PhysicalAddress Class

.NET Framework (current version)

Other Versions

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

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

Inheritance Hierarchy

System::Object
System.Net.NetworkInformation::PhysicalAddress

Syntax

C++

public ref class PhysicalAddress

Constructors

	Name	Description
	PhysicalAddress(array<Byte>^)	Initializes a new instance of the PhysicalAddress class.

Methods

	Name	Description
	Equals(Object^)	Compares two PhysicalAddress instances.(Overrides Object::Equals(Object^).)
	Finalize()	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection.(Inherited from Object.)
	GetAddressBytes()	Returns the address of the current instance.
	GetHashCode()	Returns the hash value of a physical address.(Overrides Object::GetHashCode().)
	GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance.(Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.(Inherited from Object.)
	Parse(String^)	Parses the specified String and stores its contents as the address bytes of the PhysicalAddress returned by this method.
	ToString()	Returns the String representation of the address of this instance.(Overrides Object::ToString().)

Fields

	Name	Description
	None	Returns a new PhysicalAddress instance with a zero length address. This field is read-only.

Remarks

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.

Examples

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

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();
   }
}

Version Information

.NET Framework
Available since 2.0

Thread Safety

Any public static ( Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.