ACC2000: Connecting to the First Available Network Drive (210221)

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Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers 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 requirements. To find the first free drive and make a network connection, follow these steps:

1. In a new Microsoft Access database, create a module and type the following lines in the Declarations section:

   Option Explicit
   
   Declare Function GetDriveType Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetDriveTypeA" _
       (ByVal nDrive As String) As Long
   Declare Function WNetAddConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias _
       "WNetAddConnectionA" (ByVal lpszNetPath As String, _
       ByVal lpszPassword As String, ByVal lpszLocalName _
       As String) As Long
   
   					

2. Type the following procedure:

   Public Function FreeDrive(MyShareName$, MyPWD$) As Integer
      On Local Error GoTo FreeDrive_Err
      Dim DriveNum As Long, FirstFreeDrive As String
      Dim FirstDrive As Long, Results As Long
      DriveNum = 2
      Do
         DriveNum = DriveNum + 1
         FirstFreeDrive = Chr$(DriveNum + 65) + ":\"
         FirstDrive = GetDriveType(FirstFreeDrive)
      Loop Until FirstDrive = 1
      FirstFreeDrive = Left(FirstFreeDrive, 2)
      FreeDrive = WNetAddConnection(MyShareName$, MyPWD$, _
       FirstFreeDrive)
   FreeDrive_End:
      Exit Function
   FreeDrive_Err:
      FreeDrive = Err
      MsgBox Error$
      Resume FreeDrive_End
   End Function
   					

3. To test this function, type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER

   ?FreeDrive(<"\\servername\sharename">, <"MyPwd">)
   						

   where <"\\servername\sharename"> is a valid server and sharename in your network organization and <"MyPwd"> is your password that provides permission to the resource.
   
   NOTE: Some of the possible return values for the FreeDrive() function include WN_SUCCESS, WN_NET_ERROR, and WN_BAD_PASSWORD. Other run-time errors could be returned from the function; therefore, error trapping should be implemented to handle any problems.