Slashes in Folder/Filenames

[PCInfoman]

I think this is an operating system question.

I am using OS X 10.3.9. I am going to upgrade as soon as I get a good backup.

I have slashes in my file and folder names and it is working fine. However, when I connect my Western Digital MyBook external hard drive, it will not accept the slashes in the file/folder names. I find myself having to rename everything.

Is there a solution to this? My old external hard drive did not have this problem.

How do I get past it?

 

[jmgalvin]

When you got the drive, did you reformat it to mac OS extended by using Disk Utility? If not, try doing that.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4 & G5

 

[jmgalvin]

Forgot: It's never a good idea to use slashes in naming folders or files as it can interfere with the innards of the OS. When I try to put a slach in a name on a save, osx won't let me.

OSX has a built in find change if you want to get rid of the slashes. Go to Applications/Applescript. You'll see "Install script menu". Double click it and you'll get a scripts menu on the right side of the menu bar. Click on that and go to Finder Scripts/Replace text in Item Names. It works like any find change except that you have to run it for files and folders separately. You can subsituts - or something for the slash.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4 & G5

 

[PCInfoman]

I prefer to use slashes when possible. I will check out the apple script thing you suggested as I was not aware of it. Thank you.

 

[PCInfoman]

I re-formatted the drive in "Extended (Journaled)" mode and it is working perfectly now.

 

[Foamcow]

Slashes in filenames = bad news somewhere down the line.
Although you say you prefer to use them, I'd urge you to start prefering not to use them.

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[PCInfoman]

Well, I can see the issue on a pc. I have been using them on my mac for years and have never had a problem. However, you may be right.

 

[mmerlinn]

[&nbsp;]
Forward slashes AND backslashes in a filename or folder name can bite you at the most unexpected times. Best policy is not to use them in any name.

I use FoxPro to generate HTML pages. FoxPro, even on the Mac, uses DOS path naming conventions.

So, in my case BOTH foreward and backward slashes have given me fits, one because of standard DOS path naming conventions and the other because of standard HTML path naming conventions.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

"Political correctness is the BADGE of a COWARD!"

 

[PCInfoman]

For the most part, I agree with you. I use a pc at home, but at work, I use both a pc and a mac. It is a good idea to not use slashes in filenames or folder names. However, I NEVER publish anything with a slash in the name, so I do not have that drawback.

I think I will just slowly start removing the slashes. It is a pain in the butt as many of the filenames are images of parts (pipes, etc) and the / or " in the filename helps to see the size of the part at a glance.

 

[mmerlinn]

[&nbsp;]

I have never used either in published works.

I have used them on my Macs. But, when I started using FoxPro years ago, I ran into lots of problems running FoxPro as well as using the underlying files to generate webpages. So, I got rid of them.

Because I am working in three different path naming conventions in FoxPro, I have found that the only SAFE delimiter is the underscore as it works in all three conventions. So, you might want to replace all of your "/" and '"' with "_" to highlight your sizes.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

"Political correctness is the BADGE of a COWARD!"