C++ - Can't open file from network path in Windows

Question

I'm having problems using native C++ to open a file located on a network drive on a Windows box. My code works fine if the file is local, but fails if the file is on a network share. I can read the file from Windows explorer perfectly fine.

  ifstream ifs(cFilename);
  if(ifs.is_open())
  {
    // Read file here. (This never works for a network path)
  }

I've also tried this:

struct stat sb;
if (stat(cFilename, &sb) == 0)
{
  // Read file here. (This never works for a network path)
}

My path is formatted correctly (e.g. "\\server\filename.ext"), but I still can't open it. Any ideas?

Answer 1

If the name is in the form \\server\filename, then it seems that might not be correct. I believe that typically it needs a share name as well:

\\server\share\filename

Also, make sure that in the code, you escape the backslashes (e.g., \\\\server\\share\\filename).