Microsoft KB Archive/160529

= Sample Code to Return the UNC Path of a Network Drive =

Article ID: 160529

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 5.0
 * Microsoft Office 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0c
 * Microsoft Outlook 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q160529



Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.



SUMMARY
This article describes how to use a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications sub-procedure (or macro) and a Windows application programming interface (API) call to return the universal naming convention (UNC) path for a mapped network drive.



MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

A UNC is a naming convention that permits you to use a network resource, such as a network server, without formally connecting to the network resource with a mapped drive. A UNC path uses the following syntax:

\\\

where  is the name of the network server and is a folder on the server.

A mapped drive uses a drive letter (for example, drive F:), where the letter represents the server and the share to which it is mapped.

The following code samples use a Windows API call to locate the mapped drive and then return its UNC path.

Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Office 7.0
' 32-bit Function version. ' Enter this declaration on a single line. Declare Function WNetGetConnection32 Lib "MPR.DLL" Alias _ "WNetGetConnectionA" (ByVal lpszLocalName As String, ByVal _     lpszRemoteName As String, lSize As Long) As Long

' 32-bit declarations: Dim lpszRemoteName As String Dim lSize As Long

' Use for the return value of WNetGetConnection API. Const NO_ERROR As Long = 0

' The size used for the string buffer. Adjust this if you ' need a larger buffer. Const lBUFFER_SIZE As Long = 255

Sub GetNetPath

' Prompt the user to type the mapped drive letter. DriveLetter = UCase(InputBox("Enter Drive Letter of Your Network" & _ "Connection." & Chr(10) & "i.e. F (do not enter a colon)"))

' Add a colon to the drive letter entered. DriveLetter = DriveLetter & ":"

' Specifies the size in characters of the buffer. cbRemoteName = lBUFFER_SIZE

' Prepare a string variable by padding spaces. lpszRemoteName = lpszRemoteName & Space(lBUFFER_SIZE)

' Return the UNC path (\\Server\Share). lStatus& = WNetGetConnection32(DriveLetter, lpszRemoteName, _        cbRemoteName)

' Verify that the WNetGetConnection succeeded. WNetGetConnection ' returns 0 (NO_ERROR) if it successfully retrieves the UNC path. If lStatus& = NO_ERROR Then

' Display the UNC path. MsgBox lpszRemoteName, vbInformation

Else ' Unable to obtain the UNC path. MsgBox "Unable to obtain the UNC path.", vbInformation End If

End Sub

Microsoft Excel 5.0
' 16-bit Function for Excel 5.0. ' Enter this declaration on a single line. Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "user" (ByVal lpszLocalName _     As String, ByVal lpszRemoteName As String, cbRemoteName As _      Integer) As Integer

' 16-bit declarations: Dim NetName As String Dim x As Integer Dim DriveLetter As String

Sub GetNetPath

' Prompt the user to type the mapped drive letter. DriveLetter = UCase(InputBox("Enter Drive Letter of Your Network" & _ "Connection." & Chr(10) & "i.e. F (do not enter a colon)"))

DriveLetter = DriveLetter & ":"

' 16-bit call for Excel 5.0. ' Pad NetName with spaces. NetName = NetName & Space(80)

' API call returns one of eight values. If it returns zero, it is     ' successful. x = WNetGetConnection(DriveLetter, NetName, 80)

' Display the UNC path. MsgBox NetName

End Sub

