Accessing Network shared paths in WinRT

Question

Is there a way to access arbitrary network shared paths and read their content in WinRT? Programatically I want to read from the network shared paths in a WinRT App. I am getting an Access Denied error.

I was told that it might be possible to access the network shared path using file picker provided the app request for permission.

But in my case I do not have access to the file picker. Instead while parsing my model if there is path, I need to read the contents from that path. If that path is network shared path, it fails.

Answer 1

You won't be able to access arbitrary files without the user's explicit permission (via the File Picker).

Some well-known locations like the music and pictures library can be read if the application's manifest includes the associated Declaration, but beyond that all the application can access without the user granting permission (at least once) is its local application data storage.

Answer 2

Have a look at this question: Windows 8 Metro App File Share Access

You may be able to work around this limitation by using a Web Service that has access to the file shares. ;)