Windows 7 long file names and databases.

[Peter Jason]

I notice that some files on the Internet have file names about 30 or
more characters long, and seem to make no sense regarding their
content.

I assume these names are contrived to allow selection of files via
some database or other.

Is there such a database file selection ability in Windows 7? If
not is there any simple software to do the job?

Peter

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I notice that some files on the Internet have file names about 30 or
more characters long, and seem to make no sense regarding their
content.

I assume these names are contrived to allow selection of files via
some database or other.

Is there such a database file selection ability in Windows 7? If
not is there any simple software to do the job?

Peter

Can you give us an example of what you're talking about?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Can you give us an example of what you're talking about?

Yousuf Khan

My thought exactly.

Then there might be a chance I could guess what is meant

 

[Peter Jason]

Can you give us an example of what you're talking about?

Yousuf Khan

I can select groups of files via the Windows Explorer by using ???? &
*** etc, but this is rather slow. Is this an easier facility?

A file name may be like this:
derlo326687phtyr58745aa

and I can group all strings with "phty" in the name, but only with:
??????????phty???????
which is rather tedious.

Peter

 

[Bob I]

I can select groups of files via the Windows Explorer by using ????&
*** etc, but this is rather slow. Is this an easier facility?

A file name may be like this:
derlo326687phtyr58745aa

and I can group all strings with "phty" in the name, but only with:
??????????phty???????
which is rather tedious.

Peter

using Windows Search can make it considerably less "tedious".

 

[Peter Jason]

using Windows Search can make it considerably less "tedious".

Thanks, I'm using this already (the field at the top right corner of
the W Explorer screen.)

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I can select groups of files via the Windows Explorer by using ????&
*** etc, but this is rather slow. Is this an easier facility?

A file name may be like this:
derlo326687phtyr58745aa

and I can group all strings with "phty" in the name, but only with:
??????????phty???????
which is rather tedious.

Oh, you're talking about regular expression searches. You should use the
Windows 7 search feature, it's extremely robust these days. You can even
use operators like AND and OR or NOT in searches. I posted a message
about this last month.

Advanced tips for searching in Windows
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Advanced-tips-for-searching-in-Windows

Yousuf Khan

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Peter.

Like the others, I still don't understand just what your problem is, but...

Have you tried opening a Command Prompt window and using the ancient Dir
command:
dir *phty*

Of course, that searches only on your own disk, not on the Internet.

Which websites are you visiting to find these mysterious files? Why? (No,
I'm not trying to pry into your business. Just trying to get enough
information from you - our only source of such information - so that someone
here might have a chance to make a sensible suggestion.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Peter Jason" wrote in message

using Windows Search can make it considerably less "tedious".

Thanks, I'm using this already (the field at the top right corner of
the W Explorer screen.)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I can select groups of files via the Windows Explorer by using ???? &
*** etc, but this is rather slow. Is this an easier facility?

A file name may be like this:
derlo326687phtyr58745aa

and I can group all strings with "phty" in the name, but only with:
??????????phty???????
which is rather tedious.

Peter

You are aware, I hope that:

1. *** is the same as * i.e. any number of arbitrary characters will
match.

2. ??????????phty??????? will match any string containing 10 arbitrary
characters and seven arbitrary characters surrounding the four character
string "phty" - and only such a string. It's a bit more complicated, but
I didn't even want to say this much.

As for tedious, that seems to be in the eye of the beholder...

 

[Peter Jason]

Thank you. I'll go back & try again.
Peter

 

[Jeff Layman]

My thought exactly.

Then there might be a chance I could guess what is meant

Although it's not 30 characters, try uploading a file to
http://myfreefilehosting.com and note the link name you are given. The
delete link name is even longer (>30).

When I uploaded a file (since deleted) I got
http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/cc836ff6f7_0.05MB

It obviously includes the file size in the name, but what the rest is I
don't know.

The delete link was
http://myfreefilehosting.com/dlt/ac197399b5eb038890db610a7a25afd4

 

[Char Jackson]

Although it's not 30 characters, try uploading a file to
http://myfreefilehosting.com and note the link name you are given. The
delete link name is even longer (>30).

When I uploaded a file (since deleted) I got
http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/cc836ff6f7_0.05MB

It obviously includes the file size in the name, but what the rest is I
don't know.

The delete link was
http://myfreefilehosting.com/dlt/ac197399b5eb038890db610a7a25afd4

It looks like they're generating a unique filename in order to avoid
name collisions.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

It looks like they're generating a unique filename in order to avoid
name collisions.

Perhaps also to prevent me from guessing a name so I could mess up your
files.

Or so I'm guessing.

 

[Jeff Layman]

It looks like they're generating a unique filename in order to avoid
name collisions.

No doubt. But why so many characters for the delete link? A quick
calculation reveals that there are more than 10^36 possible combinations
where a 30-character length name is made from one of 16 possible
individual characters. Why not just use the cc836ff6f7_0.05MB name
with, for example, "del" at the end, so the delete link becomes
cc836ff6f7_0.05MB_del?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

No doubt. But why so many characters for the delete link? A quick
calculation reveals that there are more than 10^36 possible combinations
where a 30-character length name is made from one of 16 possible
individual characters. Why not just use the cc836ff6f7_0.05MB name
with, for example, "del" at the end, so the delete link becomes
cc836ff6f7_0.05MB_del?

To forestall accidents.

 

[Paul]

No doubt. But why so many characters for the delete link? A quick
calculation reveals that there are more than 10^36 possible combinations
where a 30-character length name is made from one of 16 possible
individual characters. Why not just use the cc836ff6f7_0.05MB name
with, for example, "del" at the end, so the delete link becomes
cc836ff6f7_0.05MB_del?

To keep you from forging your own delete links ?

Imagine I'm a luser, and I go around damaging websites. If I knew you
used cc836ff6f7_0.05MB_del as a method, I'd lash together a script to
take all the URLs on the site and deliver the delete command.

Using a hash of some sort to do it, removes the temptation to even try.

Paul

 

[Peter Jason]

Although it's not 30 characters, try uploading a file to
http://myfreefilehosting.com and note the link name you are given. The
delete link name is even longer (>30).

My thoughts are that these file names contain characters that can
group sets of files. That is a tagging system to select files of a
type or from a certain source.

 

[Bob I]

Thanks, I'm using this already (the field at the top right corner of
the W Explorer screen.)

try using just "phty" (without the quotes)

 

[Peter Jason]

try using just "phty" (without the quotes)

No.
If I find a string:
"lj8gav6QSp1qezve0o1"
and I want to find this and others with "gav" then I have to put:
*gav in the Explorer field.

If I put "*gav AND ve" I get all those with these. but if I put:
"*gav AND *ve" nothing happens.

 

[Bob I]

No.
If I find a string:
"lj8gav6QSp1qezve0o1"
and I want to find this and others with "gav" then I have to put:
*gav in the Explorer field.

If I put "*gav AND ve" I get all those with these. but if I put:
"*gav AND *ve" nothing happens.

Ok, I see where it is going. IF there is a "non-alpha-numeric character"
for it to parse on, then the "*" is not needed. Otherwise the "*" is
needed to "break" it at the point you want.