I'm trying to find a definitive answer (e.g. Apple developer documentation) for the maximum length of a complete path string on Mac OS X. I've seen various non-authoritative sites that state that it is unbounded, 4096 characters, or 1024 characters, but haven't been able to find an answer on Apple's web site.
+1
A:
If you look in /usr/include/sys/syslimits.h on a Leopard system, you'll see:
#define PATH_MAX 1024 /* max bytes in pathname */
Furthermore, Technical Note 1150: HFS Plus Volume Format, in discussing symbolic links, says:
"For maximum compatibility, the length of the path should be 1024 bytes or less."
peterb
2009-08-18 16:53:47
+2
A:
You might find this useful: http://rentzsch.com/macosx/pathmaxBlackholing
1024 bytes is correct.
dorianj
2009-08-18 16:57:40