Microsoft KB Archive/105514

= ACC: Invalid Path Error Message Using UNC with 10+ Characters =

Article ID: 105514

Article Last Modified on 5/6/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 1.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 1.1 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q105514



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.



SYMPTOMS
If you attempt to use a universal naming convention (UNC) path in Microsoft Access in which the server name is longer than 10 characters or contains spaces, you get the following error message

\\ \ isn't a valid path

even though valid UNC server names can be up to 15 characters and can contain spaces.

For example, the path

  SystemDB=\\s234567890\ANYSHARE\SYSTEM.MDA

works correctly, but the following UNC paths cause the above error message to appear:

  SystemDB=\\s2345678901\ANYSHARE\SYSTEM.MDA SystemDB=\\s2345 7890\ANYSHARE\SYSTEM.MDA



CAUSE
This problem is not caused directly by Microsoft Access, but rather by an external host, such as Microsoft Windows for Workgroups, or by a network problem. Microsoft Access does not parse UNC paths; it hands them off to external processes.



RESOLUTION
One way to work around this problem is to connect the server to a logical drive before using Microsoft Access and then reference the logical drive instead of the server.

For example, you want to use a server named \\MY SERVER\MYSHARE, and you are using Microsoft LAN Manager. To reference this server, type:

  NET USE F: \\MY SERVER\MYSHARE

In your MSACCESS.INI file, reference it as follows:

  SystemDB=F:\SYSTEM.MDA



STATUS
This behavior no longer occurs in Microsoft Access version 7.0, which can handle UNC names larger than 10 characters.

Additional query words: attaching

Keywords: kbfix kbenv kbprb KB105514

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