestions for new programmers. - Updated Mar 2012

---

Spoiler

Quote

I already have a background in programming from this other software/technology/lanugage so I don't think I need to do tutorials

Here's how I look at doing tutorials even if one has a coding background that makes one think they don't need to do tutorials:

• If one's background really is enough to not need the tutorials, then they won't take long - So what's the harm?
  
• If the tutorials do take a while, then it might be time to re-think how much of one's old experience really applies to the new technology.
  
• There's no down-side. Every tutorial/series teaches something in a new way. Maybe you pick up a neat trick or a different approach to something that you already knew.

The stages of asking for homework help on a forum



But honestly, just typing away and seeing what pops up in Intellisense is going to make your self-education take 20 years. You can learn by trying to reverse engineer the language through banging on the keyboard experimentation - or you can learn by doing the tutorials and following a good "How to learn C#" book. There are so many great "How do I build my first application" tutorials on the web... There are dozens of "Learn C# in 21 days", "My first C# program" type books at your local book seller or even public library.

Beginner:

Java

Spoiler

Best beginner books
Reading and writting a file in Java

C#

Spoiler

C# Reading list by Eric Lipert

C# Fundamentals: Development for absolute beginners (video series)
Build a Program Now! in Visual C# by Microsoft Press, ISBN 0-7356-2542-5 is a terrific book that has you build a Windows Forms application, a WPF app, a database application, your own web browser.

Martyr2's mega project ideas list is a great place to start on developmental projectst that you can learn from; rather than trying to make something complex like a game as a self-teaching tool {that never works for anyone}

Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

D.I.C. C# Resource page Start here
Intro to C# online tutorial then here...
C# control structures then here.
MSDN Beginner Developer video series
MSDN video on OOP principals, making classes, constructors, accessors and method overloading
MSDN Top guideline violations, know what to avoid before you do it.
Design patterns as diagrams

I hate sending people to another site when we have such good tutorials here, but this series shouldn't be overlooked.
Programming OOP in C# - Part 1
Programming OOP in C# - Part 2
Programming OOP in C# - Part 3
Programming OOP in C# - Part 4
Programming OOP in C# - Part 5

Writing a text file is always one of the first things people want to do, in order to store data like high-scores, preferences and so on.
Writing a text file tutorial.
Reading a text file tutorial.
.Split()ing a string

Have you seen the 500+ MSDN Code Samples? They spent a lot of time creating samples and demos. It seems a shame to not use them.

Intermediate:
Microsoft Events (webcasts and podcasts)
The tutorials below walk through making an application including inheritance, custom events and custom controls, object serialization and more.
Quick and easy custom events
Bulding an application - Part 1
Building an application - Part 2
Separating data from GUI - PLUS - serializing the data to XML
WPF version (WPF-MVVM data binding)
Passing values between forms/classes
Decouple your multi-threaded work from the GUI so forms don't hang

Working with environmental variables
'Why do we use delegates?' thread
And everyone always wants to connect to a database, right out of the gate so Database tutorials right here on DIC

C# Cookbooks
Are a great place to get good code, broken down by need, written by coding professionals. You can use the code as-is, but take the time to actually study it. These professionals write in a certain style for a reason developed by years of experience and heartache.

Everyone:
Debugging tutorial
Debugging tips
Debugging in detail
Great debugging tips
It still doesn't work, article

I urge you to work through the C# learning series here on DIC, and to work a self-teaching book from cover to cover before you even think about designing your own applications.
Microsoft Visual Studio Tips, 251 ways to improve your productivity, Microsoft press, ISBN 0-7356-2640-5 Has many, many great, real-world tips that I use all the time.

These are just good every-day references to put in your bookmarks.
MSDN C# Developers Center with tutorials
Welcome to Visual Studio
Free editions of Visual Studio 2010
Student editions of Visual Studio


Windows Presentation Foundation:
Create Animations Programmatically

Some of my common tips (some may apply more than others to your specific style):

• You have to program as if everything breaks, nothing works, the cyberworld is not perfect, the attached hardware is flakey, the network is slow and unreliable, the harddrive is about to fail, every method will return an error and every user will do their best to break your software. Confirm everything. Range check every value. Make no assumptions or presumptions.
  
  
• Take the extra 3 seconds to rename your controls each time you drag them onto a form. The default names of button1, button2... button54 aren't very helpful. If you rename them right away to something like btnOk, btnCancel, btnSend etc. it helps tremendously when you make the methods for them because they are named after the button by the designer.btnSend_Click(object sender, eventargs e) is a lot easier to maintain than button1_click(object sender, eventargs e)
  
  
• You aren't paying for variable names by the byte. So instead of variables names of a, b, c go ahead and use meaningful names like index, timeOut, row, column and so on. You should avoid 'T' for the timer. Amongst other things 'T' is commonly used throughout C# for Type and this will lead to problems. There are naming guidelines you should follow so your code confirms to industry standards. It makes life much easier on everyone around you, including those of us here to help. If you start using the standards from the beginning you don't have to retrain yourself later.
  You might want to look at some of the naming guidelines. Its a lot easier to start with good habits than to break bad habits later and re-learn.
  
  
  • Guidelines for names
    
  • Naming guidelines
    
  • Design guidelines for classes
  
  
  
• Try to avoid having work actually take place in GUI control event handlers. It is better to have the GUI handler call other methods so those methods can be reused and make the code more readable. This is also how you can send parameters rather than use excessive global variables.
  
  Spoiler

  
  

  btnSave(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences(preferencesPath);
  }
  
  SaveMenuItem(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences(@"C:\prefs\test.txt");
  }
  
  SaveContextMenu(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences();// No parameter method overload
  }
  
  FormMain_Closing(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      if (IsDirty) SavePreferences();
  }
  

  
  
  
• Don't replace lines of code that don't work. Instead comment them out and put your new attemps below that. This will keep you from re-trying the same ideas over and over. Also, when you come back to us saying "I've tried this 100 different ways and still can't get it", we can actually see what you tried. So often a failed attempt is very very close and just needs a little nudge in the right direction. So if we can say "See what you did in attempt 3... blah blah" it helps a lot
  
  
  Spoiler

  // Try #1 - May 1, 0900hrs
  //    code
  //    code  
  //    code
  // Try #2 - May 2, 1700hrs   Okay, plan B.  What if I do it *this* way
  //    code
  //    code  
  //    code
  // Try #14 - May 3, 0500hrs after 5 cans of RedBull.  Maybe I should get some sleep. I can't think of anything else but this last idea
      code
      code  
      code
  
  

  
  If you are using Visual Studio you can select a block of lines and hit control+k control+c (Kode Comment) to comment it out. control+k control+u (Kode Uncomment) to uncomment a selected block.
  
  
  
• I strongly suggest installing VMware or some other virtualization technology on your development PC so you can create a couple virtual computers for testing. This would allow you to debug and test inside: WinXP32, XP64, Vista, Win7x32, Win7x64... etc. without having to actually have 5 physical PC's. Visual Studio will let you send the debug directly into one of these virtual machines so you can watch it operate, check its variables, see the crashes and so on just as if it were debugging on your real machine.
  
  
• This can't be stressed enough in today's world of cell phone messaging:
  Don't use txt/sms/leet/T9 speak like: u no, u r, dnt, wut i m do-n, coz, al gud, b4, ny1, sum1, please and so on like this guy:
  
  
  Spoiler

  dis not b d'hood dawg... You are sitting at a real keyboard with a real monitor, not a cell phone. You are not here texting your high school posse to come to your kegger after their shift at Taco Bell. You are here asking for help from senior coding professionals who graciously donate their valuable time to helping the next generation of coders with their chosen craft. Please try to show them, yourself and the industry some respect by writing at least at an eighth grade level. (IE: English not ebonics or SMS, real words, punctuation and so on). If you can't take your own problem/question seriously enough to write like an adult, then why would you expect anyone else to take it seriously?
  
  When you write a post you are presenting yourself. Your writing style is all you have to show others who you are and what you stand for. When I see posts filled with lack of capitalization, SMS text like 'Urself', lack of punctuation and so on; what I see is someone who just doesn't care to make even an eighth grade presentation of themselves. I also see that you feel we are not worth the effort. Posts that look like this show that you don't feel the person you are talking to is worth speaking to as an adult. If you show this level of contempt or apathy towards someone you are asking for help how can you expect to be taken seriously or expect to receive that expert's fullest attention and time to help you?