C# Signature:

    [DllImport("mpr.dll", CharSet=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError=true)]
    public static extern int WNetGetConnection([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)] string localName, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)] StringBuilder remoteName, ref int length);

[DllImport("mpr.dll", CharSet=CharSet.Auto, SetLastError=true)]

public static extern int WNetGetConnection([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)] string localName, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)] StringBuilder remoteName, ref int length);

VB Signature:

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Use to get UNC Path of a Mapped Drive
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="localName"></param>
    ''' <param name="remoteName"></param>
    ''' <param name="length"></param>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    <DllImport("mpr.dll")> _
    Shared Function WNetGetConnection(<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)> _
                      ByVal localName As String, ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, _
                      ByRef length As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

Alternative VB Signature:

    Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" (ByVal localName As String, ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, ByRef length As Integer) As Integer

User-Defined Types:

None.

    End Function

Notes:

localName is the local name for the network resource (drive or printer)

remoteName is a string builder used to return the network name for the resource

length is the current capacity of the StringBuilder

Alternative VB Signature:

Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" (ByVal localName As String, ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, ByRef length As Integer) As Integer

User-Defined Types:

None.

If the call fails because the StringBuilder is not large enough, the call will return a value of 234, and the Length parameter will contain the required size.

Notes:

localName is the local name for the network resource (drive or printer)

remoteName is a string builder used to return the network name for the resource

length is the current capacity of the StringBuilder

Tips & Tricks:

Please add some!

If the call fails because the StringBuilder is not large enough, the call will return a value of 234, and the Length parameter will contain the required size.

Sample Code:

// This sample code assumes you currently have a drive mapped to p:

// Find out what remote device a local mapping is to

int rc=0;

// Size for the buffer we will use

int bsize=200;

// Create a new stringbuilder, pre-sized as above

StringBuilder rname = new StringBuilder(bsize);

// Call the function

rc = WNetGetConnection("p:", rname, ref bsize);

Tips & Tricks:

Please add some!

Sample Code for Visal Basic 2005 Express Edition:

(Without any Error-Handling)

Sample Code:

// This sample code assumes you currently have a drive mapped to p:

// Find out what remote device a local mapping is to

int rc=0;

// Size for the buffer we will use

int bsize=200;

// Create a new stringbuilder, pre-sized as above

StringBuilder rname = new StringBuilder(bsize);

// Call the function

rc = WNetGetConnection("p:", rname, ref bsize);

    Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" (ByVal localName As String, _
    ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, ByRef length As Integer) As Integer

Sample Code for Visal Basic 2005 Express Edition:

(Without any Error-Handling)

    Private Function strToUnc(ByVal path As String)
        Dim length As Integer = 255
        Dim UNC As New System.Text.StringBuilder(length)
        WNetGetConnection(Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left(path, 2), UNC, length)
        Return UNC.ToString
    End Function
    Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" (ByVal localName As String, _
    ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, ByRef length As Integer) As Integer

    'to get the UNC-Path of a network-drive use something like:
    Private Sub Test()
        Dim dr As String = "J:\"
        MsgBox("The UNC-Path of drive " & dr & " is: " & strToUnc(dr))
    End Sub
    Private Function strToUnc(ByVal path As String)
        Dim length As Integer = 255
        Dim UNC As New System.Text.StringBuilder(length)
        WNetGetConnection(Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left(path, 2), UNC, length)
        Return UNC.ToString
    End Function

Sample Code for VB.NET with error handling:

Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" _
                      (ByVal localName As String, _
                      ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, _
                      ByRef length As Integer) As Integer
    'to get the UNC-Path of a network-drive use something like:
    Private Sub Test()
        Dim dr As String = "J:\"
        MsgBox("The UNC-Path of drive " & dr & " is: " & strToUnc(dr))
    End Sub

Private Sub DisplayUncPath(ByVal aLocalPath As String)

Sample Code for VB.NET with error handling:

Declare Function WNetGetConnection Lib "mpr.dll" Alias "WNetGetConnectionA" _
                      (ByVal localName As String, _
                      ByVal remoteName As System.Text.StringBuilder, _
                      ByRef length As Integer) As Integer

    Dim theDriveName As String = aLocalPath.Substring(0, aLocalPath.IndexOf(":") + 1)
    If theDriveName <> "" Then
        Dim theDriveInfo As New DriveInfo(theDriveName)
        If theDriveInfo.DriveType = DriveType.Network Then
        Dim uncPathBuf As New StringBuilder(259)
        Dim err As Integer = WNetGetConnection(theDriveName, uncPathBuf, uncPathBuf.Capacity)
        If err = 0 Then
            Dim pathname As String = uncPathBuf.ToString()
            MessageBox.Show(aLocalPath.Replace(theDriveName, pathname))
        Else
            MessageBox.Show("Failed with error :" & err)
        End If
        Else
        MessageBox.Show(theDriveName & " is not a network mapped path.")
        End If
      End If
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayUncPath(ByVal aLocalPath As String)

    Dim theDriveName As String = aLocalPath.Substring(0, aLocalPath.IndexOf(":") + 1)
    If theDriveName <> "" Then
        Dim theDriveInfo As New DriveInfo(theDriveName)
        If theDriveInfo.DriveType = DriveType.Network Then
        Dim uncPathBuf As New StringBuilder(259)
        Dim err As Integer = WNetGetConnection(theDriveName, uncPathBuf, uncPathBuf.Capacity)
        If err = 0 Then
            Dim pathname As String = uncPathBuf.ToString()
            MessageBox.Show(aLocalPath.Replace(theDriveName, pathname))
        Else
            MessageBox.Show("Failed with error :" & err)
        End If
        Else
        MessageBox.Show(theDriveName & " is not a network mapped path.")
        End If
      End If
End Sub

Alternative Managed API:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!

Alternative Managed API:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!

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