How do I get the user-customized name of a mapped network drive?

Last time, we displayed the names of This PC and Recycle Bin. This time, we’ll look at mapped volumes, because they are a little tricky.

When you map a network drive, the name in Explorer defaults to something like sharename (\\server) (Z:). But you can right-click the label, select Rename, and change it to Awesome if you like.

Let’s try to retrieve the name Awesome. Take the program from last time and make these changes:

int __cdecl wmain(int argc, wchar_t **argv)
{
  CoInitialize(0);
  IShellItem* item;
  SHCreateItemFromParsingName(argv[1], nullptr,
                              IID_PPV_ARGS(&item));
  PrintDisplayName(item, SIGDN_NORMALDISPLAY, L"name");
  item->Release();
  CoUninitialize();
  return 0;
}

This prints the display name of whatever you pass on the command line. Let’s say that drive Z: is mapped to \\server\sharename.

Run the program with the command line parameter Z:,

name = sharename (\\server) (Z:)

Now go to Explorer and rename the drive to Awesome. Then run the program again with Z: on the command line.

name = Awesome (Z:)

Close. We got the Awesome part, but the non-awesome drive letter is still there. That sort of makes sense, since Explorer also shows the non-awesome drive letter.

But what if you really want it without the drive letter? Well, you can ask for a different kind of display name.

int __cdecl wmain(int argc, wchar_t **argv)
{
  CoInitialize(0);
  IShellItem* item;
  SHCreateItemFromParsingName(argv[1], nullptr,
                              IID_PPV_ARGS(&item));
  PrintDisplayName(item, SIGDN_PARENTRELATIVEEDITING, L"name");
  item->Release();
  CoUninitialize();
  return 0;
}

This time, we ask for the parent-relative editing name. This is the name used by the Rename command when you rename an item that is displayed relative to its parent.

Run the program with Z: on the command line, and see what happens:

name = Awesome

Awesome.

For those who want to do things the classic way, you can use the SHGDN_IN­FOLDER | SHGDN_FOR­EDITING flags.

Take the second program (the one that uses the classic style) and make these changes:

int __cdecl wmain(int argc, wchar_t **argv)
{
  CoInitialize(0);
  PIDLIST_ABSOLUTE absolute;
  SHParseDisplayName(argv[1], nullptr, &absolute, 0, nullptr);
  PrintDisplayName(absolute, SHGDN_INFOLDER | SHGDN_FOREDITING, L"name");
  CoTaskMemFree(absolute);
  CoUninitialize();
  return 0;
}