One of my users asked why my application does not support semicolons in filenames. I stepped through my code, and it seems Windows function GetOpenFileName truncates any filename containing a semicolon. E.g., "one;two.wav" -> "one".
Microsoft says colons are not allowed, but it doesn't mention semicolons...
Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces
Are they legal or not?
And how can I get GetOpenFileName() to work with semicolons in a filename?
OH! Weird; the filename is correct, except 'scrolled' off to the left. So "one;two.wav" looks like "two.wav" until I click it and press left-arrow (then it's fine). So it's not a bug as such, only weird behaviour.
Semicolons are legal in NTFS file paths.
Use any character in the current code page for a name, including Unicode characters and characters in the extended character set (128–255), except for the following:
The following reserved characters:
<(less than)>(greater than):(colon)"(double quote)/(forward slash)\(backslash)|(vertical bar or pipe)?(question mark)*(asterisk)- Integer value zero, sometimes referred to as the ASCII NUL character.
- Characters whose integer representations are in the range from 1 through 31, except for alternate streams where these characters are allowed.
- Any other character that the target file system does not allow.
I'm able to add semicolons to filenames on my Windows 7 system. Watch for code, probably yours or third-party code, that does strange things with unexpected characters (most notably spaces).