maildir file names illegal on cygwin?

[Cliff Hones]

> > Are colons ':' illegal in cygwin file names? Every filename I 
> > try to touch with a colon in it, backslashed or not, returns 
> > this message:
> 
> Remember the underlying file system is a Windows one (FAT or NTFS) and
> that uses : to separate drive letter from file name, so I suspect it is
> not allowed in Windows file names.

On NTFS a file can contain multiple data streams.  The syntax for
a secondary stream is <filename>:<streamname>.  However, not all
windows apps understand the syntax.

For example, try the following in a DOS or CMD box:

  copy <some-text-file>  example
  type <another-text-file>  > example:subfile
  more < example
  more < example:subfile

[The syntax is understood by CMD file redirection, but not by COPY.]

See:

  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q105763

-- Cliff





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