DOCUMENT:Q138296  01-MAY-2001  [ssafe]
TITLE   :HOWTO: Use UNC Paths in Visual SourceSafe
PRODUCT :Microsoft SourceSafe
PROD/VER:
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows, versions 4.0, 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

Previous versions of Visual SourceSafe could not use universal naming convention
(UNC) paths. Visual SourceSafe now allows the user to use UNC paths in most
SourceSafe Explorer, SRCSAFE.INI or SS.INI settings. This eliminates the need to
map a drive to run SourceSafe and allows the administrator to easily place the
Visual SourceSafe database on a different network server without any end-user
intervention.

MORE INFORMATION
================

UNC paths may be used in many locations, but not every location in Visual
SourceSafe. The following list contains the files, environment variables, and
.INI file variables that accept UNC paths:

 - SSDIR environment variable.

 - SSINI environment variable.

 - #INCLUDE in the SRCSAFE.INI file. For more information about possible
   problems with using the #INCLUDE option, please see the following article in
   the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Q136401 Visual SourceSafe "Invalid Data Path" Error

 - SRCSAFE.INI variables:

   Data_Path
   Journal_File
   Shadow
   Temp_Path
   Users_Txt

 - SS.INI variables:

   Comment_Editor
   Comment_Template
   Editor
   File extension masks

Visual SourceSafe cannot use UNC paths in the following situations:

 - Working directories.

 - File dialog boxes:

   Add file
   Get
   Checkout
   Checkin

NOTE: These situations do not apply to Visual SourceSafe 5.0. You can use a UNC
name anywhere you can supply a pathname.


REFERENCES
==========

Query using the UNC keyword in Visual SourceSafe Books Online.

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 
Technology        : kbSSafeSearch kbAudDeveloper kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500
Issue type        : kbhowto

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