How do I convert a path with a drive letter to a UNC path

Question

How do I convert a path with a drive letter like W:\Path\Share to the equivalent unc path like \\server\Share\File in .Net?

At the command prompt you can run net use and that will list the mappings. How do I get at that info in .Net?

On Freund · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-03T21:11:03.463

6

You can use P/Invoke and call on a native function such as WNetGetUniversalName.

edited Jul 03 '12 at 21:11

answered Feb 17 '09 at 13:12

On Freund

4

The WNetGetUniversalName function takes a drive-based path for a network resource and returns an information structure that contains a more universal form of the name. This only works for paths that you have already shared. It doesn't seem to work for local paths. ie if you are sharing d:\shared as \\mymachine\shared and you call WNetGetUniversalName it fails. – GrendleM Sep 22 '09 at 19:29

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 17 '09 at 13:14

To get a list of the shared folders on the current machine in .NET you have to options:

Querying the Win32_share WMI class using the classes in the System.Management namespace
Invoking the NetShareEnum function in Win32 using P/Invoke

Note that the calling process will have run in the context of a user with administrative privileges for this to work.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

0

To answer your question about net use here is a good solution Get UNC Path for Mapped Drive VB.net

I like the net use way.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

Community

answered Nov 18 '11 at 17:34

goku_da_master

3 Answers3