Command line GUID for Unix and Windows?

Question

Is there a command line tool for Unix and Windows that uses the same algorithm to create GUIDs for both platforms?

Answer 1

'e2fsprogs' project maintain uuidgen utility.

http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/

It is already available on any Linux/BSD* distros.

For Windows I recommend install Cygwin, 'e2fsprogs' package available from there!

As report j4y this utility is available under MAC OS.

Just run:

  $ uuidgen -r  # random based UUID/GUID
  $ uuidgen -t  # time based UUID/GUID

Answer 2

I don't know if there is a command line tool available, but you could simply write one in C# (it should run with Mono):

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
    }
}

You can easily modify the program to change formatting of the GUID, copy it to the clipboard or whatever fits your need.

Answer 3

Something useful to know:

The byte order of Guid.ToByteArray() in C# and the SQL Server GUID type is:

        { 3, 2, 1, 0, 5, 4, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };

An Oracle GUID created using SYS_GUID() and stored as RAW[16] is ordered:

        { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };

You may find this online GUID converter handy. I'm not sure if the source is available for your own use, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out.