[Windows CE] Using Ras C#
Posted on March 25th, 2009 by admin
If we will ask somebody experienced questions like:”What should we use to establish dial up connection on Windows”, i`m totally sure that 90% of asked will answer use RAS library!
If some somebody will ask me what do to establish GPRS connection on Windows Mobile i answer use Connection Manager API, but there is nothing regarding Connection Manager API on Windows CE, but we can use RAS API!
If you developing on C++ or C thats not a problem, but what to do if your project on C#? I googled and found that opennet cf got ras components, but it aint free(!), so we need to create our own 
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace CERas
{
/// <summary>
/// CERAS
/// </summary>
public class CERAS : IDisposable
{
#region Constants
private const int ENTRY_SIZE = 1464;
#endregion
#region P/Invoke
[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
public static extern uint RasDial(
IntPtr dialExtensions,
IntPtr phoneBookPath,
IntPtr rasDialParam,
uint notifierType,
IntPtr notifier,
ref IntPtr pRasConn);
[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
public static extern uint RasHangUp(IntPtr pRasConn);
#endregion
#region Private Declarations
private IntPtr rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero; //Connection Handle
private uint result_ = 0;
private IntPtr rasEntry_ = IntPtr.Zero; //Entry Container
private string connName_ = ""; //connection name
private string userName_ = ""; //user name (could be empty string)
private string password_ = ""; // password (could be empty string)
#endregion
#region Properties
//property, sets or gets connection name
public string ConnectionName
{
get
{
return connName_;
}
set
{
if (value != connName_)
{
connName_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, sets or gets connection login
public string Login
{
get
{
return userName_;
}
set
{
if (value != userName_)
{
userName_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, sets or gets connection password
public string Password
{
get
{
return password_;
}
set
{
if (value != password_)
{
password_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, checks if connection established
public bool Established
{
get
{
return ((rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero) && (result_ == 0));
}
}
#endregion
#region Public Methods
//Constructor
public CERAS()
{
rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero;
result_ = 0;
rasEntry_ = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(ENTRY_SIZE); //Allocating 1464 bytes (size of Entry structure)
if (rasEntry_ == IntPtr.Zero)
{
throw new Exception("Error cannot get Allocate memory");
}
}
// Destructor
public void Dispose()
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(rasEntry_); //Free allocated memory
}
//Establishing connection, it will block thread that called this method
public bool Connect()
{
if (rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero)
{
Disconnect();
}
FillEntry();
try
{
result_ = RasDial(IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, rasEntry_, 0, IntPtr.Zero, ref rasConn_);
}
catch
{
//exception
}
if (result_ != 0)
{
Disconnect(); //we need call disconnect even if connection was not established
return false;
}
return true;
}
//Closing internet connection
public void Disconnect()
{
if (rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero)
{
RasHangUp(rasConn_);
rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero;
result_ = 0;
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000); //read msdn, it says that we need wail like 3 seconds to release connection(!)
}
else
{
result_ = 0;
}
}
#endregion
#region Private Methods
//Clearing Entry Structure
private void ClearPtr()
{
//I`m totally sure that there should be easier way
for (int i = 0; i < ENTRY_SIZE; i++)
{
Marshal.WriteByte((IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + i), 0);
}
}
//Filling Entry structure
private void FillEntry()
{
ClearPtr();
IntPtr pCurrent = rasEntry_;
Marshal.WriteInt32(pCurrent, ENTRY_SIZE);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 4);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(connName_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + 0x192);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(userName_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + 0x394);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(password_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
}
#endregion
}
}
Yau can download sources from here
BTW it should work on win mobile too
Filed under: Programming
April 21st, 2009 at 11:20 am
Thank you Thank you Thank you
Will test it 2night
If this works your’e an absolute life saver.
I’ll have to convert to vb.net as the rest of the project uses vb.net
Thank you Thank you Thank you
Regards
Herbert
April 24th, 2009 at 2:28 am
[…] posts ago i wrote about using RAS to establish internet connection in that post i mentioned about Connection Manager API. Full description you can find on MSDN, but […]
May 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
thanks a lot, I searched this for 1 week and here is working solution, finally. Thanks again
Fany
June 15th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Hi,
I am trying to do a dial up connection programatically on Win CE 5. I am using the above code to dial up in C#. But i am not able to make a dial up connection. When i display the result of Connect() method, i get False a bool value. I am able to make the dial up connection manually i.e., Creating new connection, setting connection properties and dialing up.
Following is my code to connect in c#
try
{
CERas.CERAS objCE = new CERas.CERAS();
bool val = objCE.Connect();
MessageBox.Show(”Connection result: ” + val.ToString() + ” Is Established: ” + objCE.Established.ToString());
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
}
Please any one out here help me…
Thanks in advance.
June 15th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hello Prajwal,
the problem is that you forgot to set entry name, password and login, so code should be like this:
try
{
CERas.CERAS objCE = new CERas.CERAS();
objCE.ConnectionName = “_your_connection_name_”;
objCE.Login = “”;
objCE.Password = “”;
bool val = objCE.Connect();
MessageBox.Show(”Connection result: ” + val.ToString() + ” Is Established: ” + objCE.Established.ToString());
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
}
June 15th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your kind information.
I tried the code given by you. The message box also shows
Connection result: True Is Established: True.
But when i tried browsing in IE, i was not able.
After triggering the Ras dial up application i right clicked on the connection which i created manually, in the context menu i get status in place of Connect or Disconnect.
When i clicked on the Status i get nothing. Next time when i right click on the same connection i see connect option in the context menu.
Thanks you.
Regards,
Prajwal
June 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Hi,
Please can any body help me in establishing the Ras dial up connection on Win CE 5.0
Thanks
June 16th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Sorry, but its dificult to understand what exactly wrong with your connection. i Got Sim300 and it works, may be problem in created entry? APN? initialization string? so on…
June 16th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Hi,
Thank you for the reply.
See i am able to dial up a connection manually ie., Creating a new connection and setting the parameters along with the dialing properties like baudrate to 9600 bps, flow control to none and even the APN command +CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”airtelgprs.com” etc and right click on the connection and connect. This works absolutely fine.
But my problem is to dial up the connection using the same connection i created manually specified above by programatically..
June 16th, 2009 at 10:23 am
try to call rasdial as below
RasDial(IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, rasEntry_, 0xFFFFFFFF, hWnd_, ref rasConn_);
where hWnd_ is Hande of your main form
June 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Hi,
I tried the modification you specified but still it does not work for me.
following is my complete code
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace CERas
{
///
/// CERAS
///
public class CERAS : IDisposable
{
#region Constants
private const int ENTRY_SIZE = 1464;
#endregion
#region P/Invoke
[DllImport(”coredll.dll”)]
public static extern uint RasDial(
IntPtr dialExtensions,
IntPtr phoneBookPath,
IntPtr rasDialParam,
uint notifierType,
IntPtr notifier,
ref IntPtr pRasConn);
[DllImport(”coredll.dll”)]
public static extern uint RasHangUp(IntPtr pRasConn);
#endregion
#region Private Declarations
private IntPtr rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero; //Connection Handle
private uint result_ = 0;
private IntPtr rasEntry_ = IntPtr.Zero; //Entry Container
private string connName_ = “”; //connection name
private string userName_ = “”; //user name (could be empty string)
private string password_ = “”; // password (could be empty string)
#endregion
#region Properties
//property, sets or gets connection name
public string ConnectionName
{
get
{
return connName_;
}
set
{
if (value != connName_)
{
connName_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, sets or gets connection login
public string Login
{
get
{
return userName_;
}
set
{
if (value != userName_)
{
userName_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, sets or gets connection password
public string Password
{
get
{
return password_;
}
set
{
if (value != password_)
{
password_ = value;
}
}
}
//property, checks if connection established
public bool Established
{
get
{
return ((rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero) && (result_ == 0));
}
}
#endregion
#region Public Methods
//Constructor
public CERAS()
{
rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero;
result_ = 0;
rasEntry_ = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(ENTRY_SIZE); //Allocating 1464 bytes (size of Entry structure)
if (rasEntry_ == IntPtr.Zero)
{
throw new Exception(”Error cannot get Allocate memory”);
}
}
// Destructor
public void Dispose()
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(rasEntry_); //Free allocated memory
}
//Establishing connection, it will block thread that called this method
public bool Connect(IntPtr hWnd_)
{
if (rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero)
{
Disconnect();
}
FillEntry();
try
{
result_ = RasDial(IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, rasEntry_, 0xFFFFFFFF, hWnd_, ref rasConn_);
//result_ = RasDial(IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, rasEntry_, 0, IntPtr.Zero, ref rasConn_);
}
catch
{
//exception
}
if (result_ != 0)
{
Disconnect(); //we need call disconnect even if connection was not established
return false;
}
return true;
}
//Closing internet connection
public void Disconnect()
{
if (rasConn_ != IntPtr.Zero)
{
RasHangUp(rasConn_);
rasConn_ = IntPtr.Zero;
result_ = 0;
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000); //read msdn, it says that we need wail like 3 seconds to release connection(!)
}
else
{
result_ = 0;
}
}
#endregion
#region Private Methods
//Clearing Entry Structure
private void ClearPtr()
{
//I`m totally sure that there should be easier way
for (int i = 0; i < ENTRY_SIZE; i++)
{
Marshal.WriteByte((IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + i), 0);
}
}
//Filling Entry structure
private void FillEntry()
{
ClearPtr();
IntPtr pCurrent = rasEntry_;
Marshal.WriteInt32(pCurrent, ENTRY_SIZE);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 4);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(connName_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + 0×192);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(userName_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(rasEntry_.ToInt32() + 0×394);
foreach (byte b in Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(password_))
{
Marshal.WriteByte(pCurrent, b);
pCurrent = (IntPtr)(pCurrent.ToInt32() + 1);
}
}
#endregion
}
}
private void btnDialUp_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
objCE.ConnectionName = “Connection”;
objCE.Login = “”;
objCE.Password = “”;
bool val = objCE.Connect(this.Handle);
MessageBox.Show(”Connection result: ” + val.ToString() + ” Is Established: ” + objCE.Established.ToString());
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message.ToString());
}
}
And the function which calls Ras connect
June 16th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hi Alex,
Finally, at the end of my working day i was able to make a dial up connection using this blog….
Really, i am happy.
Alex, thank you man for your support till the last minute. I think the solution fixed after reconnection my modem physically. But not sure of it. Will cross check it and will mail you.
Once again thank you.
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I really thank you for this excelent code. It solved my problem. Thanks again.
October 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hi Prajwal,
How do solve your problem?
Please inform me. I have same problem.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Hi Alex,
Thank you very much for your source code.It’s really help me to finish my job.Hopefully, you will get more and more knowledge and can share to other people.
Thanks,
Bambang
February 16th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
i do not have any visual studio.
is anybody here able to build this project so that i can enter my apn/user/pass in a config file and make a connection with this tool?
i am using an win ce 6 device.
why do i need this?
see my problem here:
http://www.meizume.com/m8-applications/9705-net-application-establish-gprs-connection.html
March 17th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Thanks Great code snippet! -Work perfectly on WinCE6.0.
One problem though…I can’t seem to suppress the RAS (ie. OS) from asking again for the password.
Does anyone know how to stop this ?
April 7th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Works great…thanks! I have been looking for something like this for a long time too!
June 7th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Hi, Alex.
Your post is great. But can you show an example of using function “RasGetEntryDialParams” from “coredll”, which is usefull in cases when we don’t know login and password, and don’t want to ask for them?