Max length - Directory plus file name

Hi all
just a quick question

What's the maximum length of a directory PLUS file name -- the reason I'm asking this is that I've some CD's (a lot BTW) ripped into directories into FLAC format.

Tidying up the music folders I sometimes get a warning -- Name too long to send to the re-cycle bin.

I need to know the max nr of characters so I can select the ripping parameters correctly. If the combined directory / file name is too long then I might have trouble backing up the data (music) too.

I usually use ALBUM name (extracted from GRACENOTE or FREEDB depending on what the ripping program is) as the directory name and a number of parameters added to the track title - including a number for the music tracks with the album name as the directory.

However I can't seem to find anything on Max file name length for NTFS.

Cheers
jimbo

logicearth said:

The max file name length is 255 (UTF-16) for the full path the limit is 32,767 (UTF-16).

I tested this "theory" in practice, and the maximum file name length is indeed 255 bytes, but the full path limit is 258 bytes:



The full path limit of 32,767 characters is only obtainable by using "\\?\c:\<very long path>" in programming languages and does not reflect normal Windows or Dos usage, which is limited to 258 characters + a terminating zero byte: