--- Marco van de Voort <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I'd assume the reason no one put one out is that > the file name > > limitation is hardcoded into a large percentage of > applications. So, > > even if the Finder could use a 256 character name, > the apps couldn't. > > True. But it could make life easier when copying and > manipulating foreign > files (you don't have to rename them on the remote > machine).
I never had problems with old 16bit apps on Win9x that couldn't handle long names. Windows itself took care of the long name. Of course if you used an old app that didn't "grok" LFNs to _rename_ a file with a long name, the long name went bye-bye. Apple could've done long names in a similar manner. Windows uses one directory space for the first 12 characters (first 8, the dot then three for the extention) and another for each successive section of 8 characters. Shouldn't have been so hard to do on the Mac OS. Is there a limit to how many files can be stored in the root level of an HFS volume? On FAT16 the root is limited to a maximum of 256 files AND folders. If you put 200 files in the root you can only have 56 folders. Subfolders and files are unlimited with HFS and FAT16. The big problem with FAT16 is that if you use long names in the root level the directory can quickly run out of room with only a few long named files. (Ouch.) FAT32 varies the size of the root directory based on the volume size so the number of allowable files and folders in the root is limited only by the total number of blocks on the drive. From what I've read about HFS+ it apparently has similar limits. But it looks like we'll never see 256 character names on "classic" Mac OS. Apple just sat there and sniggered (at least many hard-core Mac users did) "Why would anyone need more than 32 characters for a filename? I couldn't even begine to think of a file description longer than that. I never use more than 20 characters!". Meanwhile the Windows crowd embraced their 256 character filenames and went crazy, then complained whenever their Word .doc files went through the hands of a Mac user and came back "chopped" to a "paltry" 32 character name. ;) ===== http://www.junkscience.com "All the Junk that's fit to Debunk!" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
