Guy's Scripting Ezine 31 - Map Network Drive - Part 2
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This week’s secretUntil I researched MapNetworkDrive, I had forgotten just how many 'arguments' and variations there are. In fact I have unearthed so many examples that I have delayed the RemoveNetworkDrive and EnumNetworkDrives methods until another day. As usual, I will show you more than just one technique. As ever, my goal is to widen your scripting horizons with worked examples. ˆ Example 1 - Map Two Network DrivesThe idea is to map two shares with one script. Naturally, each share is assigned to a different drive letter. Instructions
' TwoMap.vbs - Map Network Drive to M: and P: Learning PointsNote 1: There are a surprising number of traps when mapping multiple drives. The central point is that each new drive letter has its own line. objNetwork.MapNetworkDrive DriveLetter2, RemotePath2 You could repeat the above line for each share you want to map, provided you change the DriveLetter2 and RemotePath2. Mistakes arise where people get too clever and try to map 6 drives all on one line. Note 2: From a scripting point of view, you make do with just one objNetwork which you recycle. It is not necessary to Set objNetwork1, objNetwork2 for each drive, just recycle the one variable - objNetwork. Note 3: Although I disapprove, it is possible to use share names with spaces. This script will run provided you have NT, XP or W2K Pro clients. (No Window 9x thank you.) Note 4: In passing, in this script I have not prefixed the string values with str. To be consistent, I should have called it strDriveLetter1. Could this be Guy's way of showing variety in the naming variables, or it could be an excuse that I have been an 'idle toad'?
Example 2 - Handling Dollar SignsSometimes you may need to map to a hidden share. Where you have the classic UNC path, you can add the dollar sign directly to the share, just use the $ symbol in the same way as any other character. However, if you wish to map to a third level, then you need a different technique. For example \\ alan\home\Daniel$ will be covered in Example 2b. Example 2a strHomeServer = "\\ alan\Daniel$" My point is that for this example, there is no need to specifically join the dollar to the rest of the name with an ampersand. strHomeServer = "\\ alan\Daniel" ' Then followed by strHomeServer = strHomeServer & "$" ' Would be laborious. Naturally, you need a share called Daniel$ for this to work. ' Dollar.vbs - Map Network Drive to S: to the alan server
Learning PointsNote 1: Where ever possible - Keep the script simple. ˇ Example 2b The More complex three part strHomeServerRemember the most important lesson from last week was that you can only map to the UNC path. So your final script depends on whether you are dealing with \\ alan\home\Daniel$ or the shorter "\\ alan\Daniel$". In also depends whether the share is on the home folder or the Daniel folder. Option Explicit Learning PointsNote 1: If you are getting into a pickle with the three levels and the dollar sign, then go back to basics. Create a normal two level servername, sharename script and then gradually add complexity.
Example 3 - Map a network drive permissions.Occasionally, I get letters from people wishing to map a drive, but their script fails because the share permissions do not allow the current user to create the drive mapping. Personally, I would rather alter the share permissions so that the original script ran as designed. My other fear is exposing the administrator's password - even in a script that the users will not see. Nevertheless, adding username and password make for an interesting project, because this introduces more arguments; and do like collecting switches, arguments and methods. Instructions This time I am using the str prefix for the string variables, so it should be easy for you to spot the places where you need to amend the script to suit your network. ' TestConnect.vbs - Map Network Drive to N: to the alan server Learning PointsNote 1: strProfile is needed otherwise there are not enough 'arguments' and you get a 'Type Mismatch' error. In my minds eye, the script needs the third argument if it will to go on and read the strUser and strPassword. I know, it is curious that the script will work with just the first two variables. Note 2: This is the week of trying out new ideas. Just for fun I used a different method to create my beloved message box. Did you spot the construction? Another surprise was that .popup is a property of Shell objects not network object. That is why I created a special shell object = objPopUp rather than reused objNetwork.popup. SummaryMapNetworkDrive has a surprising number of arguments, twists and turns, perhaps that is why this logon script method is so versatile and ubiquitous.
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