finding the right path in the client machine

[yaniv]

i need to build an application that find PDF's of news paper aditions. the PDF should stay on the installation CD.

what is the right way to find/ keep the right path in "any machine"? how can i get the right leeter that any user use for his CD drive...

 

thanks

[Eduardo Lorenzo]

My.Computer.FileSystem.Drives will give you a collection of the machine's drives

[yaniv]

can i know which one is the CD drive?

[PlausiblyDamp]

If My.Computer.FileSystem.Drives(0).DriveType = IO.DriveType.CDRom Then

End If

 

sometimes the intellisense is a bit quicker than asking ;)

[penfold69]

This method can fail if there are multiple CD drives in a machine.

 

When would be a good idea is to scan each drive, and look for the presence of a particular file in the root of that drive. This should ensure that you can uniquely identify *your* CD. It also handles the fact that your user removed your CD and replaced it with "Goldie Looking Chain's Greatest Hit".

 

P.

[penfold69]

concept code, untested.

 

   Dim myDrive As System.IO.DriveInfo = Nothing

   For Each d As System.IO.DriveInfo In My.Computer.FileSystem.Drives
       If d.DriveType = IO.DriveType.CDRom Then
           Dim di As System.IO.DirectoryInfo = d.RootDirectory
           If di.GetFiles("MyUniqueFileName.txt").Length > 0 Then
               myDrive = d
               Exit For
           End If
       End If
   Next

   If myDrive IsNot Nothing Then
       ' Yay! I found the right CD drive, and it contains my CD
       DoSomeStuff()
   Else
       MsgBox("Please insert the application CD-ROM into one of your drives")
   End If

[yaniv]

thanks all, it is really what i needed.

good people you are.:D

[PlausiblyDamp]

This method can fail if there are multiple CD drives in a machine.

 

When would be a good idea is to scan each drive, and look for the presence of a particular file in the root of that drive. This should ensure that you can uniquely identify *your* CD. It also handles the fact that your user removed your CD and replaced it with "Goldie Looking Chain's Greatest Hit".

 

P.

 

The code I posted was a quick example to point him in the right direction - it wasn't meant to be a complete working solution.

Edited August 31, 2007 by PlausiblyDamp