Coding file paths to a server or network share
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Something to watch out for, depending on the client using the app - if the program is actually running on the machine that the UNC path is referencing, the local resource path cannot be accessed using UNC naming if the machine is set to use simple file sharing method to set file sharing permissions, at least not on XP. Took me a while to figure that one out.
OldDude
Thanks for the tip. I did not know this.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
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Always use a \\DNS_SERVER_NAME\directory\path. Never use a \\PhysicalServerName\It\will\be\replaced. Get your local DNS person to code the \\DNS_SERVER_NAME to \\PhysicalServerName mapping, so you can update everything at the one point. (I've had to have a local DNS entry that has to map a \\previous-company-name\hard-server-name to the latest virtual server!) Use the
PathCopy4
utility (use your favourite search engine!). It is wonderful for getting proper paths. It's also great for folks pasting proper paths into emails (wrap with <....> angle brackets for blanks in path \ file names in plain text emails)
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Always use a \\DNS_SERVER_NAME\directory\path. Never use a \\PhysicalServerName\It\will\be\replaced. Get your local DNS person to code the \\DNS_SERVER_NAME to \\PhysicalServerName mapping, so you can update everything at the one point. (I've had to have a local DNS entry that has to map a \\previous-company-name\hard-server-name to the latest virtual server!) Use the
PathCopy4
utility (use your favourite search engine!). It is wonderful for getting proper paths. It's also great for folks pasting proper paths into emails (wrap with <....> angle brackets for blanks in path \ file names in plain text emails)
Thanks for the info Philip.
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Slacker007 wrote:
Am I looking at this the wrong way?
i vote : No
I also vote NO. However, there is the case where you MOVE all of the shared data to another machine. If you used mapped drives, then all the user needs to do is remap. But I always lean towards using UNC.
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AspDotNetDev wrote:
Whatever you do, don't hard code it.
Only hard code it if I have to code VBA for older Office Automation apps, which unfortunately, we still have. Other than that it gets thrown into a config file and on very rare occasion it gets put into an .ini file. My question was more how do you approach the file path itself. :) [edit] if I can, I will put it into a database for Office stuff but that doesn't always work out.
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Once it's in an external configuration file, it no longer matters whether it's the mapped Q: drive or \\serverQ\share1 that's referenced because it can be changed without changing the software.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
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Here is one observation from my experience. If any of your users have a slow network connection (read psuedo-high-speed satellite internet) than the mapped drive solution poses another problem. Every time they un-minimize *any* Windows Explorer window, it will have to re-resolve the network connection to that mapped network drive and will cause a delay (sometimes serious delay) restoring the file system view. For this reason, I always go with UNC paths. Dave Smith
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
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I also agree with stick it in the config. This will make you give it a symbolic name vs. just a path name. This works for targeting a file location. If you are passing (sourcing) the path to some service that lives on a different computer, then you might do what we do: Given C:\TopDir\dir1\dir2\dir3\file.txt We assume that TopDir is probably a share, but then we confirm this by verifying the existence of the this file: \\ComputerName\TopDir\dir1\dir2\dir3\file.txt If this exists, then the assumption is probably true. (You could also verify that the size and timestamps match) It is safe to pass \\ComputerName\TopDir\dir1\dir2\dir3\file.txt to another system.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
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I've just done what I think you are looking for. Here is VB.net solution: Private mappedDrives As New SortedList(10) Private Sub MapDrives() Dim Drives() As DriveInfo = DriveInfo.GetDrives() Dim letter As String Dim uncpath As String For Each Drive As DriveInfo In Drives If Drive.DriveType = DriveType.Fixed Then letter = Drive.Name.Substring(0, 1) uncpath = "\\" & hostName & "\" & letter & "$" mappedDrives.Add(letter, uncpath) ElseIf Drive.DriveType = DriveType.Network Then letter = Drive.Name.Substring(0, 1) uncpath = GetUNCPath(Drive.Name.Substring(0, 2)) mappedDrives.Add(letter, uncpath) End If Next End Sub If DataFileOpenFileDialog.ShowDialog() = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then Dim filepath As String = DataFileOpenFileDialog.FileName Dim uncName As String = filepath If Not filepath.StartsWith("\\") Then Dim driveLetter As String = filepath.Substring(0, 1) uncName = CStr(mappedDrives.Item(driveLetter)) uncName &= filepath.Substring(2) End If End If Cheers, Phil
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
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Don't use a mapped drive. There always seem to be conflicts on some system or another sooner or later. If a config file isn't viable, even a DIY one, then use the full UNC path like you do. Worst case, if the server fails and isn't replaced by one with the same name, you can always remap it on the customer's computer via System32\drivers\etc\lmhosts. Not pretty, nor convenient, but works.
patbob
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I've just done what I think you are looking for. Here is VB.net solution: Private mappedDrives As New SortedList(10) Private Sub MapDrives() Dim Drives() As DriveInfo = DriveInfo.GetDrives() Dim letter As String Dim uncpath As String For Each Drive As DriveInfo In Drives If Drive.DriveType = DriveType.Fixed Then letter = Drive.Name.Substring(0, 1) uncpath = "\\" & hostName & "\" & letter & "$" mappedDrives.Add(letter, uncpath) ElseIf Drive.DriveType = DriveType.Network Then letter = Drive.Name.Substring(0, 1) uncpath = GetUNCPath(Drive.Name.Substring(0, 2)) mappedDrives.Add(letter, uncpath) End If Next End Sub If DataFileOpenFileDialog.ShowDialog() = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then Dim filepath As String = DataFileOpenFileDialog.FileName Dim uncName As String = filepath If Not filepath.StartsWith("\\") Then Dim driveLetter As String = filepath.Substring(0, 1) uncName = CStr(mappedDrives.Item(driveLetter)) uncName &= filepath.Substring(2) End If End If Cheers, Phil
I appreciate the code snippet but I was only wanting to get a point of view on the subject. You know, you may want to post this as a Tip/Trick if you think it is good and other people could use it.
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I could be blowing smoke, but isn't there a way to programmaticly get the path from the server that the files reside on? As in you have to code go to the location, then return the virtual path in regards to the machine running the code at the time? Dang it now I have to go look.
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning. Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
----------------------------- Just along for the ride. -----------------------------
You could use DNS aliases for the network shares. This way, you can use the DNS name however you wish. If the server or share ever changes you just update the DNS entry and all the apps don't know the difference. This also allows you to create DNS entries with names based on the roles or services not the server it's on at the time. Here's some info on it: http://serverfault.com/questions/23823/how-to-configure-windows-machine-to-allow-file-sharing-with-dns-alias[^] Or you can Google dns-alias network share
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
----------------------------- Just along for the ride. -----------------------------
I ALWAYS use UNC paths and stick them into a config file. Drive letters are asking for trouble further down the track. Hardcoding something that is effectively a parameter into an app likewise. If your neighbours don't listen to the Ramones, turn it up extra loud so they can.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
----------------------------- Just along for the ride. -----------------------------
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I could be blowing smoke, but isn't there a way to programmaticly get the path from the server that the files reside on? As in you have to code go to the location, then return the virtual path in regards to the machine running the code at the time? Dang it now I have to go look.
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning. Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow.
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We do a lot of in-house software and utilities that access network shares and servers. I usually code the path like so:
\\MYSERVER001\SomeCrazyDirectory
Some of my colleagues code the path of the mapped drive (on their workstation). Problem is, if you put the app on someone's workstation/computer it won't work unless they have the exact same mapping, which doesn't always work out. Am I looking at this the wrong way?
----------------------------- Just along for the ride. -----------------------------
The below assumes you will use a variable to define the path whether that path is a fixed/mapped drive or a UNC Path. The choice between a mapped drive or UNC path needs to take into account how the network (the app you are working on) will be used. Some IT guys prefer mapped drives and others prefer UNC paths and so what I would suggest doing is asking the IT/Admin of the company that will be using this software if they care which of these you set the app to use. This of course assumes you are doing this for a specific company. If you are working on something that is for many users or companies then you have to use your best judgment on which of these 2 is most likely to present the least amount of trouble for the users in whatever market the app you are working on is targeted at. I will say this, do not assume that the UNC is always the better choice because that may not be true. Some IT people are very picky about what uses UNC paths and what uses mapped drives. The UNC path makes it very difficult for IT to make changes on the back end whereas mapped drives simplifies this. Mapped drives however are also very dependent because every user must have the same mapped drive pointing to the exact same location and in some case with the same level of permissions/access. Good luck