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Author Topic: File with invalid windows filename  (Read 1806 times)

stubbsy

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File with invalid windows filename
« on: July 19, 2008, 11:28:20 pm »

A file with an invalid windows filename can be created. Steps are as follows:

- have a single cd image (eg cdimage.flac) and a matching cue sheet (eg cdimage.cue)
- import the cue sheet
- MC now shows the various tracks in the cdimage
- Either manually edit a track name to include a : character or have it that way in the cue sheet (eg I had The Lion in Winter : Suite in the cue sheet)
- Choose Library Tools / Convert format
- In Options / Converter have Move to Location checked and a location specified
- Start the conversion
- When the conversion is finished you should have a file name where the : was replaced by a _ thus you'd have something like The Lion in Winter _ Suite.flac
- What you actually see in Windows Explorer is The Lion In Winter (the filename stops where the : was).  The file has no file extension and the file is 0 bytes in size.  My guess is the filename written still had the : which screws Windows
- Once created the file cannot be deleted using Windows Explorer

I now have two folders with filenames I cannot delete (off to look for a prog that let's me edit this on disk to fix  :'()
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lalittle

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File with invalid windows filename
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2008, 04:40:13 am »

I now have two folders with filenames I cannot delete (off to look for a prog that let's me edit this on disk to fix  :'()

Please let us know what you end up using.  I've run into this in the past, and it seems like I always need a different trick to fix it.

One thing that you could try would be to reboot and try deleting it, or run a scandisk to see if this can clear it.  You could also try booting to "command prompt only" (F8 at boot), navigating to the folder, and using the "del" command on the file directly.

Good luck,

Larry
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rjm

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File with invalid windows filename
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2008, 09:58:54 am »

I now have two folders with filenames I cannot delete (off to look for a prog that let's me edit this on disk to fix  :'()

Any chance you exceeded the total filepath length allowed by Windows? This is the total length of all folder names in the path + filename and is something like 256 characters. Not sure if it is still a problem, but MC (and Windows) used to let you rename a path\filename that exceeded this limit. Once exceeded all kinds of strangeness ensues including Windows not allowing you to delete the file or folder. The solution is to rename folder(s) in the path to shorter names such that the limit is not exceeded.
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stubbsy

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File with invalid windows filename
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2008, 04:18:32 am »

A little more detail on this now I can look directly at the disk (I'm using WinHex).  In the directory listing are TWO entries for each file created.  One entry is like The Lion in Winter, is size 0 bytes and has file attributes of IA.  There is also a second file entry like The Lion in Winter : Suite.flac of a valid size with file attributes of (ADS)  (this second file is not showing in Windows Wxplorer, but is viewable on the disk block with WinHex).  The second file is the "real" output of the file conversion, but as I say is not viewable or accessible via the standard MC or Windows interface.

The problem has nothing to do with the path length.  The problem is in WIndows a : character is internally a delimiter for file paths and so should not be used as part of a file name since WIndows will not parse it correctly.
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stubbsy

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File with invalid windows filename
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2008, 05:29:15 am »

Please let us know what you end up using.  I've run into this in the past, and it seems like I always need a different trick to fix it.

One thing that you could try would be to reboot and try deleting it, or run a scandisk to see if this can clear it.  You could also try booting to "command prompt only" (F8 at boot), navigating to the folder, and using the "del" command on the file directly.

Good luck,

Larry
Thanks Larry

I did what you suggested and successfully deleted the files from the command prompt (booted into Vista's Safe boot - alternate shell via msconfig).
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Matt

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Re: File with invalid windows filename
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2008, 02:15:35 pm »

This will be fixed in a build that will be available later this week.

Thanks for the details.
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center
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