UNC stands for Universal Naming Convention, a system that lets networked computers recognize each other without assigning or substituting drive letters on each local machine. We recommend UNC for users sharing client files or using Client Explorer database features on a network.
Why use UNC file names?
Each computer assigns drive letters to drives (for example. C: or D:).
For example, let's say you store a client file on your network drive L:RETURNS. If another user wants to access that file on a different workstation, the network drive may be mapped to G:RETURNS. The shared Client Explorer will think the file is on L:RETURNS and will deny access to the second user because ProFile can't locate the file.
Using UNC path
The solution is to use UNC path.
All computers have a name, which you can identify by opening a command prompt.
- Select the Windows icon in your Windows taskbar.
- Enter cmd; the Command Prompt option displays.
- Select the option when it is presented. The cmd console opens.
In the cmd console you will see the computer/hostname and the name of the user.
For example, if your computer/hostname is called SERVERNAME, then the same network drive above would be \\SERVERNAME\RETURNS. Every computer on the network can recognize this pathname, no matter what drive letter is mapped on each machine.