What is the difference of using Capital vs Small letters in file names

[pcwin]

Is naming a file/folder in capital or small letters making a differences?
What would it affect / bad effects if I use capital for file/folder names?

Are accessing all these path the same?
E:\data\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\CHICKEN.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\chicken.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\CHICKEN.txt
E:\DATA\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\Chicken.txt

I want to use capital letters for some files/folder names because it would make it stand out more among many folders, and I use capital for files/folders that are more important and frequently accessed.

If I name a folder/file as E:\data\RECIPE\CHICKEN.txt , when I access E:\data\recipe\chicken.txt , would it open the same file CHICKEN.txt ?

Thanks

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I don't know about your PC, but on mine I cannot make a folder named RECIPE if I already have one named Recipe or recipe in the same parent directory. The same rule applies to file names.

Can you?

On my PC, all 6 of those recipe folders would be identical and I could only make one of them. I'd get a message about "do you want to merge with the other folder of the same name" if I tried.

There may be some cute way around it, but I don't know what it would be.

I've sometimes used an underscore _ to help with ordering files and folders in a certain way.

I can't recall the last time case made a difference in anything I do other than passwords, which at times are case-sensitive.

 

[paul1149]

There's no difference in Windows, but in Linux there is. If you want to have correspondence with Linux it would be wise to use a convention that both will understand. Linux sorts a little differently, too, so that a leading underscore will not send a file to the top. So I've been using a 0. prefix to do that. I'm also learning to avoid spaces.

 

[pcwin]

I don't know about your PC, but on mine I cannot make a folder named RECIPE if I already have one named Recipe or recipe in the same parent directory. The same rule applies to file names.

Can you?

On my PC, all 6 of those recipe folders would be identical and I could only make one of them. I'd get a message about "do you want to merge with the other folder of the same name" if I tried.

I have the same experience as you.

So from my understanding, Windows treat uppercase and lowercase as the same thing.

Accessing any of these would access the same file and it does not matter if I name the file in uppercase or lower case. I am just use uppercase so it is easier for my eyes to spot important/frequently accessed files
E:\data\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\CHICKEN.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\chicken.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\CHICKEN.txt
E:\DATA\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\Chicken.txt

 

[pcwin]

There's no difference in Windows, but in Linux there is. If you want to have correspondence with Linux it would be wise to use a convention that both will understand. Linux sorts a little differently, too, so that a leading underscore will not send a file to the top. So I've been using a 0. prefix to do that. I'm also learning to avoid spaces.

Does Linux treat uppercase and lowercase differently?

Does Linux treat these as a same file? Or can I make 6 different files/folders as below in Linux?
E:\data\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\CHICKEN.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\chicken.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\CHICKEN.txt
E:\DATA\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\Chicken.txt

 

[paul1149]

Yes, no, yes.

 

[JimSF]

There's sometimes a curiosity in W7's behaviour. If I want to change a file or a folder's name from capital to small or vice versa W7 doesn't change it. Than I have to rename the file and try again before the name changes from capital to small or vv.

 

[Pyprohly]

There's sometimes a curiosity in W7's behaviour. If I want to change a file or a folder's name from capital to small or vice versa W7 doesn't change it. Than I have to rename the file and try again before the name changes from capital to small or vv.

In does in fact change. In Windows 7's Explorer you have to hit refresh if you've just renamed something to the same name but with different capitalisation before you can view it's new name.

Does Linux treat uppercase and lowercase differently?

Does Linux treat these as a same file? Or can I make 6 different files/folders as below in Linux?
E:\data\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\CHICKEN.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\chicken.txt
E:\data\RECIPE\CHICKEN.txt
E:\DATA\recipe\chicken.txt
E:\data\recipe\Chicken.txt

Linux's file system is case sensitive, so all those paths reference a different item (but only of course if those paths are in the proper Linux format, i.e. without the drive letter there).

Windows and OS X on the other hand have case insensitive file systems and will treat all those paths as the same item.

 

[JimSF]

In does in fact change. In Windows 7's Explorer you have to hit refresh if you've just renamed something to the same name but with different capitalisation before you can view it's new name.

So, if understand this correctly there's still an unsolved bug in W7, since anything else is refreshed automatically (given you have enough resources to have a refresh done automatically) except where for the capital to small or vv. the refreshing has to be done manually.

 

[Pyprohly]

Yes. Essentially.

It's not exactly known why Explorer is bugged like that in Windows 7, but refreshing it works and that's that.

 

[lehnerus2000]

There's no difference in Windows, but in Linux there is. If you want to have correspondence with Linux it would be wise to use a convention that both will understand. Linux sorts a little differently, too, so that a leading underscore will not send a file to the top. So I've been using a 0. prefix to do that. I'm also learning to avoid spaces.

The Linux GUI tools can usually handle spaces, but the Terminal doesn't like them.