Re: [ARSCLIST] Underscore in file names

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

see end...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Actually, the whole idea of separating words of file names with spaces
goes back to the first MacOS.
> Having had the unfortunate experiences of working with DOS machines and
mainframe terminals before
> 1984, it was very thrilling to sit down in front of the first Macs. I
believe you could finally use
> spaces in filenames by Windows version 3, but I might be wrong, just don't
remember. If you could,
> there was still some way underneath that DOS truncated the "real" filename
because it couldn't
> handle more than 8.3 characters, if I remember correctly. I believe this
underlying truncation
> carried over to Win95 but was finally killed off in the NT core. It may
well have carried over all
> the way thru Win98 and Millenium but since all current versions of Windows
are based on the NT core,
> it's finally killed off. If I remember correctly, the Windows versions
that sat on top of DOS had
> two file tables, the "real" one in the DOS innards with 8.3 truncated
names and the one the user saw
> with the names he or she used.
>
> Don is correct that Windows -- and MacOS before it -- are designed for
those of use who are more
> interested in using computers as tools rather than caring exactly how they
do their functioning. I
> don't miss mainframe terminals or DOS one second, ever.
>
> So this brings up a question, since I switched out of MacOS years ago -- 
now that MacOS sits on top
> of FreeBSD, or something along those lines, do the filenames with spaces
that I'm sure the vast
> majority of Mac users prefer get translated in the underlying file tables
or can FreeBSD just handle
> the spaces?
>
In Windows, at least through W98, the long (or space-containing)
filename is internally truncated to an 8.3 name, with the "8"
containing the first characters of the non-compliant name (the
number of characters depends on how many files use the same
initial characters and extension), a tilde (~) and the number
(assigned to files with identical above details). Extensions
are truncated to the first three characters). So, "This is a
file with a very long name.textfile" shows up as that when
you open it in a Win98 program...but if I open it in Windows
Write (a 3.x accessory) I will see "thisis~1.tex" which is
apparently what is stored in the file data block!

So, the only time you need to figure out the actual name is
(if you're like me) when you need to find the file in DOS or
in an old Windows app. Note that DOS can save a file with a
name containing a space...but it can then no longer access
that file! Also, odd characters in filenames can have strange
effects...I saved my copy of the Plaza matrix list as 5K#MX.DBF,
which worked fine for me...but someone I sent it to couldn't
open it, and I had to send a re-named version! IIRC, this all
goes back to CP/M, when it was assumed that 36^11 possibilities
would be way more than anyone would ever need...

Steven C. Barr