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| − | {{languages|Portable_Filenames}}
| + | #redirect [[Meaningful filenames]] |
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| − | In order to be able to move our media files from one computer to another it is critical that the names of our files can be understood by the different file systems and encodings they meet.
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| − | To find a set of characters which can meet all these criteria this article is originally based on content from Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, especially the articles [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename Filenames], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems Comparison of file systems] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascii ASCII character encoding] and [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx Naming a File] from MSDN. Please add other references to improve this article.
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| − | = Recommendations =
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| − | If you follow the rules below your file will be handled without issues on all of the following: servers, USB drives, CD's, DVD's, Blue Ray discs, HD DVD's, hard drives formatted with FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3, Windows from '95 onwards, POSIX compliant systems (Linux, Unix, OSX) and much more...
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| − | == Safe characters ==
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| − | * a-z Lowercase alphabetical characters (see below)
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| − | * A-Z Uppercase alphabetical characters (see below)
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| − | * 0-9 Numerals
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| − | * - Hyphens/ dashes (see below)
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| − | * _ Underscores
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| − | * . Period/ full stop (see below)
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| − | == Safe character use ==
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| − | The characters from the list of safe characters must be used with a little care.
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| − | * a-z,A-Z Capital and small letters. Always use mixed case. ''MYFILE.txt'' can become ''myfile.txt'' without warning. ''MyFile.txt'' can not be changed without warning. (Windows [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx ignores capitalisation])
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| − | * - Hyphens must not start a file name.{{fact}}
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| − | == Limits ==
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| − | There are limits imposed by operating systems and file formats. The lowest of each of these limits (for systems after 1994) is listed below.
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| − | * The number of nested directories must not be more than eight (root plus seven) (limit of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660 ISO 9660])
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| − | * The number of directories to 65,535 (limit of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660 ISO 9660]) on Windows)
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| − | * The length of a file path to 256 characters (limit of [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx Windows Path Size])
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| − | * The length of a file name to 255 characters (limit of [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx Windows Path Size])
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| − | * The size of files to 4 GiB ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660 limit of ISO 9660])
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| − | == Illegal file names ==
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| − | * CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM0, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT0, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9 ([http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx ref]) also ., and .. ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words ref])
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| − | = Needing clarification =
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| − | The following are not recommended but I can't find any reference to why they could be a problem. They are all ASCII characters.
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| − | {| border="1"
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| − | |-
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| − | | #
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| − | | number sign
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref]
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| − | |-
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| − | | &
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| − | | Ampersand
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref])
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| − | |-
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| − | | '
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| − | | Apostrophe
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref]). Some websites have trouble handling file names containing apostrophes ([http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=33918 PHP Bug #33198])
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| − | |-
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| − | | ( and )
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| − | | Parentheses
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| − | | {{maybe}}
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| − | | Unclear. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(#Computing Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | +
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| − | | Plus
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref])
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| − | |-
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| − | | ,
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| − | | Comma
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref])
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| − | |-
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| − | | ;
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| − | | Semi colon
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename ref])
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| − | |-
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| − | | =
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| − | | Equals sign
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | @
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| − | | At sign
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | [ and ]
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| − | | square brackets or box brackets
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | ^
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| − | | Caret
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | _
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| − | | Underscore
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | { and }
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| − | | Curly brackets
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | | ~
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| − | | Tilde
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| − | | {{yes}}
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| − | | Not reserved. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename#Reserved_characters_and_words Reference].
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| − | |-
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| − | |}
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| − | = External links =
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| − | * [http://www.rideau-info.com/genealogy/digital/label.html Digital Cameras and Genealogy]
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| − | * [http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/imagedatabases/filenaming.html Filenames as a Strategy to Managing Your Image Assets] and [http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/imagedatabases/filename_limits.html Recommendations for Limitations on Image Filenaming] from the [http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/index.html Controlled Vocabulary website]
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| − | * [http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2005/11/17/maximizing-filesystem-portability/ How to make file names cross platform]
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| − | * [http://www.ordersomewherechaos.com/rosso/webdev/filenames/ Filenames: Which characters to use, Which characters to avoid]
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