Unsupported characters in default file names.

[Collin Mariner]

Mac OSX has this handy home directory backup utility that runs every time a
user logs in. It synchronizes a persons desktop, documents, pictures etc. to
a share.

In my case I back these up to a Windows 2003 Server.

In Office 2004 there were about 5 files that have characters in their file
names that are not supported by Windows Operating system, thus corrupting
the file when it copied to the server.

In 2008 there are now over 30. Would it be possible to NOT use unsupported
(by Windows) characters in these filenames?

Here are 2 examples, the first is a period at the end of the file and the
second is a backslash.

User/documents/microsoft User Data/Entourage script menu Items/about this
menu...
User/documents/microsoft User Data/Entourage script menu Items/Create Task
from Message\CT

There are many more with backslashes in 2008 under each application¹s scrip
menu items directory under Microsoft user data directory in the user¹s
documents folder.

To resolve these issues, we can/have to go in and rename all files with
unsupported characters in their file name on every machine/install. Only
then will the home directory back up work.

Just my 2 cents but I think it would save a lot of people time to have these
characters changed/removed.

Thanks in advance!
Collin

 

[William Smith]

In Office 2004 there were about 5 files that have characters in their
file names that are not supported by Windows Operating system, thus
corrupting the file when it copied to the server.

In 2008 there are now over 30. Would it be possible to NOT use
unsupported (by Windows) characters in these filenames?

Here are 2 examples, the first is a period at the end of the file and
the second is a backslash.

User/documents/microsoft User Data/Entourage script menu Items/about
this menu...
User/documents/microsoft User Data/Entourage script menu Items/Create
Task from Message\CT

Hi Collin!

Regarding the two examples you've provided:

The "About This Menu..." script is actually a holdover in your identity
from either Office X or Office 2004. It's not included with Office 2008
anymore because Microsoft has customized the script menu with static
"About This Menu..." and "Sample Automator Workflows..." menus.

The \cT, \cE, \cN, etc., at the end of some of the file names is not
Microsoft-specific but rather a feature of Apple's script menus. You can
remove these from the files and continue using the scripts. The keyboard
command will simply be removed. You might prefer that Microsoft simply
not use these to begin with but I'd argue that some compromise needs to
be made between supporting an Apple feature vs. supporting home folders
on SMB network shares.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

 

[Collin Mariner]

Bill,
Thank you for your response. I do understand your point. I agree that MS
has to support some, if not most native features that come with OSX. My
only argument is that supporting a feature and making it a default are 2
different things. The home directory backup is an important feature as well,
and with Exchange DB files being the way that they are, those backups are
crucial in an enterprise environment. I agree that there is a workaround so
I am not dead in the water here. Thanks for your input.

Collin