IVssWMFiledesc::GetAlternateLocation method (vswriter.h)

The GetAlternateLocation method obtains an alternate location for a file set.

Syntax

HRESULT GetAlternateLocation(
  [out] BSTR *pbstrAlternateLocation
);

Parameters

[out] pbstrAlternateLocation

The address of a caller-allocated variable that receives a string specifying the alternate backup location. The path of this location can be a local path or the UNC path of a remote file share. If there is no alternate location, the pointer is NULL.

Return value

The following are the valid return codes for this method.

Value	Meaning
S_OK	Successfully returned the alternate location information.
S_FALSE	The requested information could not be found.
E_INVALIDARG	One of the parameter values is not valid.
E_OUTOFMEMORY	The caller is out of memory or other system resources.
VSS_E_INVALID_XML_DOCUMENT	The XML document is not valid. Check the event log for details. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS.
VSS_E_UNEXPECTED	Unexpected error. The error code is logged in the error log file. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS. Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP:  This value is not supported until Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. E_UNEXPECTED is used instead.

Remarks

Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003:  Remote file shares are not supported until Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

The caller must call SysFreeString to free the memory held by the pbstrAlternateLocation parameter.

The interpretation of the alternate location returned by GetAlternateLocation differs depending on the method used to retrieve the IVssWMFiledesc object.

• IVssExamineWriterMetadata::GetExcludeFile
• IVssWMComponent::GetDatabaseFile
• IVssWMComponent::GetDatabaseLogFile
• IVssWMComponent::GetFile

The value returned by GetAlternateLocation refers to an alternate location mapping when returned by the IVssExamineWriterMetadata::GetAlternateLocationMapping method.

During backup operations, this is the alternate location from which to back up a file. During a restore, it is the alternate location to which to restore a file.

For more information, see Non-Default Backup And Restore Locations.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	vswriter.h (include Vss.h, VsWriter.h)
Library	VssApi.lib

See also

IVssWMFiledesc