get list of available servers in SQL server group

How can i extract the list of available SQL servers in an SQL server group? Im planning to put that list in a combobox in vb.net. Thank you.

From stackoverflow sef

• The only way I knew to do it was using the command line:

  osql -L
  

  But I found the below article which seems to solve your specific goal filling a combobox:

  http://www.sqldbatips.com/showarticle.asp?ID=45

  From Ben Hoffstein

• In C# I've used calls to odbc32.dll

  for example:

  [DllImport("odbc32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]

  private static extern short SQLBrowseConnect( IntPtr hconn, StringBuilder inString, short inStringLength, StringBuilder outString, short outStringLength, out short outLengthNeeded);

  documentation for that function is on MSDN http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130926.aspx

  From Jiminy

• If you didn't want to be tied to SQL SMO, which is what Ben's article uses, you can do something like this to discover all SQL servers on your network:

  Private Sub cmbServer_DropDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmbServer.DropDown
      Dim oTable As Data.DataTable
      Dim lstServers As List(Of String)
      Try
          If cmbServer.Items.Count = 0 Then
              System.Windows.Forms.Cursor.Current = System.Windows.Forms.Cursors.WaitCursor
              oTable = System.Data.Sql.SqlDataSourceEnumerator.Instance.GetDataSources
  
              For Each oRow As DataRow In oTable.Rows
                  If oRow("InstanceName").ToString = "" Then
                      cmbServer.Items.Add(oRow("ServerName"))
                  Else
                      cmbServer.Items.Add(oRow("ServerName").ToString & "\" & oRow("InstanceName").ToString)
                  End If
              Next oRow
          End If
      Catch ex As Exception
          ErrHandler("frmLogin", "cmbServer_DropDown", ex.Source, ex.Message, Ex.InnerException)
      Finally
          System.Windows.Forms.Cursor.Current = System.Windows.Forms.Cursors.Default
  
          If oTable IsNot Nothing Then
              oTable.Dispose()
          End If
      End Try
  End Sub
  

  The SqlDataSourceEnumerator class is nice because it gives you SQL server discovery right out of the 2.0 framework.

  daddywoodland : Just the job, ta!
  From Chris Tybur

• Wow. . . Chris Its so simple and nice to understand. . . excellent work dear. . . thx for sharing this code.

  From Dhanraj114