The Unix calendar starts at 01/01/1970. This post will show you how to convert any DateTime value into a Unix time stamp. private const string InvalidUnixEpochErrorMessage = „Unix time starts January 1st, 1970“; /// <summary> /// Convert a long into a DateTime /// </summary> public static DateTime FromUnixTime(this Int64 self) { var ret = new […]
Obtain IP and MAC Address in C#
There is no built-in way to discover the MAC address of your network adapter in .NET. Using the following function the MAC address that belongs to any IP address can be obtained. The functions use the external DLL iphlpapi.dll. public static class Network { [DllImport(„iphlpapi.dll“, ExactSpelling = true)] private static extern int SendARP(int DestIP, int […]
Extending the Random Class
The following code contains extension methods for the random class. One method will create random dates between a given minimum and maximum. The second method creates boolean random values. public static class RandomNumbers { public static DateTime NextDate(this Random r, DateTime minDate, DateTime maxDate) { var ticks = maxDate.Ticks – minDate.Ticks; if (ticks > Int32.MaxValue) […]
Strip BOM from a File or Text
The following code removes the BOM (Byte Order Mark) from texts. Some text editors add that while saving files. Sometimes this leads to problems while reading or converting text files (e.g. XML files). The code removes the BOM and Zero White Spaces from the string and returns the clean string. /// <summary> /// Strips the […]
Obtain information about the Executing Assembly
Path of the executing assembly: public static string GetExecutingAssemblyPath() { string codeBase = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase; UriBuilder uri = new UriBuilder(codeBase); string path = Uri.UnescapeDataString(uri.Path); return Path.GetDirectoryName(path); } Get title of executing assembly: /// <summary> /// Gets the assembly title. /// </summary> public static string GetAssemblyTitle() { object[] attributes = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(AssemblyTitleAttribute), false); if (attributes.Length > 0) { […]
Using a Comparer to Sort CultureInfos by their Name
If you need to show a list of languages, or more general CultureInfos, you might want to sort them by the name they show up in the GUI. This can easily be done by using a custom comparer. This implements the generic IComparer<T> interface. public class CultureInfoComparer : IComparer<CultureInfo> { public int Compare(CultureInfo x, CultureInfo […]
Calendar tools and algorithms
Calculating a leap year The correct calculation of a leap year was first introduced by pope Gregor in 1582. The Gregorian Calendar is still commonly used in most parts of the world. Before that, the leap years were simply defined being every 4th year. public static bool IsLeapYear(int year) { if (year % 100 == […]
Change String into a Valid File Name
Not all possible characters are suitable for file names. For example path separators cannot be used for file names. This changes any string into a valid file name by replacing the invalid characters with an underscore: public static string GetValidFileName(string fileName) { foreach (char c in Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars()) { fileName = fileName.Replace(c, ‚_‘); } return fileName; }
Check if Current User has Admin Rights and Restart Application with Elevated Rights
The following code snippet checks if the current user as administrator rights: /// <summary> /// Checks if user has administrator rights /// </summary> public static bool UserIsAdmin() { WindowsIdentity identity = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent(); WindowsPrincipal principal = new WindowsPrincipal(identity); return principal.IsInRole(WindowsBuiltInRole.Administrator); } If the application requires administrator rights for an operation, the following function can be used to restart the application with elevated rights: /// <summary> /// Restarts the current application with admin rights. /// </summary> […]