[RESOLVED] VBScript errors with 'Access is Denied'

:wave:
We have a .net application in our project that is giving me problems on my machine. Part of the app calls various .vbs files to perform batch operations - zipping files and moving them around mostly. The code works on the original developer's machine, but it errors on mine - throwing up a message box. The msgbox title says "Compressed (zipped) Folders Error", while the msgbox itself says 'Unable to complete the operation' and 'Access is Denied'.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? I'm wondering if the message I'm getting is a red-herring.

Here's one of the scripts:

Code:

---

Dim fso, winShell, MyTarget, MySource, file
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set winShell = createObject("shell.application")

'find the current dir
dim CurDir, oShell
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
CurDir = oShell.CurrentDirectory


'get source and target paths
MyTarget = fso.GetParentFolderName(curdir) & "\zip\copy.qd_calculator.zip"
MySource = fso.GetParentFolderName(CurDir) & "\standalone\calculator\"


'delete the old file, if it exists
if fso.FileExists(MyTarget) then
    fso.DeleteFile mytarget, true
end if

'create a new clean zip archive
Set file = fso.CreateTextFile(MyTarget, True)
file.write("PK" & chr(5) & chr(6) & string(18,chr(0)))
file.close

winShell.NameSpace(MyTarget).CopyHere winShell.NameSpace(MySource).Items

do until winShell.namespace(MyTarget).items.count = winShell.namespace(MySource).items.count
    wscript.sleep 1000
loop

Set winShell = Nothing
Set fso = Nothing

MsgBox("Calculator copy zipped to:" & vbcrlf & MyTarget)

---

Hi have you looked into things outside of the vb realm?
For instance permissions issues? Writer may be on xp and you on Win7. Writer may be admin on local machine and you user. What are your rights do directories on the machine? These types of things seem likely to be the issue as much as anything.

See, that's what I don't understand. I'm an admin on my machine and have full control over the directories in question - except the zip file that get's created. I can neither open it nor delete it - it says I need administrative permission to do so.

I never have understood windows security.

Can you open the zip manually? outside of the app?

-tg

Nope. It says I need to be an administrator to do that - which I am.

sounds like a file ownership issue... but I wouldn't know how to change that or what would need to be changed in the code.

-tg

After putting in some msgboxes, it seems the offending line is:

winShell.NameSpace(MyTarget).CopyHere winShell.NameSpace(MySource).Items

It seems to start copying some of the files from the source directory to the target zipfile, but then fails at some point.

It's interesting. The script seems to have the permission to delete the existing zip file - even if the zip file has no permissions set for it - but fails somehow in the adding of files to the zip file after recreating it. The script will add some files to the zip file, but not all of an individual file will get copied to the zip file before the script throws the error about access denied and gives up.

could it be permissions on the file you're trying to add?

-tg

I don't think so. I created a test directory with a text file in it that just had 'hello world' in the text file, and pointed my script to that directory instead. It gave me the same error - although it did succeed in getting the file copied to the zip file. I looked at the 'test' text file I created and nothing appeared amiss.

Is it copying or moving? If moving it may be erroring due to not having permissions to delete the original file.

Get your permissions sorted out, you should be able to read/write/delete anything in the folders involved.

It's a copy process.

More info...

When the script initially creates the zip file, it has all the permissions that a normal file would have if you just right-clicked on windows explorer and created a new file. However, after the file transfer step has bombed, the zip file has lost all it's permissions - no users or groups have permission to access it.

just for gits and shiggles... what happens if you do it manually yourself? create the file by right clicking... then adding files... is it a particular file? it just sounds like a really weird thing going on.

-tg

Yep, it happens when I try to do it manually also.

So let me try one file at a time and see what that does.

So, it doesn't seem to matter what file I choose to add to the zip file, or where I get the file from that I add to the zip file, or what directory the zip file is created in. Anywhere I create a zip file on my system and try to add files to it, I get the 'Access is Denied' error and the zip file looses its permissions. But once I go to the Properties | Security tab for the zip file and add 'Administrators' to the groups and give them full control over the zip file, then I can add files without any problem.

so it sounds like some kind of system setting on my machine - maybe???

Well, I ended up having to do a format and re-install and that fixed it.

Thanks everyone for the tips to try to help. :thumb: