Microsoft KB Archive/300197

= How to ping an IP address with Visual Basic by using ICMP =

Article ID: 300197

Article Last Modified on 9/14/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition

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This article was previously published under Q300197





SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes how to ping a remote Internet Protocol (IP) address by using Visual Basic 6.0 and the Icmp.dll file.

Use ICMP to ping in Visual Basic
 Start Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. In the New Project dialog box, click Standard EXE, and then click Open. The Visual Basic Design Editor opens, and Form1 is loaded. To add a new module to this project, right-click Project1.vbp in Project Explorer, point to Add, and then click Module. In the Add Module dialog box, click Open. The Module1.bas module is added to the project and opens in the Code Editor window.  At the top of the Code Editor window of Module1, add the following constants and function declaration: Option Explicit

'Icmp constants converted from 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wmisdk/wmi/win32_pingstatus.asp

Private Const ICMP_SUCCESS As Long = 0 Private Const ICMP_STATUS_BUFFER_TO_SMALL = 11001                  'Buffer Too Small Private Const ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_NET_UNREACH = 11002          'Destination Net Unreachable Private Const ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_HOST_UNREACH = 11003         'Destination Host Unreachable Private Const ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_PROTOCOL_UNREACH = 11004     'Destination Protocol Unreachable Private Const ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_PORT_UNREACH = 11005         'Destination Port Unreachable Private Const ICMP_STATUS_NO_RESOURCE = 11006                      'No Resources Private Const ICMP_STATUS_BAD_OPTION = 11007                       'Bad Option Private Const ICMP_STATUS_HARDWARE_ERROR = 11008                   'Hardware Error Private Const ICMP_STATUS_LARGE_PACKET = 11009                     'Packet Too Big Private Const ICMP_STATUS_REQUEST_TIMED_OUT = 11010                'Request Timed Out Private Const ICMP_STATUS_BAD_REQUEST = 11011                      'Bad Request Private Const ICMP_STATUS_BAD_ROUTE = 11012                        'Bad Route Private Const ICMP_STATUS_TTL_EXPIRED_TRANSIT = 11013              'TimeToLive Expired Transit Private Const ICMP_STATUS_TTL_EXPIRED_REASSEMBLY = 11014           'TimeToLive Expired Reassembly Private Const ICMP_STATUS_PARAMETER = 11015                        'Parameter Problem Private Const ICMP_STATUS_SOURCE_QUENCH = 11016                    'Source Quench Private Const ICMP_STATUS_OPTION_TOO_BIG = 11017                   'Option Too Big Private Const ICMP_STATUS_BAD_DESTINATION = 11018                  'Bad Destination Private Const ICMP_STATUS_NEGOTIATING_IPSEC = 11032                'Negotiating IPSEC Private Const ICMP_STATUS_GENERAL_FAILURE = 11050                  'General Failure

Public Const WINSOCK_ERROR = &quot;Windows Sockets not responding correctly.&quot; Public Const INADDR_NONE As Long = &HFFFFFFFF Public Const WSA_SUCCESS = 0 Public Const WS_VERSION_REQD As Long = &H101

'Clean up sockets. 'http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q154512

Private Declare Function WSACleanup Lib &quot;WSOCK32.DLL&quot; As Long

'Open the socket connection. 'http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q154512 Private Declare Function WSAStartup Lib &quot;WSOCK32.DLL&quot; (ByVal wVersionRequired As Long, lpWSADATA As WSADATA) As Long

'Create a handle on which Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) requests can be issued. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcesdkr/htm/_wcesdk_icmpcreatefile.asp Private Declare Function IcmpCreateFile Lib &quot;icmp.dll&quot; As Long

'Convert a string that contains an (Ipv4) Internet Protocol dotted address into a correct address. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/winsock/wsapiref_4esy.asp Private Declare Function inet_addr Lib &quot;WSOCK32.DLL&quot; (ByVal cp As String) As Long

'Close an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) handle that IcmpCreateFile opens. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcesdkr/htm/_wcesdk_icmpclosehandle.asp

Private Declare Function IcmpCloseHandle Lib &quot;icmp.dll&quot; (ByVal IcmpHandle As Long) As Long

'Information about the Windows Sockets implementation 'http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q154512 Private Type WSADATA wVersion As Integer wHighVersion As Integer szDescription(0 To 256) As Byte szSystemStatus(0 To 128) As Byte iMaxSockets As Long iMaxUDPDG As Long lpVendorInfo As Long End Type

'Send an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request, and then return one or more replies. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcetcpip/htm/cerefIcmpSendEcho.asp Private Declare Function IcmpSendEcho Lib &quot;icmp.dll&quot; _ (ByVal IcmpHandle As Long, _   ByVal DestinationAddress As Long, _    ByVal RequestData As String, _    ByVal RequestSize As Long, _    ByVal RequestOptions As Long, _    ReplyBuffer As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY, _    ByVal ReplySize As Long, _    ByVal Timeout As Long) As Long 'This structure describes the options that will be included in the header of an IP packet. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcetcpip/htm/cerefIP_OPTION_INFORMATION.asp Private Type IP_OPTION_INFORMATION Ttl            As Byte Tos            As Byte Flags          As Byte OptionsSize    As Byte OptionsData    As Long End Type

'This structure describes the data that is returned in response to an echo request. 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcesdkr/htm/_wcesdk_icmp_echo_reply.asp Public Type ICMP_ECHO_REPLY address        As Long Status         As Long RoundTripTime  As Long DataSize       As Long Reserved       As Integer ptrData                As Long Options       As IP_OPTION_INFORMATION Data           As String * 250 End Type

'-- Ping a string representation of an IP address. ' -- Return a reply. ' -- Return long code. Public Function ping(sAddress As String, Reply As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY) As Long

Dim hIcmp As Long Dim lAddress As Long Dim lTimeOut As Long Dim StringToSend As String

'Short string of data to send StringToSend = &quot;hello&quot;

'ICMP (ping) timeout lTimeOut = 1000 'ms

'Convert string address to a long representation. lAddress = inet_addr(sAddress)

If (lAddress <> -1) And (lAddress <> 0) Then 'Create the handle for ICMP requests. hIcmp = IcmpCreateFile If hIcmp Then 'Ping the destination IP address. Call IcmpSendEcho(hIcmp, lAddress, StringToSend, Len(StringToSend), 0, Reply, Len(Reply), lTimeOut)

'Reply status ping = Reply.Status 'Close the Icmp handle. IcmpCloseHandle hIcmp Else Debug.Print &quot;failure opening icmp handle.&quot; ping = -1 End If Else ping = -1 End If

End Function

'Clean up the sockets. 'http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q154512 Public Sub SocketsCleanup WSACleanup End Sub

'Get the sockets ready. 'http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q154512 Public Function SocketsInitialize As Boolean

Dim WSAD As WSADATA

SocketsInitialize = WSAStartup(WS_VERSION_REQD, WSAD) = ICMP_SUCCESS

End Function

'Convert the ping response to a message that you can read easily from constants. 'For more information about these constants, visit the following Microsoft Web site: 'http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wmisdk/wmi/win32_pingstatus.asp

Public Function EvaluatePingResponse(PingResponse As Long) As String

Select Case PingResponse 'Success Case ICMP_SUCCESS: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Success!&quot; 'Some error occurred Case ICMP_STATUS_BUFFER_TO_SMALL:   EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Buffer Too Small&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_NET_UNREACH: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Destination Net Unreachable&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_HOST_UNREACH: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Destination Host Unreachable&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_PROTOCOL_UNREACH: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Destination Protocol Unreachable&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_DESTINATION_PORT_UNREACH: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Destination Port Unreachable&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_NO_RESOURCE: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;No Resources&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_BAD_OPTION: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Bad Option&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_HARDWARE_ERROR: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Hardware Error&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_LARGE_PACKET: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Packet Too Big&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_REQUEST_TIMED_OUT: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Request Timed Out&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_BAD_REQUEST: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Bad Request&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_BAD_ROUTE: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Bad Route&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_TTL_EXPIRED_TRANSIT: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;TimeToLive Expired Transit&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_TTL_EXPIRED_REASSEMBLY: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;TimeToLive Expired Reassembly&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_PARAMETER: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Parameter Problem&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_SOURCE_QUENCH: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Source Quench&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_OPTION_TOO_BIG: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Option Too Big&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_BAD_DESTINATION: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Bad Destination&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_NEGOTIATING_IPSEC: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Negotiating IPSEC&quot; Case ICMP_STATUS_GENERAL_FAILURE: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;General Failure&quot; 'Unknown error occurred Case Else: EvaluatePingResponse = &quot;Unknown Response&quot; End Select

End Function Note Watch for line wrapping when you copy this code into your project. This code provides the functions to access the Icmp.dll file. See the inline comments for a description of the constants, the declarations, and the function calls.  In Project Explorer, right-click Form1, and then click View Object. Form1 loads in the Designer window.  Double-click the Form1 body. The Code Editor window opens with the following code: Private Sub Form_Load

End Sub </li>  Replace the code in the Form_Load method with the following code: Private Sub Form_Load

Dim Reply As ICMP_ECHO_REPLY Dim lngSuccess As Long Dim strIPAddress As String 'Get the sockets ready. If SocketsInitialize Then 'Address to ping strIPAddress = &quot;192.168.1.1&quot; 'Ping the IP that is passing the address and get a reply. lngSuccess = ping(strIPAddress, Reply) 'Display the results. Debug.Print &quot;Address to Ping: &quot; & strIPAddress Debug.Print &quot;Raw ICMP code: &quot; & lngSuccess Debug.Print &quot;Ping Response Message : &quot; & EvaluatePingResponse(lngSuccess) Debug.Print &quot;Time : &quot; & Reply.RoundTripTime & &quot; ms&quot; 'Clean up the sockets. SocketsCleanup Else 'Winsock error failure, initializing the sockets. Debug.Print WINSOCK_ERROR End If End Sub </li>  Locate the following lines of code: 'Address to ping strIPAddress = &quot;192.168.1.1&quot; Change the strIPAddress to an IP address you want to ping. </li> To save the project and the files that are associated with the project, click Save Project on the File menu.</li> Notice that the results of the code are written to the Immediate window. To verify that the Immediate window is open, click Immediate Window on the View menu.</li> To test this code, press F5. The results are displayed in the Immediate window. The results are similar to the following results:

<pre class="fixed_text">Address to Ping: 192.168.1.1 Raw ICMP code: 0 Ping Response Message : Success! Time : 10 ms

</li></ol>

Note To ping a domain name, you must first translate the domain name to an address. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

154512 SAMPLE: Winsock.exe getting HostAddress by using Windows Sockets

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