Sample Code to Return the UNC Path of a Network Drive

Retired KB Content Disclaimer

View products that this article applies to.

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.

Back to the top

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 Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104 (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104)

Microsoft Advisory Services - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice)

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 (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:

\\<Server>\<Share>

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.

Back to the top

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

Back to the top

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

Back to the top

REFERENCES

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic forApplications, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/163435/EN-US/ ) VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Back to the top

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

Back to the top

kbcode kbhowto KB160529

Back to the top

Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

Back to the top