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Cannot save file name - Charactrer limits too strict ?

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Message 1 of 13
divingdoug
3669 Views, 12 Replies

Cannot save file name - Charactrer limits too strict ?

Have an assy file open and am trying to save a copy with a new name and Iventor either does nothing or crashes.  Original full path and file name contains 243 characters (counting from drive letter to extension)  New one will have 247 characters.

 

This is supposedly within the path/file name character limits for windows 7, which according to the ms website is 260 minus one for the null character at the end making it 259.  So I am over 10 characters shy of the limit dictated by the OS.

 

Is inventor placing a stricter limit on the number of characters in the full path/file name?  If so, why?

 

Obviously, working up the tree and adjusting upper level folder names is not an option as that would break every link in every assembly at that level or lower.  (stupid project files)

 

Any thoughts on this ?

12 REPLIES 12
Message 2 of 13
JDMather
in reply to: divingdoug


@divingdoug wrote:
 

Obviously, working up the tree and adjusting upper level folder names ...

 

Any thoughts on this ?


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Message 3 of 13
divingdoug
in reply to: JDMather

Quantity of aasy's and sub-assy's affected makes that fairly prohibitive.

Message 4 of 13
PaulMunford
in reply to: divingdoug

save the copy to your desktop and then copy it to the server...

 


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Message 5 of 13
pcrawley
in reply to: divingdoug


@divingdoug wrote:

 

Obviously, working up the tree and adjusting upper level folder names is not an option as that would break every link in every assembly at that level or lower.  (stupid project files)

 


Stupid project files?  Make sure all the paths in the Project file are relative (as opposed to absolute) and you can move the data wherever you like without breaking anything.   Bring the project (much) closer to the root.

 

If the number of related files is too complicated or impractical for you to manage with DA, shove it all into a Vault and rename the folders there.

 

As for the OP question - no idea sorry.  All I can say is that I've also had problems with paths that are nearly the full 256 characters and the solution was to mave it closer to the root. (I'm sure it's 256 - not 259.  256 is a nice round binary number.) Long paths like that are unwieldy at best.

Peter
Message 6 of 13
blair
in reply to: divingdoug

Possibly with Inventor supporting Mac's OS which is has a 255 character limit the programmers have just chosen to limit to the lowest limit.


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Message 7 of 13
divingdoug
in reply to: pcrawley

  All I can say is that I've also had problems with paths that are nearly the full 256 characters and the solution was to mave it closer to the root. (I'm sure it's 256 - not 259.  256 is a nice round binary number.) Long paths like that are unwieldy at best.

The 260 character limit is detailed here.  If you subtract the drive letter, colon and first backslash (f:\) and the NULL character at the end, you get your 256 characters.  Details are spelled out real clear on this microsoft site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365247(v=vs.85).aspx

 

Even if IV was limited to the 255 as was suggested above, my full file name, drive letter and all, is only 247 characters. Well short of the limit and IV will not open it.

 

Since all the suggestions have me changing my organizational approach, I can assume no one knows if there are stricter limits built into IV.  Will probably call support on this one.

 

My only project file. for reference, is set up to encompass the entire drive.  This way, it operates, to some degree, transparently and I never have to worry about whether I am in the right location or working under the right project.

 

Being in a corporate environment, there are certain parts of the folder structures that are dictated while the rest are set up to allow for good practice organization.  When I go to another departments drive and find 80 - 100 folders under a root folder with no organization, it explains why those people take so long to do things.  It takes them forever to find any of their work..

 

Not sure what you mean saying absolute vs. relative to the project file (I know what the terms mean and how they apply to file names)  Here is what my project file looks like.  Any settings not seen are set to their default values.

 

Project_View.png

Message 8 of 13

Hi divingdoug,

 

I'm not sure if I have anything to add to the character limit issue, but your Workspace setting stands out to me. I would not have expected to see a path set there, since you are using a Single User project type. If you remove that path the workspace path will be relative to the IPJ file as per pcrawley's suggestion. So, you might try deleting the workspace path to see if it helps with your character limit issue.

 

Set search paths

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Inventor/enu/2012/Help/2108-CAD_Mana2108/2121-Configur2121/2122-Project...

 

Learn about projects

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Inventor/enu/2012/Help/2108-CAD_Mana2108/2121-Configur2121/2122-Project...

 

 

Keep in mind, if you have Inventor files sitting above the folder where your project file sits, then you may need to add search paths or re-organize those folders a bit, because Inventor will not search above the relative project path.

 

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Message 9 of 13

, but your Workspace setting stands out to me. I would not have expected to see a path set there, since you are using a Single User project type. If you remove that path the workspace path will be relative to the IPJ file as per pcrawley's suggestion. So, you might try deleting the workspace path to see if it helps with your character limit issue.

 

 



The actual project file is not located in the root directory. The root directory is limited to three primary folders as dictated by company procedure.  Individual files are not placed there.

 

In all this, I guess I really don't see the connection between settings in my project file and file name limitations.  The workspace in the project file is simply a pointer.  It is not adding any characters to the path of my file names.

 

As I said,  will end up calling support on this one as we have a huge corporate contract for our software.

Message 10 of 13
ashleygon
in reply to: divingdoug

Did you try the Long Path Tool? I'm confident, it should solve your problem.

Message 11 of 13
NathanLos
in reply to: divingdoug

Inventor invisibly adds the name of a View Rep (surrounded by angle brackets) to the end of the path. The View Rep name is stripped off whenever the path is displayed on screen, but the combined text is still subject to the 260-character limit. This behavior is an internal implementation detail and appears to be undocumented.

Although this thread has been dormant for a while, if you're still encountering this issue you might want to try shortening your View Rep names as a workaround.


Nathan Los
Principal Engineer
DLS-Mechanical Design
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 12 of 13
NathanLos
in reply to: NathanLos

Correction: I meant Level of Detail, not View Rep.


Nathan Los
Principal Engineer
DLS-Mechanical Design
Autodesk, Inc.
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Message 13 of 13
divingdoug
in reply to: NathanLos

Characters that cannot be viewed are added to the part/file name and it undocumented.   Astonishing.

 

The contents of a file are for storing information/data.  The file name is used to identify the file that stores that information.  I cannot comprehend why someone would decide to 1) store information in the file name,  2) format it so that there is absolutely no indication it is there and,  3) not tell anybody about it.

 

It is decision making like this that keeps Inventor from gaining any ground against SolidWorks.

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