This can be quite tricky depending on what type of network you are on and
what protocols are available. For instance, this is quite simple if you
are trying to query a web server, you'd create an instance of the
WebRequest class and formulate a GET request (See the sample:
http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/howto/doc/WebRequests/clientGET.aspx
) and handle any WebExceptions that may be thrown. If the call was
successfull the machine's there, if not the machine's not there or there
was something that prevented the request from completing; such as a
firewall.
I think the best thing for you do to is to identify the type of network
connectivity you are looking for. Once you've got that I'd use one of the
System.Net namespace
(
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref/html
/frlrfsystemnet.asp) classes and do something similar to what I've
described above.
Thanks! Robert Gruen
Microsoft, VB.NET
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