Hi everyone.

I'm trying to extract a unique identifier from my PC using VB6 (OS = Win 98). It was suggested I extract the 'MAC' address of the network card using code from (apologies for linking to another site but searches on this site turned up nothing) here.

I'm having a problem with the code in that the first line (i.e. Option Explicit Public) is highlighted in red and the code will not run. I have copied the code in full at the foot of my post (apologies if this is not good netiquette). I created a new project, added a module and then pasted the code. I can't get any further than that (even if I create a form and button to display the value) because of the first line. If I try to run the code, I get an error saying 'compile error, expected : end of statement'. I'm new to VB and am not sure how to correct this error. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can fix this error?

Or if you have an alternative suggestion for extracting a unique identifier for a Windows PC, I'd be happy to hear your opinion.

Thanks in Advance
Andrew

FYI, the code :

Option Explicit Public

Const NCBASTAT As Long = H33
Public Const NCBNAMSZ As Long = 16
Public Const HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY As Long = H8
Public Const HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS As Long = H4
Public Const NCBRESET As Long = H32

Public Type NET_CONTROL_BLOCK 'NCB
   ncb_command As Byte
   ncb_retcode As Byte
   ncb_lsn As Byte
   ncb_num As Byte
   ncb_buffer As Long
   ncb_length As Integer
   ncb_callname As String * NCBNAMSZ
   ncb_name As String * NCBNAMSZ
   ncb_rto As Byte
   ncb_sto As Byte
   ncb_post As Long
   ncb_lana_num As Byte
   ncb_cmd_cplt As Byte
   ncb_reserve(9) As Byte ' Reserved, must be 0
   ncb_event As Long
End Type

Public Type ADAPTER_STATUS
   adapter_address(5) As Byte
   rev_major As Byte
   reserved0 As Byte
   adapter_type As Byte
   rev_minor As Byte
   duration As Integer
   frmr_recv As Integer
   frmr_xmit As Integer
   iframe_recv_err As Integer
   xmit_aborts As Integer
   xmit_success As Long
   recv_success As Long
   iframe_xmit_err As Integer
   recv_buff_unavail As Integer
   t1_timeouts As Integer
   ti_timeouts As Integer
   Reserved1 As Long
   free_ncbs As Integer
   max_cfg_ncbs As Integer
   max_ncbs As Integer
   xmit_buf_unavail As Integer
   max_dgram_size As Integer
   pending_sess As Integer
   max_cfg_sess As Integer
   max_sess As Integer
   max_sess_pkt_size As Integer
   name_count As Integer
End Type
  
Public Type NAME_BUFFER
	name As String * NCBNAMSZ
	name_num As Integer
	name_flags As Integer
End Type

Public Type ASTAT
   adapt As ADAPTER_STATUS
   NameBuff(30) As NAME_BUFFER
End Type

Public Declare Function Netbios Lib "netapi32.dll" (pncb As NET_CONTROL_BLOCK) As Byte
	
Public Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" (hpvDest As Any, ByVal hpvSource As Long, ByVal cbCopy As Long)
	
Public Declare Function GetProcessHeap Lib "kernel32" () As Long
Public Declare Function HeapAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hHeap As Long, ByVal dwFlags As Long, ByVal dwBytes As Long) As Long
	
Public Declare Function HeapFree Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hHeap As Long, ByVal dwFlags As Long, lpMem As Any) As Long

Public Function GetMACAddress() As String 'retrieve the MAC Address for the network controller
  'installed, returning a formatted string
  
   Dim tmp As String
   Dim pASTAT As Long
   Dim NCB As NET_CONTROL_BLOCK
   Dim AST As ASTAT 'The IBM NetBIOS 3.0 specifications defines four basic
  'NetBIOS environments under the NCBRESET command. Win32
  'follows the OS/2 Dynamic Link Routine (DLR) environment.
  'This means that the first NCB issued by an application
  'must be a NCBRESET, with the exception of NCBENUM.
  'The Windows NT implementation differs from the IBM
  'NetBIOS 3.0 specifications in the NCB_CALLNAME field.
   NCB.ncb_command = NCBRESET
   Call Netbios(NCB)
  
  'To get the Media Access Control (MAC) address for an
  'ethernet adapter programmatically, use the Netbios()
  'NCBASTAT command and provide a "*" as the name in the
  'NCB.ncb_CallName field (in a 16-chr string).
   NCB.ncb_callname = "* "
   NCB.ncb_command = NCBASTAT
  
  'For machines with multiple network adapters you need to
  'enumerate the LANA numbers and perform the NCBASTAT
  'command on each. Even when you have a single network
  'adapter, it is a good idea to enumerate valid LANA numbers
  'first and perform the NCBASTAT on one of the valid LANA
  'numbers. It is considered bad programming to hardcode the
  'LANA number to 0 (see the comments section below).
   NCB.ncb_lana_num = 0
   NCB.ncb_length = Len(AST)
  
   pASTAT = HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS _
			Or HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, NCB.ncb_length)
		   
   If pASTAT = 0 Then
	  Debug.Print "memory allocation failed!"
	  Exit Function
   End If
  
   NCB.ncb_buffer = pASTAT
   Call Netbios(NCB)
  
   CopyMemory AST, NCB.ncb_buffer, Len(AST)
  
tmp = Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(0)), "00") & " " & Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(1)), "00") & " " & Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(2)), "00") & " " & Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(3)), "00") & " " & Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(4)), "00") & " " & Format$(Hex(AST.adapt.adapter_address(5)), "00")
		  
   HeapFree GetProcessHeap(), 0, pASTAT
  
   GetMACAddress = tmp

End Function