Using Win32's ::CopyFile to retrieve file from Symantec Enterprise Vault

Question

I'm having a problem copying a file from a Symantec Enterprise Vault. Usually, I use the Win32 ::CopyFile function to copy from one NTFS to another. Now, the NTFS has a special symbolic link or shortcut. If you access the shortcut via Windows Explorer, the Symantec service intercepts the request and recovers the full file for you. This does not seem to happen when using the API call. It appears that the retrieval is occurring, but the API call doesn't wait for it to complete.

Is there a method for interacting with these special shortcuts programmatically?

Answer 1

I assume by IE you mean "Windows Explorer" and NOT "Internet Explorer"...
IF Symantec just intercepts so-called "shell operation" as your description suggests then you need to use SHFileOperation for that...

see

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb762164%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

depending on your OS it could be better to use IFileOperation

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb775771%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

BOTH methods behave exactly as if the copy operation was handled by Windows Explorer (for example when you copy a file manually) thus would engage the Symantec Intercept in the same manner...

Answer 2

Enterprise Vault has it's own API, called the ECMAPI that allows you to interact with placeholders.

Unfortunately you have to be a member of the STEP program, which costs about $30,000 per year.

There are Symantec Partners, like QUADROtech and bluesource, who might be able to help you. QUADROtech do lots on the coding side of things.