INFO: Filenames Ending with Space or Period Not Supported

This article was previously published under Q115827

CreateFile() removes trailing spaces and periods from file and directory names. This is done for compatibility with the FAT and HPFS file systems.

Problems can arise when a Macintosh client creates a file on a Windows NT server. The code to remove trailing spaces and periods is not carried out and the Macintosh user gets the correctly punctuated filename. The Win32 APIs FindFirstFile() and FindNextFile() return a filename that ends in a space or in a period; however, there is no way to create or open the file using the Win32 API.

Applications such as File Manager and Backup check to see whether the filename ends with a space or period. If the filename does end in a space or a period, then File Manager and Backup use the alternative name found in WIN32_FIND_DATA.cAlternateFileName to create and open the file. Therefore, the full filename is lost.