I have some code that uses processes to open files. It suddenly stopped working, and when I started investigating, I found it was due to the length/weirdness (special chars) of the path.
If I move the file to a different directory and/or rename it, it opens without problems. Also, if I create an identical directory on another computer and run the same code, it works.
The code I used to start the process was as follows (but it didn't matter if I used Process.start(path) either.
Dim pToStart as ProcessStartInfo
pToStart = New ProcessStartInfo(filepath)
pToStart.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Maximized
pToStart.UseShellExecute = True
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(pToStart)
I can't disclose the exact path names (as the file names have some confidential info), but I can give rough ones. "x" means alphanumeric character, "z" is just the extension.
Working:
- C:\Users\User\Downloads\xxxxxxx.zzz
- C:\Directory\First Last\xxxxx_xxxx_xxxx_xxxx_xx_x.zzz
Not Working:
- C:\Directory\First Last\xx_xxxxx_xxxxx_x%_xxx x-xx.x_xx.zzz
- C:\Directory\First Last\xx_xxxxx_xxxxx_x%_xxx x-xx.x_xx.zzz
The computer looks like it is trying to open something, but nothing happens. The process is started briefly in task manager and then ends.
Thanks.
