Subject: Re: Long Filenames
From: Ron Chmara (ron@Opus1.COM)
Date: Thu Apr 06 2000 - 21:48:52 EDT
"Derek J. Balling" wrote:
> >So the files are never renamed, but the transferring OS has to read what it
> >_knows_ to be a filename. It doesn't invent anything, it just uses either
> >the file name, or the file comment. What you are talkng about is adding
> >a brand, spanking, new name, to replace the long comment. So then we're into
> >many "names", with an actual ISO/DOS filename, one OS/2 file comment,
> >(aka Joliet), and a _third_ name for MacOS 7-9, a fourth name for OS X
> >over AFP, and ext2 name (if it breaks any of the above...)
> ext2 actually would probably be the most forgiving of them all. ;-)
> And remember that we're talking about transferring the file. So you're not
> really "Adding" anything. You're replacing
> /(8.3-filename|>32character_long_filename)/ with /MacCompliantFilename/,
> and then, only on the destination host.
This has dire consequences for file tasks _based_ on filenames.
I'll give you an example: If you change the names for 340 images in a
Quark document during transfer, life gets real unhappy, real fast. :-)
>From another perspective: What names(s)do you back up to tape?
> Again, I'm not at all unclear as to WHY they did it,
Because Win32 is the only major OS left that is strapped down
to this.... :-) so it was a "see, we can do long names, even if it _is_
DOS/FAT!"
> but (to my thinking),
> if I'm looking at the file, under windows, I see a 40-character filename. I
> don't see 8.3, I don't see anything else. That, to the user, is the
> filename. (Semantics aside about how it is stored and you only get 40, 50,
> 80 characters through a monster kludge). If I transfer that somewhere, I
> expect to have something... well.... moderately CLOSE to what it started
> out as. ;-)
Yeah, something like an ISO filename truncation management standard would
be nice. Of course, do you really think MS is going to folow the standard? :-)
-Bop
-- Brought to you from iBop the iMac, a MacOS, Win95, LinuxPPC machine, which is currently in MacOS land. Your bopping may vary.
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