2.2.4.1 NT Object Path

A string referred to as an NT Object Path is used by several methods to allow the specification of either a file path that is local to the server or a remote file path.

An NT Object Path string MUST begin with \??\. If the string begins with \??\UNC\, it MUST be interpreted by the server as a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path after replacing the \??\UNC\ with \\. Otherwise, the remainder of the string MUST be interpreted by the server as a local file path in whichever file naming syntax is used by the server's local file system; all characters MUST be considered legal by the EventLog Remoting Protocol, as the string is simply to be passed to the underlying file system.

For example, if the NT Object Path is \??\UNC\wmiscratch\scratch\x.x, the server interprets it as indicating the UNC path \\wmiscratch\scratch\x.x. If the NT Object Path is instead \??\C:\scratch\x.x, the server interprets it as indicating the local file system path C:\scratch\x.x.