Sample Code to Return the UNC Path of a Network Drive (160529)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Access 97
- Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 5.0
- Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Office for Windows 95
- Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Excel for Windows 95
- Microsoft Excel for Windows 5.0
- Microsoft Excel for Windows 5.0c
- Microsoft Outlook 97
- Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
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 INFORMATIONMicrosoft 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:
For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
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 <Server> is the name of the network server and <share> 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
REFERENCESFor additional information about getting help with Visual Basic forApplications, click the article number below
to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications
Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 8/18/2005 |
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Keywords: | kbcode kbhowto KB160529 |
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