C# - WinRT - Convert IPv6 address stored as a byte array to string

Question

I have an IPv6 address provided as a byte[16] array and I would like to convert it to string (for the purpose of logging).

I would normally achieve this in C# using the System.Net.IPAddress constructor, but it seems that System.Net.IPAddress is not available in C# for WinRT/Windows Store. Does anyone have an equivalent way to do this conversion/formatting?

Oh and I know there is a very long way to do this (by looking up the .NET reflector code for IPAddress.ToString()) and seeing how MS handles this internally) but i'm hoping to find something already built-in to C#. — DaveUK
– DaveUK, Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 8:41

Steven Liekens · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-22 11:48:51Z

1

Converting a byte array to a valid IPv6 address is easy enough.

// Precondition: bytes.Length == 16
string ConvertToIPv6Address(byte[] bytes)
{
    var str = new StringBuilder();
    for (var i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i+=2)
    {
        var segment = (ushort)bytes[i] << 8 | bytes[i + 1];         
        str.AppendFormat("{0:X}", segment);
        if (i + 2 != bytes.Length)
        {
            str.Append(':');
        }           
    }

    return str.ToString();
}

Collapsing empty segments is a little more involved, but generally not needed for anything other than display purposes.

answered Jun 22, 2015 at 11:48

Steven Liekens

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:05:55Z

0

I believe Windows.Networking.HostName is the replacement for IPAddress.

Edit: But I'm not sure that you can create one from a byte[].

1 Comment

DaveUK Over a year ago

Thanks, I had also looked at Windows.Networking.Hostname - but i'm still not clear how to take this byte array and end up with a string representation of the IPv6 address :( This was a lot easier with System.Net.IPAddress

DaveUK · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-02 05:34:04Z

0

I solved this manually by just creating the full IPv6 string two bytes at a time with colon seperator. Then, I passed that string to Windows.Networking.HostName and accessed it's DisplayName property, which gave me back the compressed version (i.e. 0000 replaced with 0 and with a single :: replacement if applicable).

At least HostName saved me some of the work :) It's still a shame that there isn't a full IPAddress replacement though :(

answered Mar 2, 2014 at 5:34

DaveUK

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