Hi Everyone
I found, totally by accident, that you can use the IF NOT EXIST batch command to check and see if a mapping exists from within a batch file, then recreate it if not.
For example on Microsoft networks:
IF NOT EXIST Q:\NUL NET USE Q: \\SERVER\SHARE
or if Novell:
IF NOT EXIST Q:\NUL MAP ROOT Q: \\SERVER\VOL1\DIRNAME
If there is no drive Q:, it will then remap it to the appropriate directory. I have found that you can use the NET USE command to create mappings to Novell shares, but only at the top level, and of course this would be a volume, so becomes a security risk as it lets users easily snoop around areas they shouldn't be able to but if access rights are configured correctly, it shouldn't be much of a problem.
I have found, however, that there is no problem using UNC names for Novell shares, provided that the computer has the full Novell client32 installed - rather than the Microsoft client for Netware.
Hope that this helps everyone here.
John