.NET compact framework - detection if under emulator?

Question

Is there a way to determine if we are running .NET CF code on an emulator or real device?

Thanks Dominik

Answer 1

This article tells you how indirectly. It shows how to create a useful IsEmulator method that does the trick. You may also be interested in follow-up , if at all interested in finding a platform.

From the article:

 using System; using System.IO; using System.Windows.Forms; using Microsoft.Win32; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using System.Text; namespace PlatformDetection { internal partial class PInvoke { [DllImport("Coredll.dll", EntryPoint = "SystemParametersInfoW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)] static extern int SystemParametersInfo4Strings(uint uiAction, uint uiParam, StringBuilder pvParam, uint fWinIni); public enum SystemParametersInfoActions : uint { SPI_GETPLATFORMTYPE = 257, // this is used elsewhere for Smartphone/PocketPC detection SPI_GETOEMINFO = 258, } public static string GetOemInfo() { StringBuilder oemInfo = new StringBuilder(50); if (SystemParametersInfo4Strings((uint)SystemParametersInfoActions.SPI_GETOEMINFO, (uint)oemInfo.Capacity, oemInfo, 0) == 0) throw new Exception("Error getting OEM info."); return oemInfo.ToString(); } } internal partial class PlatformDetection { private const string MicrosoftEmulatorOemValue = "Microsoft DeviceEmulator"; public static bool IsEmulator() { return PInvoke.GetOemInfo() == MicrosoftEmulatorOemValue; } } class EmulatorProgram { static void Main(string[] args) { MessageBox.Show("Emulator: " + (PlatformDetection.IsEmulator() ? "Yes" : "No")); } } } 

Answer 2

If you use the OpenNETCF Smart Device Framework , you can check the OpenNETCF.WindowsCE.DeviceManagement.OemInfo property to make sure that it is equal to "Microsoft DeviceEmulator". This is how I detect that I am running under the emulator and should not interact with specific equipment for example a barcode reader.