File Naming Problems When Moving Mac to Windows
Bryan wrote:
I work on a Mac and they work on a pc. I ran into a problem when I gave my clients my packaged InDesign files on dvd for their archives and to pull from for new publications. I had named some of the linked images with the “/” character, like when I was calling out a date, 09/26/07. But they are unable to copy these links to their harddrive because pc’s don’t recognize them!
Yes, unfortunately this has been a major problem since the 1980s, when people started moving pages from Mac to PC. DOS (and subsequently Windows) prohibits a number of special characters in file naming, including the slash. One Web page that explains the differences can be found here.
So the only good way around this is for you to rename those files. If you have a lot of files to rename (it sounds liked you do), you’ll probably want to use a file-renaming utilty. I see at VersionTracker.com that there are several available, including A Better Finder Rename from Public Space. I haven’t used this yet, but their site says it can “convert file names to Windows NTFS, SMB, DOS, Mac OS 9” which sounds promising.
Anne-Marie also responded to this issue, writing:
Well, you know even the Mac OS doesn’t like slashes… but the only character it won’t allow is the colon, which is used internally in the OS (also won’t allow periods at the start of filenames because that turns the file invisible, due to UNIX). Still, because of that UNIX thing, I never use slashes in filenames… it normally signifies a folder hierarchy, just like web sites (which often run on a UNIX OS).
So, while this isn’t good news for you, Bryan, I hope your pain will help others avoid the suffering you’re going through.
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Since Bryan is on a Mac, he can use AppleScript to do the file renaming. Assuming he already has AppleScript activated, under Finder Scripts is one called “Replace Text in Item Names.” It will operate on all the items in a single folder. You could just replace all those slashes with hyphens and you’re ready to burn a new copy of that DVD.
I’m a big fan of the utility Renamer4Mac. It’s all kinds of filename find-and-replace goodness.
I haven’t tried this, but perhaps this might work, keep in mind I have just read the problem at 8:50 in the morning and my first thought on this is this:
Open up Bridge. Browse the DVD/CD contents. Select all the files, batch rename them and then copy them to another folder all in one go. Perhaps?
Addressing the naming problem, instead of the renaming, I put dates in file names using 27Sept07 format. It is a little longer, but it seems to work.
Another method I use for dating is 070927 for today’s date, for example.
I go between Mac and PC all the time, with my native computer being a PC, so “wrong characters” never crossed my mind. However, I always tend to use dashes and underscores as separators, never put spaces, and keep the names brief. It may not seem necessary nowadays what with Indesign being so smart when it comes to fixing linked files, but back in the Quark 4 days it was a good way of avoiding truncated files between both systems, which were a pain to fix.
Slashes in file names are a hangover from OS 9 days. A lot of features will break if you use slashes in file or folder names under OS X where the “URI” style of representing file paths is more and more prevalent. Just about every script I’ve written that involves working with the file system will break if there is a forward slash in a file name or worse, one of its containing folders.
Dave
My biggest complaint going is when I copy a folder of mac files and load it on a pc is when you get all of those crazy .ds store file and “invisible” copys of every file. It is really annoying. Does anyone know of any workarounds with those invisible files?
There’s a nice DS_Store cleaner program that can be downloaded for free at https://projects.ryangrier.com
Just drop a folder on it and all the DS_Store files are deleted. I use it before sending files to clients, etc. Also new versions of Toast automatically omit those special Mac files from hybrid discs. I think Toast 7 added that feature.
how about really deep nested documents on a server. A file in a folder in a folder in afolder etc.
In our mixed environment links are lost all the time between Mac and PC indesign files.
Thanks for all the help you guys! I used Renamer4Mac. I highly recommend it. I ended up relinking all the links and repackaging the files. This will at least get the notion that things like this can happen. Hopefully this will be a good lesson to everyone to avoid in the future.
mac also supports spaces after extension. like “filename.ext “