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Henrik K.3's avatar
Henrik K.3
Explorer | Level 3
8 years ago

Dropbox is Changing the file name to UPPERCASE letters

Sometimes filenames in my Dropbox folder(s) are changed to UPPERCASE letters. Seemingly random, but probably isn't :)   I can see from the version history that the file has been renamed (changing f...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
     
    You may keep in mind that Dropbox supports case-sensitive file names, but Windows pcs don't. While it may appear that you can have mixed case file names, they both don't at the file system level. Consequently, you can’t have two files named "temp" and "TEMP" in the same folder on Windows operating systems.
     
    Thus, there is no event that Dropbox can send to a Windows or Mac client that says "rename temp to TEMP" because that's not possible. This will work on Linux, and specially configured Mac OS, because they support mixed case.
     
    What you can do to work around this issue is rename the file twice, like this example:
     
    1. rename "temp" to "tmp"
    2. rename "tmp" to "TEMP"
     
    Hope this helps you clarify, let me know if you need more details about it in your reply! 
Sanchez's avatar
Sanchez
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Thanks for the link to the screenshot, Henrik K.3. 

In the upper portion of your image, there are a couple of consecutive renames of the file, at 4:42 and 4:43 PM. Did you do either of these renames, or maybe access the files on a Mac and a Windows machine at those times? 

Let me know when you can. 
Have a great weekend :sunglasses:
 
Henrik K.3's avatar
Henrik K.3
Explorer | Level 3
8 years ago

I have not changed the case myself in any of the cases. I have switched between Mac and Windows on this file, but I am not sure when this was. 

 

However I have seen other files that have changed case too, and they were never opened/saved on the Mac. Only Windows.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago
     
    You may keep in mind that Dropbox supports case-sensitive file names, but Windows pcs don't. While it may appear that you can have mixed case file names, they both don't at the file system level. Consequently, you can’t have two files named "temp" and "TEMP" in the same folder on Windows operating systems.
     
    Thus, there is no event that Dropbox can send to a Windows or Mac client that says "rename temp to TEMP" because that's not possible. This will work on Linux, and specially configured Mac OS, because they support mixed case.
     
    What you can do to work around this issue is rename the file twice, like this example:
     
    1. rename "temp" to "tmp"
    2. rename "tmp" to "TEMP"
     
    Hope this helps you clarify, let me know if you need more details about it in your reply! 
    • Henrik K.3's avatar
      Henrik K.3
      Explorer | Level 3
      8 years ago

      Weird thing, but I will have to stick to the workaround then. Thanks!

      • Jane's avatar
        Jane
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        8 years ago

        Hey Henrik K.3, 

        Great, this trick will help you organize your Dropbox files! :tools:

        If it's not too much trouble for you, would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using the Dropbox Community? You can access it here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT .
         
        [ Please feel free to get back in touch here at any time if you have any other Dropbox questions or experience any issues in the future. ]
         
        Hope you have a great rest of the day! :coffee:

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