Python long filename support broken in Windows

Question

Hi,

I write Python script to copy files; unfortunately it keeps failing because filename is too long(>256). Is there anyway to deal with that problem?

I'm using Python 2.5.4 and Windows XP.

Cheers,

Answer 1

Use paths beginning with the string \\?\.

Answer 2

Have you tried the workarounds suggested in this old thread, exp. the "magic prefix" trick? I don't know if the underyling issue (that we're not using the right one out of the many available Windows APIs for files) ever got fixed, but the workarounds should work...

Answer 3

In order to use the \\?\ prefix (as already proposed), you also need to make sure you use Unicode strings as filenames, not regular (byte) strings.