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End Function

Note that in this case, the API function gives you no second chance. If the buffer wasn't large enough, it just returns as much as it could fit into the buffer you passed.

To retrieve the name of the remote device connected to a named local device, call the acbGetConnection function. Pass to it the local device name and an optional variable in which to receive the error code. It will return to you the remote device name connected to the requested local name. For example:

Debug.Print acbGetConnection("LPT1:")

might return a value like this (a \\server\share name):

\\WOMBAT\HPLJ4

The function works the same way for drive connections.

The acbGetConnection function works the same way as the acbGetUser function: it calls the API function once with an arbitrarily sized buffer. If that isn't enough room, it'll try again with the buffer resized to fit. Its source code is:

Public Function acbGetConnection( _

strLocalName As String, Optional varErr As Variant) As String

Dim strBuffer As String

Dim lngRetval As Long

Dim lngSize As Long

lngSize = acbcMaxPath

Do

strBuffer = Space(lngSize)

lngRetval = WNetGetConnection(strLocalName, strBuffer, lngSize)

Loop Until lngRetval <> ERROR_MORE_DATA

If lngRetval <> NO_ERROR Then

acbGetConnection = ""

Else

acbGetConnection = TrimNull(strBuffer)

End If

varErr = lngRetval

End Function

Adding and canceling connections using common dialogs

Adding or canceling a connection with a common dialog in Windows is easy: just make a single function call, as shown in Table 11-16. Each wrapper function expects a single parameter: a window handle for the parent of the dialog window. Most of the time, this will just be Me.hWnd or Screen.ActiveForm.hWnd.

Table 11-16. Wrapper functions for common dialog connections

Function name

Action

acbConnectDriveDialog

Add a drive connection.

acbDisconnectDriveDialog

Cancel a drive connection.

acbConnectPrintDialog

Add a printer connection.

acbDisconnectPrintDialog

Cancel a printer connection.

For example, to pop up the common drive connection dialog, you'd call:

blnOK = acbConnectDriveDialog(Me.hWnd)

The code in each of the wrapper functions is similar and quite trivial. In each case, the code just calls a single Windows API function. We've provided the wrappers only to provide a consistent interface for all the API functions; there's no real reason not to call the API functions directly, except for a tiny bit of convenience. For example, the acbConnectPrintDialog function looks like this:

Public Function acbConnectPrintDialog(hWnd As Long) As Long

' Use the common print connection dialog to create a new connection.

acbConnectPrintDialog = WNetConnectionDialog(hWnd, RESOURCETYPE_PRINT)

End Function

Adding and canceling connections with no user intervention

Adding or canceling a connection "silently" requires a bit more work, but it's not a problem. Table 11-17 lists the available wrapper functions, and the information they require.

Table 11-17. Functions to manually add and cancel connections

Function name

Action

Parameters

Description

acbAddDriveConnection

Add a drive connection.

strLocalName As String

Local name, like "LPT1:" or "G:".

strRemoteName As String

Remote name, like "\\SERVER\SHARE".

strUserName As String

Username to be used. If empty, uses default user's name.

strPassword As String

Password for the user specified. If empty, uses the default user's password.

acbAddPrintConnection

Add a printer connection.

strLocalName As String, strRemoteName As String, strUserName As String, strPassword As String

See parameters for acbAddDriveConnection.

acbCancelConnection

Cancel any connection.

strLocalName As String

Local name of resource to disconnect.

blnForce As Boolean

If True, forces disconnection even if the device is in use. If False, the function returns an error if it tries to disconnect an active device.

For example, the following code fragment adds a new printer connection for