Long file names in spotlight

This is not an issue so much as a comment about how OSX handles (or I should say ignores the possibility of) long file names. I will use spotlight because it is the worst offender, but I also routinely run into this in finder (although it is not as bad as I will discuss later). The issue is this, we use pretty long file names at our company because we have a lot of files that are very similar and a lot of files with version numbers as they are edited and reviewed. These can be 40-60 character names. This issue is that when you go into spotlight and start searching, I often get a totally useless list of identical files because the version number or distinguishing text is after character 30ish. A great example is shown in the picture below.
I think spotlight is just about the most useful tool in OSX, but this only makes it more challenging when I run into this computer because I have to remember how to use a computer without spotlight. Finder solves this problem two ways: having expandable window width and but putting the ... in the middle of the file name and showing you the end. This is shown below:
I can understand how the apple folks down want to have spotlight be an expandable window. But it seems like putting the ... in the middle of the file name would be a simple fix. Alternatively, the file names could scroll, the full name could be listed at the bottom of the window when highlighted, or any other number of fixes.
Again, I am hooked on spotlight, so this isn't something that is going to drive me away from OSX, it just seems like something that was overlooked.

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Time capsule won't allow long file names

Hello,
I've managed to solve every problem I've had through searching other people's forum posts - apart from this one.
I've got a MacBook Pro and Dell PC (Windows 7) connected to a Time Capsule. Soon I'll happily bin the Dell but am moving gently to Macs while I learn about them.
The Mac connects happily to TC and will allow creation/editing of long file names.
The Dell allowed this for a week, but now doesn't like it. When I go to the Time Capsule/Data folder in Windows 7 Explorer, I can copy over files with long names, but I can't create them, nor can I change any existing file/folder names on TC to be longer than 8 characters.
I've searched and searched online and can't find anything that would suggest why this is happening.
Thanks in advance,
Adrian

Tried DHCP & NAT but had the double NAT issue.
If you got the TC working and had double NAT .. sorry but the TP-Link is exactly the same.. you cannot distribute a single IP without double NAT.. the TC tells you it is a problem.. the TP-Link doesn't.. otherwise there is no difference.
But it is important the double NAT is setup right.. ie you must use different ranges.. please tell us the IP you get from a directly connected computer..
If it is 10.x.x.x then you should move the TC to 192.168. rather than default IP of 10.0.1.1 .. the TP-Link already will use 192.168.x.x. which might also explain why it works better.

Windows sharing long file names

Just after a bit of advice with regards long file names with OSX/Win.
I have a user that uses a mixture of SL and ML connection a shares on a Win 2008 R2 server. They had some issues a while back with long file names ( I think folder depth more than anything) and a previous engineer installed ExtremeZ-IP. However ever since they've been having random file permission issues.
I'm keen to remove the ExtremeZ software as I see it as an extra piece of management and failure and with the news of Apple dropping AFP, makes sense to lose it when possible. I do have other users using OSX and Win 2008 servers with no 3rd party software and not having any issues.
I'm thinking that the original problem was with using AFP not liking the Win file names and instead of moving to SMB, the software 'fix' was used. I feel that removing this software and forcing the clients to use SMB, will hopefully resolve the permission issues and have no implications on file names.
I would be grateful if someone could shed some light or thoughts on this if anybody has similar experience.

I suspect they are connecting to the server using Samba and you're using afp ?

How to copy a files name and spotlight comments to a text file for an entire folder

I have movie covers saved as a jpeg for every movie my family and I own. There is about 700 and they each have a comment of the main actors, release dates, and descriptions. This makes it easy to find what to watch. I want my parents to have all of this info but they have a windows laptop so the comments don't transfer with the file and can't be searched like you can on a mac. Is there an applescript, automator, program I can download, or program code supported in xcode that will do at least one of the following things?
1)Take the name of the picture file and spotlight comment, copy and paste it into a text document like word that looks like this...
File Name1- Spotlight Comment for file 1
File Name 2- Spotlight Comment for file 2
. for all 700 files in a folder
2) It would be equally helpful if there was something that would take the name of the picture file and spotlight comment, copy and paste it to a movie file's comments with the same name but obviously has different extention. For an example
In a Pictures folder
Name: Dark Knight, The.jpeg       Comment: (2008) Genre: Action...             <- copy comment
In a Movie Folder
Name: Dark Knight, The.m4v       Comment:                                               <- paste
and do this for all 700 files
3) Is there a free photo program that works on mac and windows that I can put all my movie pictures in and have a description like I did with the comments? It would also need a place that to search the description for keywords. So Basically an itunes for pictures that works on both mac and windows. If so I still need a way to get the spotlight comments to the description.
4) I feel like this would make things more difficult, but if not I can put all of the .m4v files in itunes so instead of pasting all the comments back into a file in finder paste them in a description in itunes
5) At the very least a code that I can run one by one for every file that will paste the comments into the same document
Note: When I say spotlight comments I mean the comment box that is available when you click on get info of a file. The pictures are in the pictures section of finder in a folder called Movie Pictures. The movie files are on an external hard-drive in a file called Movies. Also I am slightly familiar with applescript and automater in that I have used both to create keyboard shortcuts and simple voice commands. I have programmed in c++ and C too. So If you give me a code for applescript I do know what to do with it.
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all of this and extra thanks to anyone who tries to help.

Clendenen02 wrote:
2) It would be equally helpful if there was something that would take the name of the picture file and spotlight comment, copy and paste it to a movie file's comments with the same name but obviously has different extention. For an example
In a Pictures folder
Name: Dark Knight, The.jpeg       Comment: (2008) Genre: Action...             <- copy comment
In a Movie Folder
Name: Dark Knight, The.m4v       Comment:                                               <- paste
and do this for all 700 files
This Bash script will do it.
Edit "PicDir" and "MovDir" to the location of your Folders
(Note: The comment is written to the m4v file using xattr, so the Spotlight comment field appears blank in Finder, but the comment metadata is still indexed by Spotlight (If you add a Spotlight comment from Finder, it is stored both as an extended attribute and in a .DS_Store file)
#!/bin/bash
PicDir=$HOME/Desktop/Pictures
MovDir=$HOME/Desktop/Movies
for f in $PicDir/*
do
     if [ ! -d "$f" -a "${f##*.}" == "jpeg" ]; then
          comment=$(mdls -raw -name kMDItemFinderComment "$f")
          if [[ $comment != "(null)" ]]; then
               picname=${f##*/}
               movname=${picname%.*}.m4v
               if [ -e "$MovDir"/$movname ]; then
                     xattr -w com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment "\"$comment\"" "$MovDir"/$movname
               fi
          fi
     fi
done

Long file names-won't copy

how can i turn off my macs irritating annoyance at not wanting to copy files with long file names ? some of these files come straight from CD's, so I can't change the filenames unless I went to a PC, copied them, changed the name and then copied them to my Mac. that is way too much to do.

Hi, Ted.
It would also help to know if you're trying to copy the files to your Mac's internal hard drive(s) or an external drive, such as a FireWire drive. If an external drive, knowing the format of that drive also helps.
Along the lines of your question:
• The maximum length for a file name in Mac OS X is 255 characters. See Mac OS X: About Long File Names.
• However, I've seen cases in some Carbonized applications, i.e. those written originally for Mac OS 9 and ported to Mac OS X using the Carbon developer tools, that still insist on enforcing the 31 character limit of Mac OS 9. That is an issue with the application, not Mac OS X, and occurs when you attempt to File > Save or Save As... a new file created in that application.
• Certain characters are prohibited in Mac OS X file names. See "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: I can't use some characters in file and folder names."
• Likewise, if you plan to share files with PCs running Microsoft Windows, avoid Windows-prohibited characters in the file names: see "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Copying files to a Windows computer from a Mac stops."
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Destination file characters too long (File names) , while copying from one external to another

I have a external my book fat32 formated and a new mybook ntfs formated external as well. Now when I copy my files from the fat32 to the ntfs external all files copy fine but some give that destination location file characters are too long, meaning that the file names are too long. Now I could change the file names but that would conflict with programs that need that file name. I am using vista ultimate and would like to copy all the files over from the fat32 to ntfs so I can reformat the fat32 to ntfs. The files got on the ntfs from a simple drag and drop from my IDE NTFS internal hard drive.
I hope you guys to tell me what to do.
Thank you :)

Here's the fix....for error message "your file name is too long to be copied, deleted, renamed, moved" :
1.   problem is this: the "file name" has a limit on number of characters.....the sum of characters really includes the entire path name; you gotta shorten it first (i.e, if the total number of characters in the file name + Path name are over the
limit, the error appears). The deeper your file folder sub levels are, the more this problem will come up, especially when you copy to a subfolder of a subfolder/subfolder of another path ...adds to character limit)
2. How do you know which combined file names + path names are too long if you are in the middle of a copy operation and this error pops up? Some files copied but the "long files error message" says "skip" or "cancel" ... but not which
files are the "too long" ones. If you hit "skip" or "cancel" the "too long" files are left behind...but are mixed in with non-offender "good" "short name" files.   Sorting thru 1000s of "good" files to find a few "bad" ones manually is impractical.
3.   Here's how you sort out the "bad" from the "good":
4.    Let's say you want to copy a folder ..."Football" ...that has five layers of subfolders; each subfolder contains numerous files:
C:/1 Football / 2 teams/ 3 players/ 4 stats/ 5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong
       There are five levels root "1 football" with subfolders 2, 3, 4 and lastly "5 injuries"
5.    Use "cut" and "paste" (for example to backup all five levels to a new backup folder):
       select "1 football" ....cut....select target folder....paste
       ("cut" command means as the files are copied to the target destination, the file is deleted from the source location)
      Hint: avoid "cut" and "paste" to a target folder that is itself a sub/sub/sub folder ...that compounds the "characters over the limit" problem ...because the characters in the sub/sub/sub folder are included in the "file name
character limit"...instead "paste" to a C:/ root directory.
       Suppose in the middle of this operation...error pops up: "5 files have file names that are too long" Skip or cancel?
       select "skip" ...and let operation finish
6.    Now go back and look at the source location: since the software allows only the "good" "short name" files to be copied (and because you "skipped" the "bad" "Long name" files so they are not copied or deleted) ...all that remains
in the source location are the "bad" "long name files" (because "good" ones were deleted from the source location after the "cut" operation...the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.
7.   You will find ....all that remains in source folders are: the "bad" "too long" files; in this example the "bad" file is in level 5:
      C:/ 1 football / 2 teams /3 players /4 stats /5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong
8.   select folder 5 injuriessidelineplayerstoolong (that's right...select folder, not file) gotta rename the folder first.
9. hit F2 rename folder..folder name highlighted...delete some of the letters in the folder name:
       like this:   5 injuriessidelineplayers ....you should delete 'toolong'....from the folder name
10. then go into folder 5....and do the same operation ...with the too long file name:
        hit F2 rename file....file name hightlighted...delete some of the letters
           like this: injuriessidelineplayers.....you should delete 'toolong' from the file name
11. Now..."cut and paste" the renamed file to the target backup folder.
The Error message will pop up again if you missed any "bad" files....for example, it will indicate "5 files too long" ....then repeat process 5 times until you fix all of them
12.    Finally, copy the target destination files back to the source location (when you are certain all source location file folder locations are empty)

Long file name support on DVD??

I'm not a hardware or software person, but one of our guys who is is having trouble getting a DVD in a V120 running Solaris 9 to consistently recognize long file names on DVDs that were created on PCs running XP with various combinations Sony and Memorex DVD burners and Nero and Roxio RecordNow software. Focus has been on the software and burners, but has anyone encountered the same problem and found something that had to be tweaked on the Sun side? If so please let me know of the fix so I can pass it on.

It's a software issue.
Windows uses the Microsoft Joliet ISO9660 extension to allow somewhat
longer (unicode) filenames than standard ISO9660.
But Solaris doesn't support the Microsoft Joliet extension. Solaris supports
the RockRidge ISO9660 extention for long filenames (and posix support).
Try to find a CD mastering application that allows to write RockRidge
format CD/DVDs.
E.g. the unix "mkisofs" utility allows to create ISO9660 filesystems with both
the RockRidge and Joliet extension, so that you get long filenames on
both unix and windows.

Edit Long file names

I have a Finder folder containing numerous files that have very long file names, all of which have identical long strings within the name, for example: X A Y.aiff where A is the common portion of the file name that I wish to delete. There could be as many as 48 files of this kind within a folder. Can someone suggest an Applescript that would strip out the A from all of the file names.
Thanks.

The following script should do what you are asking for:
*set portionToDelete to "some text"* -- insert your own text here
*set L to length of portionToDelete*
*set F to choose folder*
*tell application "Finder"*
*   set theFiles to files of F*
*   repeat with thisFile in theFiles*
*      set oldName to name of thisFile*
*      set P to offset of portionToDelete in oldName*
*      if P > 0 then set name of thisFile to text 1 through (P - 1) of oldName & text (P + L) through -1 of oldName*
*   end repeat*
*end tell*
Message was edited by: Pierre L.

Long File Names via smb ethernet

I'm trying to transfer files from my old Vista box to my new MacBook Pro. I'm set up with a direct ethernet connection and using smb protocol. Problem is I cannot transfer files with long file names. Only a problem when you consider that I'm transfering about 400 gigs of files at a time... it would be rather tedious and take me a considerable amount of time to go back and shorten so many file names. Is there any way around this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

maybe try zipping up the files as a folder or something. SMB follows similar rules the the older FAT32 based windows oses followed back in the day. If the zipping doesn't help, then you'll have to rename the files.
you might try a renaming utility to look for files with blank spaces or the following characters:
"SMB, files can’t use the following characters: ” / \ [ ] : + | = ; , * ? and space, and the period ‘.’ can only be used once."
http://www.rossolson.com/dwelling/2007/03/notes-on-nas-and-mac-os-x/
Message was edited by: kmac1036

Can't view files with long file names?

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Hi, I tried accessing a test file that I have made up with a long name through a browser and through FTP and cannot see it on either one. I can however see it on the other Mac that I have access to that is running the same OS and version etc... and also this file can been viewed on the PC's that are around me....

Logic 7.2 - long file names?

I read the messages from the few people who looked at the new 7.2 version at NAMM. Besides all the known and unknown features/bugfixes, does anybody know if they got rid of the 31 character filename limitations.
OSX is out now for how many years?
The strange thing is that GarageBand files supports 255 characters, , but it limits the EXS file names which it uses in its plugins:
If you open the The CurchOrgan Software Instrument in GarageBand3, which is like a "EXS24 light", and click on the "Registration" popup menu then you see a list of EXS instruments which are located in the following directory: /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Instrument Library/Sampler/Sampler Instruments/Church Organ
You can place any EXS Instrument file inside that directory and it will show up in the "Registration" popup menu (after you restart GarageBand).
OK. if I place now an EXS instrument file inside that folder and rename the file with a very long file name, it will show up truncated inside GarageBands Software Instrument.
Does that mean that even in GaraBand3 there is still legacy code which doesn't support full 255 file names. And does that mean that the long filename support for Logic and especially EXS24 is still not implemented in Logic 7.2?
G5 Dual 2.5G - 4.5GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.4) Logic 7.1.1

No, Logic 7.2 doesn't bounce and name files with more than 31 characters.
G5 2x2.5 GHz 2.5 GB RAM / PowerBook 1,67 GHz 1,5 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Can long file names survive OSX to OS9 to OSX?

This computer has dual boot capability, but since owning it I haven't actually booted to OS9 and have used it extensively with Tiger. I know OSX supports much longer file names than OS9. I recall back when I used both OS9 and OSX computers if I took a file created under OSX and looked at the directory under OS9 that all the long file names were truncated and/or encoded at the end (I never did it the other way around and always stuck with short names on all the files I used on both systems). Now I'm wondering if I boot to OS9 and then boot back to OSX if something permanent will happen to my long file names. Will they survive a passive journey but not if I actually open them with something, such as all my music files if I have them in SoundJam? A simple answer probably, but maybe I can get an answer here rather than the "backup, try it, and see" method.

Will they survive a passive journey
Yes.
if I actually open them with something, such as all my music files if I have them in SoundJam?
It depends on whether the application supports long file names; if not, the file's actual name will become set to the encoded name upon copying or modification of the file, and the application may not be able to access it. Using a Disk Copy version that doesn't support long file names to convert a disk image containing them without resizing the image will preserve them.
(46719)

Cant download pdf files with long file names??

Why in windows mobile wont it let me open/download pdf links th have long file names...works fine on desktop....just a mobile issue??? Have Lumia 930...windows mob 8.1

Personally, I've not heard of this but maybe WP doesn't handle long names as well as Windows - what actually happens when you try? Is there an error message or does the download just fail silently?

How to get the long file name from an 8.3 name in Windows.

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In JavaScript, I would get a file system object and get the file object from there with the short name. Then it's no problem to get the full name. But I don't see anything in Java that matches that. ???
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Here is what I did.
String displayName = "somefi~1.txt";
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Reader not showing pdf with long file names in IE8 for standard user

Hi,
I have this problem for standard users, that is, not Admin level. Admin level users have no problems.
If a web site opens up a pdf file with java, usually in a new window, and the file name is very long (I haven't figured out how long, but visually long) then the reader plug-in won't work and opens a blank page. If the file name is small then there is no problem, and reader opens the pdf without problem.
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I'll crosspost to the reader forum.
Yes, reader works in all other situations.

Long file names in spotlight

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