On 2009-03-31, Adam Duck <adam.ian.d...@gmail.com> wrote: > Yes, it is possible to _create_ such file names, but you can't use > them. Here at WinXP I can create (best under "Desktop") dirs close to > 255 chars.
Actually, I've been succesfully using file names with colons in them in Linux on NTFS (stupid NTFS-3g not failing on such names), and Windows shows them, but you can't access them. Actually, there is a low path length limit not in NTFS but in the some old versions of the _Windows API_ itself. This is probably what the FUD was about. (And if you consider an API originating for 8+3 names -- if this is the case -- 255 is a tolerable limitation for path length.) http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx """ In the Windows API (with some exceptions discussed in the following paragraphs), the maximum length for a path is MAX_PATH, which is defined as 260 characters. A local path is structured in the following order: drive letter, colon, backslash, components separated by backslashes, and a terminating null character. For example, the maximum path on drive D is "D:\<some 256 character path string><NUL>" where "<NUL>" represents the invisible terminating null character for the current system codepage. (The characters < > are used here for visual clarity and cannot be part of a valid path string.) Note File I/O functions in the Windows API convert "/" to "\" as part of converting the name to an NT-style name, except when using the "\\?\" prefix as detailed in the following sections. The Windows API has many functions that also have Unicode versions to permit an extended-length path for a maximum total path length of 32,767 characters """ -- In 1995, Linux was almost a bicycle; an alternative way of live to the Windows petrol beasts that had to be taken to the dealer for service. By 2008, Linux has bloated into a gas-guzzler, and the cycle paths have been replaced with polluted motorways.
