How to: Get the Device Platform

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In the .NET Compact Framework version 3.5 and later versions, you can use the WinCEPlatform enumeration to determine which device platform, Pocket PC or Smartphone, is currently running your application.

In the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 or earlier, you can return the device platform by using a platform invoke call to native code. The following procedure defines a class and an enumeration of platforms that you can use to determine the device platform.

To get the device platform in the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and earlier

  1. Add the following class and enumeration to your project.

    Public Class PlatformDetector

    Declare Function SystemParametersInfo Lib "Coredll.dll" _
        (ByVal uiAction As System.UInt32, _
        ByVal uiParam As System.UInt32, _
        ByVal pvParam As StringBuilder, _
        ByVal fWinIni As System.UInt32) As Boolean 


    Private Shared SPI_GETPLATFORMTYPE As System.UInt32 = 257 


    Public Shared Function GetPlatform() As Platform 
        Dim plat As Platform = Platform.Unknown
        Select Case System.Environment.OSVersion.Platform
            Case PlatformID.Win32NT
                plat = Platform.Win32NT
            Case PlatformID.Win32S
                plat = Platform.Win32S
            Case PlatformID.Win32Windows
                plat = Platform.Win32Windows
            Case PlatformID.WinCE
                plat = CheckWinCEPlatform()
        End Select 

        Return plat

    End Function  


    Shared Function CheckWinCEPlatform() As Platform 
        Dim plat As Platform = Platform.WindowsCE
        Dim strbuild As New StringBuilder(200)
        SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETPLATFORMTYPE, 200, strbuild, 0)
        Dim str As String = strbuild.ToString()
        Select Case str
            Case "PocketPC"
                plat = Platform.PocketPC
            Case "SmartPhone" 
            ' Note that the strbuild parameter from the 
            ' PInvoke returns "SmartPhone" with an 
            ' upper case P. The correct casing is 
            ' "Smartphone" with a lower case p.
            plat = Platform.Smartphone
        End Select 
        Return plat

    End Function  
End Class  


Public Enum Platform
    PocketPC
    WindowsCE
    Smartphone
    Win32NT
    Win32S
    Win32Windows
    Unknown
End Enum

    public class PlatformDetector
{
    [DllImport("coredll.dll")]
    private static extern bool SystemParametersInfo(uint uiAction, uint uiParam, StringBuilder pvParam, uint fWinIni);

    private static uint SPI_GETPLATFORMTYPE = 257;

    public static Platform GetPlatform()
    {
        Platform plat = Platform.Unknown;
        switch (System.Environment.OSVersion.Platform)
        {
            case PlatformID.Win32NT:
                plat = Platform.Win32NT;
                break;
            case PlatformID.Win32S:
                plat = Platform.Win32S;
                break;
            case PlatformID.Win32Windows:
                plat = Platform.Win32Windows;
                break;
            case PlatformID.WinCE:
                plat = CheckWinCEPlatform();
                break;
        }

        return plat;
    }

    static Platform CheckWinCEPlatform()
    {
        Platform plat = Platform.WindowsCE;
        StringBuilder strbuild = new StringBuilder(200);
        SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETPLATFORMTYPE, 200, strbuild, 0);
        string str = strbuild.ToString();
        switch (str)
        {
            case "PocketPC":
                plat = Platform.PocketPC;
                break;
            case "SmartPhone":
                // Note that the strbuild parameter from the 
                // PInvoke returns "SmartPhone" with an
                // upper case P. The correct casing is 
                // "Smartphone" with a lower case p.
                plat = Platform.Smartphone;
                break;
        }
        return plat;
    }
}

public enum Platform
{
    PocketPC, WindowsCE, Smartphone, Win32NT, Win32S, Win32Windows, Unknown
}

  2. Add the following declaration and code for the form's Load event.

    Declare Function KernelIoControl Lib "CoreDll.dll" _
    (ByVal dwIoControlCode As Int32, _
     ByVal lpInBuf As IntPtr, _
     ByVal nInBufSize As Int32, _
     ByVal lpOutBuf() As Byte, _
     ByVal nOutBufSize As Int32, _
     ByRef lpBytesReturned As Int32) As Boolean 

Private Sub DeviceType_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)  _
    Handles MyBase.Load

       Try
            MessageBox.Show("Platform is " + PlatformDetector.GetPlatform().ToString())
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString())
        End Try 

End Sub

    [DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool KernelIoControl(Int32 dwIoControlCode,
    IntPtr lpInBuf, Int32 nInBufSize, byte[] lpOutBuf,
    Int32 nOutBufSize, ref Int32 lpBytesReturned);

private void DeviceType_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    try
    {

        MessageBox.Show("Platform is " + PlatformDetector.GetPlatform());
    }

    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
    }
}

Compiling the Code

This example requires references to the following namespaces:

See Also

Tasks

How to: Get the Device ID and Name

Concepts

.NET Compact Framework How-to Topics

Other Resources

Interoperability in the .NET Compact Framework