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.NET Framework 3.5
This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Class Library
PhysicalAddress Class

Provides the Media Access Control (MAC) address for a network interface (adapter).

Namespace:  System.Net.NetworkInformation
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Class PhysicalAddress
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As PhysicalAddress
C#
public class PhysicalAddress
Visual C++
public ref class PhysicalAddress
J#
public class PhysicalAddress
JScript
public class PhysicalAddress

The MAC address, or physical address, is a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node, such as a computer or printer, on a network.

Instances of this class are returned by the NetworkInterface..::.GetPhysicalAddress method.

The following code example displays the physical addresses of all interfaces on the local computer.

C#
public static void ShowNetworkInterfaces()
{
    IPGlobalProperties computerProperties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
    NetworkInterface[] nics = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
    Console.WriteLine("Interface information for {0}.{1}     ",
            computerProperties.HostName, computerProperties.DomainName);
    if (nics == null || nics.Length < 1)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("  No network interfaces found.");
        return;
    }

    Console.WriteLine("  Number of interfaces .................... : {0}", nics.Length);
    foreach (NetworkInterface adapter in nics)
    {
        IPInterfaceProperties properties = adapter.GetIPProperties(); //  .GetIPInterfaceProperties();
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine(adapter.Description);
        Console.WriteLine(String.Empty.PadLeft(adapter.Description.Length,'='));
        Console.WriteLine("  Interface type .......................... : {0}", adapter.NetworkInterfaceType);
        Console.Write("  Physical address ........................ : ");
        PhysicalAddress address = adapter.GetPhysicalAddress();
        byte[] bytes = address.GetAddressBytes();
        for(int i = 0; i< bytes.Length; i++)
        {
            // Display the physical address in hexadecimal.
            Console.Write("{0}", bytes[i].ToString("X2"));
            // Insert a hyphen after each byte, unless we are at the end of the 
            // address.
            if (i != bytes.Length -1)
            {
                 Console.Write("-");
            }
        }
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
}

Visual C++
void ShowNetworkInterfaces()
{
   IPGlobalProperties^ computerProperties = IPGlobalProperties::GetIPGlobalProperties();
   array<NetworkInterface^>^nics = NetworkInterface::GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
   Console::WriteLine( L"Interface information for {0}.{1}     ", computerProperties->HostName, computerProperties->DomainName );
   if ( nics == nullptr || nics->Length < 1 )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( L"  No network interfaces found." );
      return;
   }

   Console::WriteLine( L"  Number of interfaces .................... : {0}", (nics->Length).ToString() );
   IEnumerator^ myEnum1 = nics->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum1->MoveNext() )
   {
      NetworkInterface^ adapter = safe_cast<NetworkInterface^>(myEnum1->Current);
      IPInterfaceProperties^ properties = adapter->GetIPProperties();
      Console::WriteLine();
      Console::WriteLine( adapter->Description );
      Console::WriteLine( String::Empty->PadLeft( adapter->Description->Length, '=' ) );
      Console::WriteLine( L"  Interface type .......................... : {0}", adapter->NetworkInterfaceType );
      Console::Write( L"  Physical address ........................ : " );
      PhysicalAddress^ address = adapter->GetPhysicalAddress();
      array<Byte>^bytes = address->GetAddressBytes();
      for ( int i = 0; i < bytes->Length; i++ )
      {

         // Display the physical address in hexadecimal.
         Console::Write( L"{0}", bytes[ i ].ToString( L"X2" ) );

         // Insert a hyphen after each byte, unless we are at the end of the 
         // address.
         if ( i != bytes->Length - 1 )
         {
            Console::Write( L"-" );
         }

      }
      Console::WriteLine();
   }
}



J#
public static void ShowNetworkInterfaces()
{
    IPGlobalProperties computerProperties 
        = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
    NetworkInterface nics[] = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
    Console.WriteLine("Interface information for {0}.{1}     ", 
        computerProperties.get_HostName(), 
        computerProperties.get_DomainName());
    if (nics == null || nics.get_Length() < 1) {
        Console.WriteLine("  No network interfaces found.");
        return;
    }

    Console.WriteLine("  Number of interfaces .................... : {0}", 
        System.Convert.ToString(nics.get_Length()));
    for (int iCtr1 = 0; iCtr1 < nics.get_Length(); iCtr1++) {
        NetworkInterface adapter = (NetworkInterface)nics.get_Item(iCtr1);
        IPInterfaceProperties properties 
            = adapter.GetIPProperties();
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine(adapter.get_Description());
        Console.WriteLine(String.Empty.PadLeft(adapter.get_Description().
            get_Length(), '='));
        Console.WriteLine("  Interface type .......................... : {0}",
            adapter.get_NetworkInterfaceType());
        Console.Write("  Physical address ........................ : ");
        PhysicalAddress address = adapter.GetPhysicalAddress();
        ubyte bytes[] = address.GetAddressBytes();
        for (int i = 0; i < bytes.get_Length(); i++) {
            // Display the physical address in hexadecimal.
            Console.Write("{0}", ((Int32)bytes.get_Item(i)).ToString("X2"));
            // Insert a hyphen after each byte, unless we are at the end 
            // of the address.
            if (i != bytes.get_Length() - 1) {
                Console.Write("-");
            }
        }
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
} //ShowNetworkInterfaces

System..::.Object
  System.Net.NetworkInformation..::.PhysicalAddress
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0 SP1, 3.0, 2.0 SP1, 2.0
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