Xerces/Xalan: UNC path as argument for document function?

Question

I'm transforming an XML document by using Xerces-C 2.5 and Xalan-C 1.8. The XSL contains a "document" function, that references a file on the network. Unfortunately I cannot access this file by HTTP. I've only got the UNC path.

Xerces refuses to parse the referenced document, because WinSockNetAccessor::makeNew is called in Xerces as the "file" protocol is only accepted for local files. WinSockNetAccessor::makeNew is implemented for HTTP only, an exception is thrown and the file is ignored.

Is there a way to fool Xerces in order to accept the unc path as local file or any other known workaround without writing my own parser or manipulating Xerces?

Answer 1

A simple workaround would be, I guess, to just create a mapping, so you can call the network drive O: or whatever. That often fools programs that can't work directly with a UNC path (such as cmd.exe itself).

Answer 2

Does the UNC as it appears in the XSL have a "file:" prefix?

BTW, Xerces C V2.5 is several years old. Have you tried the latest version - V3.0.1 at the moment?