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?

Umbilication

Answer 1

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

Speed

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. – Tonatonal

Answer 2

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.

Corporal

Answer 3

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.

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