File name conventions are the rules used to form file names in a given file system. Although each installable file system (IFS) can have specific rules about how individual components in a directory or file name are formed, all file systems follow the same general conventions for combining components. For example, although the FAT file system requires that file and directory names have the 8.3 file name format, and HPFS supports names of up to 255 characters long, both file systems use the backslash (\) character to separate directory names and the file name when forming a path.

When creating names for directories and files, or when processing names supplied by the user, an application must follow these general rules:


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