How to Enable File Name Character Translation (289627)

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WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Windows and UNIX operating systems have restrictions on valid characters that can be used in a file name. The list of illegal characters for each operating system, however, is different. For example, a UNIX file name can use a colon (:), but a Windows file name cannot use a colon (:). If a UNIX user attempts to create a file with a Windows illegal character on a Windows Services for UNIX network file system (NFS) share, the attempt is unsuccessful and the UNIX client computer receives an input or output error.

To work around this issue, use file name character mapping to replace characters that are not legal.

To enable file name character mapping, create a character translation file and add a registry entry.

A file name character translation file is a text file with a list of mapped characters in the following format where nn is the hexadecimal value of a single-byte character or one byte of a double-byte character, and comment is an optional comment:

0xnn[ 0xnn] : 0xnn[ 0xnn] [ ; comment]

A single-byte character can be mapped to another single-byte character or to a double-byte character. A double-byte character can be mapped to another double-byte character or to a single-byte character. A semicolon (;) in the map file indicates a comment. Everything from the semicolon (;) to the end of the line is ignored. The first character in the entry is the character on the (UNIX) client and the second is the character used on the Windows-based Server for NFS computer.

For example, the following maps the UNIX colon (:) to a Windows dash (-):

0x3a : 0x2d ; replace client : with - on server

Hexadecimal values can be easily obtained by using the Character Map utility that comes with Windows. Open Character Map and select a character. In the bottom left corner of the program, the character code displays the hexadecimal value of the character.

If the preceding entry is displayed in the file name character translation file on a Server for NFS computer and a UNIX client creates a file named re:salesquotas on a Server for NFS share, Server for NFS names the file re-salesquotas. This name is displayed in Windows Explorer when local or remote Windows users display the contents of the shared folder. However, NFS clients that list the contents of the shared folder observe the file name as re:salesquotas. Character translation occurs for all the files that are shared by the server, regardless of whether they had been created by a UNIX client.

The following entry maps a double-byte character to a single-byte character (the values that represent a single byte in a double-byte character must be separated by a space):

0x23 0x40 : 0x2b

Because all values are assumed to be represented by hexadecimal numbers, the 0x prefix can be omitted:

23 40 : 2b

A given character must be mapped only to one character; that is, mapping a character to two or more different characters must be avoided. For example, the following entry can produce unexpected results:

0x11 : 0x22
0x11 : 0x33

In addition, you cannot map a multibyte character if a single-byte character with the same value as the first byte of the multibyte character is mapped elsewhere. The following example can produce unexpected results:

0x11 0x22 : 0x44
0x11 : 0x55

Do not map a period (.) because it is used in the file name syntax of both Windows and UNIX file systems.

When you have created the file name character translation file, you must specify its name location in the system registry. To register the path and name of the file:

1. Use Registry Editor to locate the following registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Server For NFS\CurrentVersion\Mapping

2. Edit the CharacterTranslation (REG_SZ) value.
3. Enter the fully qualified path name of the file name character translation file. For example, C:\Sfu\CTrans.txt.