Max Path Max File length Exception

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

I have done some extensive research about this problem and it seems that there is no work around because of the netframe work and OS set limit on address lengths. So my question is how can I exclude folders that exceed this limitation and simply move to the next file or folder when trying to scan directories?

thank you in advance :)

Posted 10-Feb-11 15:36pm

Dale 2012

Add a Solution

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 10-Feb-11 21:48pm

Again, no exception dump, no code. What kind of help are you hoping for?
--SA

3 solutions

Solution 4

Hello,

you can also try for this solution:-

you simply need to copy your project folder from your path to root directory (ex:-d:\abc\abc\xyz\YourProject to d:\YourProject )

Maximum file path length Error Solved.this trick work in my case.

thank you

Posted 19-Nov-14 0:29am

Aditya Prakash Roy

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-10T15:51:00

Solution 1

You cannot have directory/file names in your system with the path name exceeding MaxPath. The exception could be a result of some bug during path calculation.

[EDIT]
File system names are valid it they are obtained using Directory.GetFiles or Directory.GetDirectories. These methods guarantee that the obtained names represent file system objects which "physically" present on the file system. Such name should always obey the name length limitation rules, otherwise they could not be created.

If the names are composed using some different method (which can easily happen if you need to compose a name to create new file/directory programmatically, the name could appear too long and cause this exception.
[END EDIT]

Please see my comment to the Question. Where is the information? This kind of bug is usually quite easy to find and fix.

—SA

Posted 10-Feb-11 15:51pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 11-Feb-11 6:33am

v2

Comments

Dale 2012 10-Feb-11 22:26pm

I have had no problem with the scanning code but I did have alot of desktop files folders and what not that i have catagorized into one folder which is how I know this error is authentic and deals with the max path exception but my question is how to skip folders and files with names exceeding this value?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 10-Feb-11 22:43pm

As I say: something's must be wrong in your code. Why do you think you're posing right question? You think you need to skip something, but I say there should not be such thing. Post relevant part of your code and exception done! If you don't do that, there is nothing to discuss -- just yet.
--SA

Dale 2012 11-Feb-11 1:05am

Ok the Exception is:

The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.

and the line on error is:

Dim fi As FileInfo = New FileInfo(file1)

Dale 2012 11-Feb-11 1:07am

can we now discuss the problem or is there something I need to add?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 11-Feb-11 12:37pm

1) Are you sure exception was caused by this exact line? (You did not do exception dump as I asked. In exception dump you could print exception stack (highly recommend) and the stack would show all relevant line numbers in the code.)

2) Are you sure the string value of the variable "file1" represent existing file? Please see my update in this Answer, between [EDIT] and [END EDIT]

--SA

Nish Nishant · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-10T16:08:00

Solution 2

Typically, the single most common reason why recursive searches of hard disks fail is when certain directories require permissions that the calling code does not have.

Update
~~~~~~~~

Okay, unfortunately the classes in System.IO do not use Unicode paths (where you prefix "\\?\" to the path). You can avoid using System.IO and instead P/Invoke the API directly and use the W versions of the functions (and then use Unicode paths).

Example article that does this:
.NET 2.0 Workaround for PathTooLongException[^]
Although the article explains a different API, you will need to do something similar.

Alternatively, just skip files that exceed the max-path (but I reckon you will end up skipping too many files if you go that route). The hardcoded value for MaxPath in System.IO is 260 (Windows ANSI filepath limit).

Posted 10-Feb-11 16:08pm

Nish Nishant

Updated 10-Feb-11 17:10pm

v2

Comments

Dale 2012 10-Feb-11 22:20pm

a good answer but I am most positive that the problem is not related to access denied. The exception clearly states a maxpath exception but thank you for the insight.

I will still rate your answer

Nish Nishant 10-Feb-11 22:25pm

Do you mind pasting the exact text of the error message?

Dale 2012 10-Feb-11 22:42pm

I will need one min to get this for u brb

Nish Nishant 10-Feb-11 22:43pm

Ok, thanks.

Dale 2012 10-Feb-11 23:01pm

Ok the Exception is:

The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.

and the line on error is:

Dim fi As FileInfo = New FileInfo(file1)

Nish Nishant 10-Feb-11 23:10pm

Okay, I've updated my answer, Dale.

Dale 2012 11-Feb-11 0:44am

How might I go about skipping the files? Im not to concerned about how many folders are skipped because I do not expect many folders and files to go beyond the limitation.

thank you in advance and also thank you for the link and quick responce!

Dale 2012 11-Feb-11 1:00am

A few more questions about this link you have given if i might...

1) I am unsure how to use the source code file
2) CreateFileW is what?