When DOS 3.31 came out, this is when this was first disovered. Initially, on previos versions of DOS you only could us 8 characters for your directory name.
But when DOS 3.31 came out, it allowed for the 8.3 naming convention for your directoy name. I think it was implemented in DOS 3.2. So, what I am pointing out, is, if you are going to put datafiles on a drive, FAT16 or FAT32, and you think you are limited to just using an 8.3 format for a filename, the old 255 character limitation allows you some flexability in your naming convention. This was written up in the old 'Computer Shopper'. I know there were some other publications that wrote on this topic, as well. I also remember several utilties that came out that allowed you to create long filenames in DOS. This was back in '87. Basically, all those programs did was ask the user for the name of the file and what type of file it was. Then it would only record the first seven characters follwed by a ~, then a three letter extension. The program would keep a database of those long file names and cross-link it to the FAT Table. Nice programs, till you had to install something that didn't play nice with it. I know Wordstar would work with it, but not Wordperfect. On Jun 24, 2011 2:31 PM, "Ben Scott" <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 12:16 PM, Daniel Rodriguez <[email protected]> wrote: >> Well, if you are going to that, put it on FAT32, you may want to remember >> this; Even though you file names are 8.3 format, this is only partially >> true. FAT32 allowws for 255 characters for a file name. The caveat to that, >> is, every 9th character space in that name has to be a period "." and every >> 13th character has to be a "/". >> >> it should look something like this >> >> C:\thisisat.est\toshowh.ow\touselon.gfi\lenamesi.nfa\t32\filename.ext > > Um... huh? Are you sure are about that? :) > > In a FAT filesystem, each directory entry consists of an 11 > character field for the file name, plus other metadata (starting > cluster number, logical file size, modified date, etc.). > > The traditional file name uses the first 8 characters of the field > as the base name, and the last 3 characters as the extension. The > separator dot is implied and is not stored. Unused characters in each > portion are padded with spaces (ASCII 32). The base name must contain > at least one character; the extension can be blank. > > VFAT is what introduced long file names on FAT filesystems. The 8.3 > short name is stored as before, and is mandatory. One can optionally > also have an LFN associated with a given 8.3 named file. The LFN > portion is stored in additional directory entries, which are > constructed in a way that makes them invalid for DOS. To the best of > my knowledge, there are no particular requirements for dots or length > components. > > The root directory is special, and is defined by data in the boot > record (AKA "superblock"). All other directories are simply files, > pointed to from other directory entries. So each path component > (characters between backslashes) is just a file name. If a path > component is an LFN it follows those rules; if a path component is an > 8.3 short name it follows those rules. > > I just tested this on a 256 MB USB flash drive, under XP Pro SP3: > > ADM> CD E: > E:\really long name\...x.y.z.w.x.v.d\a\b\c\d\1234567890abcdef > ADM> CHKDSK E: > The type of the file system is FAT. > > FAT32 simply increases the cluster size field from 16 bits (FAT16) > to 32 bits. (Well, it also makes the root directory a regular file, > instead of a fixed table outside the regular filesystem.) The > directory format is unchanged. > > VFAT can be applied to FAT16 or FAT32. > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
