Microsoft KB Archive/251339

Knowledge Base

PRB: CopyFolder Syntax Is Different for UNC Paths and Mapped Drive Paths

Article ID: 251339

Article Last Modified on 5/13/2003

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Learning Edition
• Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q251339

SYMPTOMS

When attempting to use the CopyFolder method of the FileSytemObject, you get the following error message:

Error 5: Invalid Call or Procedure

CAUSE

You specified a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path for the source but did not include the wildcard (*) character.

MORE INFORMATION

When the CopyFolder method of the FileSystemObject is used with a UNC path, it requires the use of a wildcard character in the source specification. However, when the CopyFolder method is used with a wildcard, it only copies the subfolders of the last named folder in the path and does not copy any files from that folder. Therefore, if you want to copy the entire contents, you must use the CopyFile method in addition to the CopyFolder method when using a UNC path and the wildcard specification for the source.

The mapped path usage of CopyFolder can be specified with or without wildcard characters in the source path. If it is used without the wildcard for mapped drive paths, it copies the entire contents of the folder, including the files and subfolders.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Start Windows Explorer and create two folders, C:\MyFolder and C:\MyNewFolder. Add some files and subfolders to C:\MyFolder.
2. Start a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
3. On the Project menu, click References to display the References dialog box. Select Microsoft Scripting Runtime and then click OK.
4. Add two CommandButton controls to Form1.

5. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1, replacing the references to "MyMachine" with the name of your computer:

   Option Explicit
   
   Dim fs As FileSystemObject
   
   Private Sub Command1_Click()  ' Without Wildcard
   
   ' The following statement creates C:\NewFolder and copies the contents
   ' (files and subfolders) of c:\MyFolder into it.
      fs.CopyFolder "C:\myFolder", "C:\NewFolder"
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub Command2_Click()  ' Wildcard
   
   ' Comment the following line to avoid Error 5: Invalid Call or Procedure
      fs.CopyFolder "\\myMachine\myFolder", "C:\myNewFolder"
   
   ' The following line copies the subfolders of myFolder into myNewFolder
      fs.CopyFolder "\\myMachine\myFolder\*", "C:\myNewFolder"
      
   ' The following line copies the files from myFolder into myNewFolder
      fs.CopyFile "\\myMachine\myFolder\*", "C:\myNewFolder"
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub Form_Load()
      Set fs = New FileSystemObject
      Command1.Caption = "Without Wildcard"
      Command2.Caption = "Wildcard"
   End Sub
                       

6. Run the program. Click the Wildcard button to reproduce the error.
7. Edit Command2_Click, commenting out the line indicated in the code. Repeat the previous step and the directories and files are copied properly.
   
   NOTE: If you step through the code, you can see that CopyFolder only copies the folders and that CopyFile is necessary to copy the files.
8. If you reset the test by deleting the contents of C:\NewFolder, you can repeat the test, only clicking on the Without Wildcard button to see that this syntax also copies the files and subfolders.

REFERENCES

MSDN Help Index : CopyFolder method

Keywords: kbprb KB251339

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