Get Computer Info
Component definition
This component gathers information from the local computer and produces a complex data type as an output. This complex data type is called ComputerInfo. This component uses your operating system's API to retrieve data.
Component icon
Description of component output paths
The component output paths are described in the following table:
Property |
Description |
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Unknown
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Unknown
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Description of component tabs and their properties
The properties on the Outputs tab in the Get Computer Info component are listed and described in the following table:
The properties on the Settings tab in the Get Computer Info component are listed and described in the following table:
The properties on the Remote Connect tab in the Get Computer Info component are listed and described in the following table:
Description of component information
The following tables describe all the values the GetComputerInfo component produces:
The component output paths are described in the following table:
Value Name |
Description |
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ComputerName
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Name of the local computer. String data type.
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CurrentTimeZone
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Current international time zone of the local computer. Number (integer) data type.
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DayLightInEffect
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True/false value designating whether day light savings time is currently in effect on the local computer. Logical/boolean data type.
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Description
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Description of the local computer as found in computer properties. String data type.
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Disks
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Array of complex data types with values describing the hard disks on the local (or mapped) computer.
These values are described in a separate table.
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Domain
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Domain to which the local computer is assigned. A computer is either part of a domain or a workgroup. String data type.
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IsPartOfDomain
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True/false value designating whether the local computer is part of a domain. Logical/boolean data type.
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IP address
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An array of strings describing the IP addresses currently or formerly assigned to the local computer.
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Manufacturer
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Name of manufacturer of the local computer. String data type.
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Model
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The model number of the local computer. String data type.
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NumberOfProcessors
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Number of processors on the local computer. Number (integer) data type.
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OperatingSystem
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Name of operating system on the local computer. String type data.
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TotalPhysicalMemory
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Total number of bytes on all hard disks on the local computer. Number (integer) data type.
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Workgroup
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Name of workgroup to which the local computer is assigned. A computer is either part of a workgroup or part of a domain. String data type.
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Description of component tabs and their properties
The following values pertain to the local computer on which the process is running.
The component output paths are described in the following table:
Value Name |
Description |
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BlockSize
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Total number of bytes in a storage block. If no block exists, this value registers 0. Number (integer) data type.
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Compressed
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True/false variable indicating whether a hard disk has been compressed. Logical/boolean data type.
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Description
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Description of a hard disk. String data type.
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DeviceID
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Disk ID on local computer (for example, C:). String data type.
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FileSystem
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File system a hard disk uses: FAT or NTFS. String data type.
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FreeSpace
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Total number of bytes available on a hard disk. Number (integer) data type.
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Name
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Name of a hard disk (for example, C:). May be the same as the DeviceID. String data type.
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Size
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Total number of bytes (used and unused) on a hard disk. Number (integer) data type.
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Status
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Status of a hard disk. String data type.
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SupportsDiskQuotas
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True/false value designating whether a hard disk supports disk quota. Logical/boolean data type.
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SupportsFileBasedCompression
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True/false value designating whether a hard disk supports file based compression. Logical/boolean data type.
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VolumeName
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Name of a certain volume, hard disk or otherwise. String data type.
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VolumeSerialNumber
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Serial number of a volume, hard disk or otherwise. String data type.
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Connection information
Not applicable
Component settings
Unknown
Use cases
An example for the Get Computer Info component is as follows:
Server information site
Scenario: The network administrator is tired of manually checking and compiling various pieces of information about a given server. Instead, the network administrator wants to be able to go to a website that displays the information.
Process: This process is created as a Forms (Web) Project type.
The following screen shot shows the process:
A GetComputerInfo component begins the process by retrieving data from the local computer. This component gets this data only from the local computer (the computer on which the process is published).
The following screen shot shows the editor for the GetComputerInfo component:
Here we see that the GetComputerInfo component outputs only one variable into the process called ComputerInfo. This variable is a complex data type that you can rename.
Next, a Form Builder component displays the information the GetComputerInfo component gathered.
The following screen shot shows the form at design-time:
Here we see that this form displays seven different values from the variable ComputerInfo. This variable, along with some of its individual values, is displayed on the left side in the Variables panel. Seven of these values have been dragged onto the form to be displayed in the run-time form.
The following screen shot shows the run-time form:
Here we see the actual values as retrieved by the GetComputerInfo component. Any value that the GetComputerInfo component cannot retrieve (such as the Manufacturer here) is displayed as not found.
The Refresh button sends the process back to the GetComputerInfo component to retrieve updated information. The Print View button renders the information in a printer-friendly version. This button is a PrintButtonComponent. The Done button ends the process.
Other components in this example are as follows:
The GetComputerInfo component is most useful in monitoring or information-display processes like in the screen shot.
You can also use this component to check hard disk capacity on mapped drives. You can stop publishing an individual process to each computer that needs to be monitored. Instead, you can map their hard drives onto a local computer and run one process locally.
If you notice back in the design-time form screen shot, not all of the values from the variable ComputerInfo are displayed in the variables panel. Some of the values are contained in arrays, such as all the individual values for each hard disk. To display these values, use an ACSII or HTML merge text component on your form. Then find the desired value through the text editor variable list.