You're right about that. Those utilities did a cross ref to a database which the program used. Not the filesystem. On Jun 24, 2011 5:13 PM, "Ben Scott" <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 2:57 PM, Daniel Rodriguez <[email protected]> wrote: >> 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. > > With VFAT, you're not limited to 8.3. Without VFAT, you're still > limited to 8.3 file names. > > The 255 character limit you refer to is the maximum length of a > path, not a file name. You're limited to 255 characters in a path > regardless of FAT16, FAT32, 8.3 or VFAT, or even NTFS. (It's actually > an OS limit, not a filesystem limit.) > >> I also remember several utilties that came out that allowed you to create >> long filenames in DOS. ... Then it would only record the first seven >> characters follwed by a ~, then a three letter extension. > > Heh. While a valid approach, that's not really storing long file > names in the filesystem. It's just using the regular FAT filesystem, > and then maintaining a separate catalog of alternate names elsewhere. > > This matters because LFNs are stored *in* the filesystem, in the > directory. Filesystem tools which were not VFAT aware, run on a FAT > filesystem containing VFAT LFNs, would generally make a mess of > things, since they saw the VFAT > > -- 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
