MetaChat - Ask MeCha - path/file name limitations

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26 June 2006

Ask MeCha - path/file name limitations in Windows Server.→[More:]We are coming across some issues at work with not being able to access some files and the IT helpdesk just keeps telling people various versions of "your directory names are too long", which I have gathered is more related to the file path or directory structure depth.

We typically have file paths along the lines of:
J:\BR-TRAINING-DIVISION-BNE\Training Quality\Audit\RTOs - 2005\S\Something or Other Australia Limited\INITIAL REG\012006 - 31318-01\AUDIT TABLE\Something or Other.doc

The UNC path is not visible to us mere users, so I cannot tell if that is significantly longer than the mapped path shown above.

I have been able to find all sorts of information about the limitations on file paths and directory structures, but it is all conflicting and I am not sure what the real deal is. It seems that the answer is somewhere between 125 characters for a file path and up to 8 levels of directory and 258 characters for a file path and no limitations on directory structure depth.

Does anyone have a definitive answer to the question "What are the file path limitations in a Windows Server 2003/Windows XP Pro environment"?

Administrators, please hope me!

post by: dg at: 17:40 | 5 comments

not being able to access some files
What are you trying to access the files with?

To see your UNC, open up a command shell (Start-->Run-->"cmd"[enter]) and type "net use"[enter] It's unlikely to be an issue with the extra length caused by the UNC name.

It's also unlikely to be a problem with the OS, but the programs that are trying to open the files may be having problems / may have constraints on file length. I'd need to know more about what you are doing. e.g. are you just double clicking the file, or are you doing something different.

Can you copy the files to your desktop?

posted by seanyboy 26 June | 19:17

It kinda depends, usually, on what program you're using to access the files (assuming you're not just trying to open an explorer window).

If you ARE just trying to open an explorer window, then I'd kinda guess that you're not actually running a pure w2k3 environment -- Windows is usally pretty stable about that sort of thing. I'd hazard a guess that the files are probably actually sitting on a linuxy/NAS-y box somewhere.

posted by coriolisdave 26 June | 19:21

Trying to access the files either from the open command within MS Word or by double-clicking in Explorer.

Can't open a command shell, can't access the desktop. We work with a totally locked-down "Standard Operating Environment".

I have been leaning towards the problem being with the applications rather than the OS, too - I think the current versions of Windows in any flavour have effectively no limits on file names, but I have found conflicting information via Google about limitations of various MS apps. Should have made that clearer, sorry.

posted by dg 26 June | 19:22

Yeah, it is possible that there are some *nix boxes lurking about somewhere, although I know that the environment is predominantly Windows 2003 Server.

posted by dg 26 June | 19:24

The limit for max length is either 260 or 32k characters, depending on which API the program uses.

posted by Rhomboid 26 June | 21:42

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