Reading MAC address of ethernet (wifi) from WinCE device

[ertank]

Hi,

I have found several threads in forum.lazarus about subject. Unfortunately, none of them worked for me.

Is there any one which already could get this piece of information?

Thanks.

[Jurassic Pork]

hello,
you can try using tprocess and  tregexpr  with the command ipconfig /all.

something like that ( description and mac address of each network adapter)  :

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. // uses process,regexpr;
2. procedure TForm1.ReadAdapterInfos();
3.       const READ_BYTES = 2048;
4.       var
5.       i : integer;
6.       Re1,Re2: TRegExpr;
7.       aProcess: TProcess; //TProcess is crossplatform is best way
8.       MemStream: TMemoryStream;
9.       NumBytes: LongInt;
10.       BytesRead: LongInt;
11.       Lines: TStringList;
12.     begin
13.      // A temp Memorystream is used to buffer the output
14.      MemStream := TMemoryStream.Create;
15.      Lines :=TStringList.Create;
16.      BytesRead := 0;
17.       try
18.        re1 := TRegExpr.Create;
19.        // regex for description of network adapter
20.        re1.Expression := '.*Description.*:(.+)';
21.        re2 :=  TRegExpr.Create;
22.        // regex for mac address
23.        re2.Expression := '.*Adresse physique.*:(.+)';
24.        aProcess := TProcess.Create(nil);
25.        aProcess.Executable := 'ipconfig.exe';
26.        aProcess.Parameters.Add('/all');
27.        aprocess.ShowWindow := swoHIDE;
28.        AProcess.Options := AProcess.Options + [poUsePipes,poStderrToOutPut];
29.        Memo1.Lines.Clear;
30.        aProcess.Execute;
31.        while aProcess.Running do
32.        begin
33.          // make sure we have room
34.          MemStream.SetSize(BytesRead + READ_BYTES);
35.          // try reading it
36.          NumBytes := aProcess.Output.Read((MemStream.Memory + BytesRead)^, READ_BYTES);
37.          if NumBytes > 0 // All read() calls will block, except the final one.
38.             then Inc(BytesRead, NumBytes)
39.          else
40.             BREAK // Program has finished execution.
41.        end;
42.        MemStream.SetSize(BytesRead);
43.        Lines.LoadFromStream(MemStream);
44.        for i := 0 to Lines.Count-1 do
45.        begin
46.        if re1.Exec(Lines[i]) then  Memo1.lines.Add(Trim(Re1.Match[1]));
47.        if re2.Exec(Lines[i]) then  Memo1.lines.Add(Trim(Re2.Match[1]));
48.        end;
49.        finally
50.        re1.Free;
51.        re2.Free;
52.        aProcess.Free;
53.        Lines.Free;
54.        MemStream.Free;
55.        end;
56.     end;        

1 - The expressions for the regexp are trivial -> can be optimized
2 - The expression of re2 for mac address must be changed depending of the country. In the example it is for french Ipconfig.

Friendly J.P

[ertank]

Hi,

Thanks for the sample code. I tried to use it. However, my WinCE device insists not to run ipconfig.exe

First, I get "Cannot execute empty command-line" error message. Then I also assign "ipconfig.exe" to aProcess.CommandLine (which supposed to be depreciated).
Second, I started to get "Failed to execute ipconfig.exe : 87" which I have no idea what it means.

I tested and confirm that my device has ipconfig.exe and it executes as expected from command shell.

Are you able to support on above problems?

Thanks.

[Jurassic Pork]

 hello,
try to call the command-line interpreter before the command : 

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1.  AProcess.Executable := 'cmd.exe'; // or with the whole path
2.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('/c');
3.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('ipconfig.exe');
4.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('/all');
5.  

Friendly, J.P

[ertank]

Hi,

I didn't mention earlier. I am using Lazaus 1.6.0. Cross compiler for ARM is installed.

Still receiving error saying "Cannot execute empty command-line" again. I suppose I need to put something in aProcess.CommandLine parameter. This parameter is depreciated as it is indicated though. Current code is as follows:
I have some type casting to prevent compiler warnings.

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. // uses process,regexpr;
2. function TDM.ReadAdapterInfos:String;
3. const READ_BYTES = 2048;
4. var
5. i : integer;
6. Re1,Re2: TRegExpr;
7. aProcess: TProcess; //TProcess is crossplatform is best way
8. MemStream: TMemoryStream;
9. NumBytes: LongInt;
10. BytesRead: LongInt;
11. Lines: TStringList;
12. begin
13.   Result := EmptyStr;
14.   // A temp Memorystream is used to buffer the output
15.   MemStream := TMemoryStream.Create;
16.   Lines :=TStringList.Create;
17.   BytesRead := 0;
18.   try
19.     re1 := TRegExpr.Create;
20.     // regex for description of network adapter
21.     re1.Expression := '.*Description.*:(.+)';
22.     re2 :=  TRegExpr.Create;
23.     // regex for mac address
24.     re2.Expression := '.*Adresse physique.*:(.+)';
25.     aProcess := TProcess.Create(nil);
26.     AProcess.Executable := 'cmd.exe'; // or with the whole path
27.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('/c');
28.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('ipconfig.exe');
29.     AProcess.Parameters.Add('/all');
30.     AProcess.ShowWindow := swoHIDE;
31.     AProcess.Options := AProcess.Options + [poUsePipes,poStderrToOutPut];
32.     aProcess.Execute;
33.     while aProcess.Running do begin
34.       // make sure we have room
35.       MemStream.SetSize(BytesRead + READ_BYTES);
36.       // try reading it
37.       NumBytes := aProcess.Output.Read((MemStream.Memory + BytesRead)^, READ_BYTES);
38.       if NumBytes > 0 // All read() calls will block, except the final one.
39.         then Inc(BytesRead, NumBytes)
40.       else
41.         BREAK // Program has finished execution.
42.     end;
43.     MemStream.SetSize(BytesRead);
44.     Lines.LoadFromStream(MemStream);
45.     for i := 0 to Lines.Count-1 do begin
46.       if re1.Exec(WideString(Lines[i])) then  Result := Result + #13 + Trim(string(Re1.Match[1]));
47.       if re2.Exec(WideString(Lines[i])) then  Result := Result + #13 + Trim(string(Re2.Match[1]));
48.     end;
49.   finally
50.     re1.Free;
51.     re2.Free;
52.     aProcess.Free;
53.     Lines.Free;
54.     MemStream.Free;
55.   end;
56. end;
57.  

[Jurassic Pork]

hello,
it seems that  executable + parameters are not used for wince version of Tprocess   

windows
1 - lazarus_1_6_0\fpc\3.0.0\source\packages\fcl-process\src\win\process.inc

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1.  if (FApplicationName<>'') then
2.     begin
3.     PName:=Pchar(FApplicationName);
4.     PCommandLine:=Pchar(FCommandLine);
5.     end
6.   else If (FCommandLine<>'') then
7.     PCommandLine:=Pchar(FCommandLine)
8.   else if (Fexecutable<>'') then
9.     begin
10.     Cmd:=MaybeQuoteIfNotQuoted(Executable);
11.     For I:=0 to Parameters.Count-1 do
12.       Cmd:=Cmd+' '+MaybeQuoteIfNotQuoted(Parameters[i]);
13.  
14.     PCommandLine:=PChar(Cmd);

Wince
2 - F:\lazarus_1_6_0\fpc\3.0.0\source\packages\fcl-process\src\wince\process.inc

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1.  if (FApplicationName='') then
2.     begin
3.       If (FCommandLine='') then
4.         Raise EProcess.Create(SNoCommandline);
5.       PCommandLine:=PWidechar(FCommandLine)
6.     end
7.   else
8.     begin
9.       PName:=PWidechar(FApplicationName);
10.       If (FCommandLine='') then
11.         PCommandLine:=PWidechar(FApplicationName)
12.       else
13.         PCommandLine:=PWidechar(FCommandLine)
14.     end;

then try this :

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. AProcess.CommandLine := 'cmd.exe  /c Ipconfig.exe /all';

Friendly, J.P

[ertank]

Now we are back to that mysterious "error 87" My debug log contains below lines:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. TApplication.HandleException Failed to execute cmd.exe  /c Ipconfig.exe /all : 87
2. TApplication.HandleException Failed to execute ipconfig.exe /all : 87
3. TApplication.HandleException Failed to execute \windows\ipconfig.exe /all : 87
4.  

I, myself, out of ideas here.

[Jurassic Pork]

error code 87 for wince :

87    The parameter is incorrect.

[ertank]

Sure, meaning of error 87 is known. Reason is not. Everything seems in order for our command line. I have found below link related with my problem. They were not able to use TProcess in the end, too.

http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php?topic=3683.0

So, I'm stuck.

[ertank]

Finally, I could read ethernet MAC address (not bluetooth though).

My source link: http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php?topic=10465.0

I needed to modify some parts of the code to be able to compile it for WinCE. Below is my complete unit code:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. unit Unit1;
2.  
3. {$mode objfpc}{$H+}
4.  
5. interface
6.  
7. uses
8.   Classes, SysUtils, FileUtil, Forms, Controls, Graphics, Dialogs, Menus,
9.   StdCtrls;
10.  
11. type
12.  
13.   { TForm1 }
14.  
15.   TForm1 = class(TForm)
16.     Button2: TButton;
17.     Memo1: TMemo;
18.     procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
19.     procedure Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
20.     procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
21.   private
22.     { private declarations }
23.     function GetWinMacAddress: String;
24.   public
25.     { public declarations }
26.   end;
27.  
28.   function GetIfTable( pIfTable : Pointer;
29.                    VAR pdwSize  : LongInt;
30.                        bOrder   : LongInt ): LongInt; stdcall;
31. var
32.   Form1: TForm1;
33.  
34. implementation
35.  
36. {$R *.lfm}
37.  
38. function GetIfTable( pIfTable : Pointer;
39.                  VAR pdwSize  : LongInt;
40.                      bOrder   : LongInt ): LongInt; stdcall; external 'IPHLPAPI.DLL';
41.  
42. { TForm1 }
43.  
44. procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
45. begin
46.   // Below is necessary to be able to see form on the mini device screen
47.   Left := 0;
48.   Top  := 25;
49. end;
50.  
51. procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
52. begin
53.   Memo1.Lines.Add(EmptyStr);
54.   Memo1.Lines.Add(GetWinMacAddress);
55. end;
56.  
57. function TForm1.GetWinMacAddress: String;
58. const
59.   MAX_INTERFACE_NAME_LEN             = $100;
60.   ERROR_SUCCESS                      = 0;
61.   MAXLEN_IFDESCR                     = $100;
62.   MAXLEN_PHYSADDR                    = 8;
63.  
64.   MIB_IF_TYPE_ETHERNET               = 6;
65.  
66.   _MAX_ROWS_ = 20;
67.  
68. type
69.  
70.    MIB_IFROW            = Record
71.      wszName : Array[0 .. (MAX_INTERFACE_NAME_LEN * 2 - 1)] of char;
72.      dwIndex              : LongInt;
73.      dwType               : LongInt;
74.      dwMtu                : LongInt;
75.      dwSpeed              : LongInt;
76.      dwPhysAddrLen        : LongInt;
77.      bPhysAddr : Array[0 .. (MAXLEN_PHYSADDR-1)] of Byte;
78.      dwAdminStatus        : LongInt;
79.      dwOperStatus         : LongInt;
80.      dwLastChange         : LongInt;
81.      dwInOctets           : LongInt;
82.      dwInUcastPkts        : LongInt;
83.      dwInNUcastPkts       : LongInt;
84.      dwInDiscards         : LongInt;
85.      dwInErrors           : LongInt;
86.      dwInUnknownProtos    : LongInt;
87.      dwOutOctets          : LongInt;
88.      dwOutUcastPkts       : LongInt;
89.      dwOutNUcastPkts      : LongInt;
90.      dwOutDiscards        : LongInt;
91.      dwOutErrors          : LongInt;
92.      dwOutQLen            : LongInt;
93.      dwDescrLen           : LongInt;
94.      bDescr     : Array[0 .. (MAXLEN_IFDESCR - 1)] of Char;
95.      end;
96.  
97.    _IfTable = Record
98.                  nRows : LongInt;
99.                  ifRow : Array[1.._MAX_ROWS_] of MIB_IFROW;
100.               end;
101.  
102. var
103.    pIfTable  : ^_IfTable;
104.    TableSize : LongInt;
105.    tmp       : String;
106.    i,j       : Integer;
107.    ErrCode   : LongInt;
108. begin
109.    pIfTable := nil;
110.    //------------------------------------------------------------
111.    Result := '';
112.    try
113.       //-------------------------------------------------------
114.       // First: just get the buffer size.
115.       // TableSize returns the size needed.
116.       TableSize := 0; // Set to zero so the GetIfTabel function
117.                     // won't try to fill the buffer yet,
118.                     // but only return the actual size it needs.
119.       GetIfTable(pIfTable, TableSize, 1);
120.       if (TableSize < SizeOf(MIB_IFROW) + Sizeof(LongInt)) then
121.       begin
122.          Exit; // less than 1 table entry?!
123.       end; // if-end.
124.  
125.       // Second:
126.       // allocate memory for the buffer and retrieve the
127.       // entire table.
128.       GetMem(pIfTable, TableSize);
129.       ErrCode := GetIfTable(pIfTable, TableSize, 1);
130.       if (ErrCode <> ERROR_SUCCESS) then
131.       begin
132.          Exit; // OK, that did not work.
133.                // Not enough memory i guess.
134.       end; // if-end.
135.  
136.       // Read the ETHERNET addresses.
137.       for i := 1 to pIfTable^.nRows do
138.       try
139.          if (pIfTable^.ifRow[i].dwType=MIB_IF_TYPE_ETHERNET) and
140.              (pIfTable^.ifRow[i].dwOutOctets <> 0) then
141.          begin
142.             tmp := '';
143.             for j:=0 to pIfTable^.ifRow[i].dwPhysAddrLen-1 do
144.             begin
145.                tmp := tmp + format('%.2x:',
146.                       [ pIfTable^.ifRow[i].bPhysAddr[j] ] );
147.             end; // for-end.
148.             //-------------------------------------
149.             if Length(tmp)>0 then
150.             begin
151.               Result := Copy(tmp, 1, Length(tmp) - 1);
152.               Exit;
153.             end;
154.          end; // if-end.
155.       except
156.          Exit;
157.       end; // if-try-except-end.
158.    finally
159.       if Assigned(pIfTable) then FreeMem(pIfTable, TableSize);
160.    end; // if-try-finally-end.
161. end;
162.  
163. end.
164.  

Solution is not what we were trying to achieve, but it's same result, different path.

Thanks for all the support.

Regards,
Ertan Küçükoğlu

[Jurassic Pork]

hello,
you can try also to use the iphlpapi   unit like that :

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. // uses iphlpapi
2.  
3. procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
4. var pAdapterInfo:PIP_ADAPTER_INFO;
5.    BufLen,Status:cardinal; i:Integer;
6.    tmp : string;
7. begin
8.   BufLen:= sizeof(IP_ADAPTER_INFO);
9.   GetAdaptersInfo(nil, BufLen);
10.   pAdapterInfo:= AllocMem(BufLen);
11.   try
12.     Status:= GetAdaptersInfo(pAdapterInfo,BufLen);
13.     if (Status = 0 ) then
14.     begin
15.       while (pAdapterInfo<>nil) do
16.     begin
17.     tmp := '';
18.     if pAdapterInfo^.AddressLength>0 then
19.     for i := 0 to pAdapterInfo^.AddressLength - 1 do
20.       tmp :=  tmp + IntToHex(pAdapterInfo^.Address[I], 2) + ' ';
21.      memo1.Append(tmp);
22.      pAdapterInfo:=pAdapterInfo^.next;
23.     end;
24.     end;
25.   finally
26.     Freemem(pAdapterInfo);
27.   end;
28. end;      

it's OK for me on my old PDA   Fuji Loox 420    PXA255   with      wince (pocket pc)  4.2   
need to activate WLAN to see the MAC address of the Wifi adapter.

Friendly, J.P 

[ertank]

That seems to be another solution. Shorter, easier to read.

Are you sure that you need to activate WiFi in order to read MAC address? I tested my code when WiFi is closed and it run OK.

Thanks.

[Jurassic Pork]

on my device (fuji Loox 420) when i disable WLAN, i can't see the Wifi adapter infos from my program. What is your device ?

[ertank]

Producer is Korean. Web address: http://www.dsic.co.kr/ You can find it under Mobile Solutions. Model is DS5

[Jurassic Pork]

your PDA is  relatively recent , mine is jurassic ( 2004)