How stored path names are displayed

All stored path names are represented in the library in a portable format. However, different platforms have different conventions for displaying path names, and different file systems have different standards for legal path names. To account for these differences, the system changes the appearance of an attachment's stored path name to suit the current platform, and uses the name of the file that would have been created were the attachment retrieved on the current platform using the Use Stored option.

For example, suppose a stored path name is shown on a UNIX platform as textfiles/new/readme.txt. On a Windows platform with a FAT file system, the path name appears as textfile\new\readme.txt. Note that the first directory name in the Windows example is shown truncated to fit within a FAT 8.3 file name.

Several file-system characteristics affect how a stored path name appears: maximum lengths of the path and component names; invalid characters; case sensitivity; and case preservation.

Some stored path names appear the same on some platforms. Retrieve attachments that have the same path name using the Name Each option to avoid inadvertently overwriting an attachment.

To ensure that an attachment path name is portable across all platforms, use 8.3 file names, such as those used in a DOS file system, and restrict the characters to those specified for POSIX path names.