how to identify long filepath names

2014-08-06

azim58 - how to identify long filepath names
how to deal with long filenames


Use this command to list all of the filepaths in a folder.

DIR /A /B /S > namelist.txt

Then take this text in Excel and see which names are too long.

This information was found here:
http://discuss.pcmag.com/forums/thread/1004429202.aspx

Use this command to list all of the filepaths in a folder along with short names (the hidden names of files that are less than 6 characters)
dir /a /s /x>names_short.txt

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Once a long filename is found, it can be renamed from the command line using the six character short name.

q 


You should be able to do it DOSways, using the eight-character variant from the command line. The eight-character version is the first six characters, plus a tilde, plus a counting number, plus the extension.





An example: if you have two files called:





Thisisareallyreallyreallyreallyreallylongfilename.txt


Thisisanotherreallyreallyreallylongfilename.txt





Then the eight-character versions of the files would be





THISIS~1.TXT


THISIS~2.TXT





respectively.





So, from the command prompt, you can type:





C:\Music\LongFiles\>del THISIS~1.TXT





and the file will be deleted.


posted by DrJohnEvans at 9:55 AM on February 2, 2006








Oops, you want to rename them, not delete them. So:





C:\Whatever\Directory>rename THISIS~1.mp3 MyShortName.mp3


Also
q 


The short filenames never have spaces. Use dir /X to find out what the short filenames are, then do what DrJohnEvans said.


Also, this seems quite useful
q 


My standard fix is to map a temporary drive letter to the directory I'm working with:





subst T: .


T:


rename "a-very-long-(over-200-characters-here)-name.doc" shortname.doc


E:


subst T: /d



===========================================================================
I also found a link about how to give a folder it's own drive letter
which may be useful.
http://lifehacker.com/267728/give-a-folder-its-very-own-drive-letter


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8-25-12
I used this command to find out my filepath names in preparation to
cancel my LiveDrive account and transfer my files to a physical hard
drive.
Some name list files I was keeping can be found here: