On the QL we have traditionally had a 36 character limit on file names after the initial (5 character) device name. Something like this:
flp1_source_code_myfile_c
In the above, flp1_ is the device name and is not included in the 36 character limit. There can be a network device tagged on the front as well, and this too is not included in the filename limit.
Technically, in the above, source and code are both directories (the default directory separator is the underscore character) while myfile_c is the filename and extension.
In the original days of the QL, all we had was a pair of built in microdrives and so the file name limit wasn’t too much of a hassle because we only had about 100KB (yes, KB) to play with and there were no actual directories as such.
Then we moved on to floppies and even a 40 MB (yes, MB) hard drive - and suddenly, this limit began to look rather silly, especially as we now had proper directories.
The problem, as I see it is simple. Inside the directory entry for a filename, a space of 36 characters has been reserved. Unfortunately, given the above filename as an example, the following will happen:
- The root directory on the floppy disc will contain an entry for a directory named source.
- The source directory will have an entry for a directory named source_code.
- The source_code directory will have an entry for a file named source_code_myfile_c.
You can see the problem, the entire directory structure, less the device name, is replicated all the way down the tree. Surely it makes sense, even with a 36 character limit, to only have the appropriate parts of the full path in each directory. For example:
- The root directory on the floppy disc will contain an entry for a directory named source.
- The source directory will have an entry for a directory named code.
- The code directory will have an entry for a file named myfile_c.
With this system, we would be able to have almost unlimited depth to our disc structures - possibly not wise - and each part of a file’s full path would be limited to 36 characters, not the entire path itself.
Well, I think it makes sense anyway.
Cheers.
