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Attachments with a `/` slash in the filename fail to open

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 25 views
  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

nsolot
nsolot
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It seem that Attachments with a `/` slash in the filename fail to open in Thunderbird. For example I get a file attached named:

DARS/GSBMNP/62118630/962/9629296189.pdf

Double clicking doesn't open it nor does right-click & Open.

If I save it, the '/' are replaced with '-' like this, and then I can open it.

DARS-GSBMNP-62118630-962-9629296189.pdf

Files that do not contain the `/` slash open just fine.

Thank you & Happy New Year!

It seem that Attachments with a `/` slash in the filename fail to open in Thunderbird. For example I get a file attached named: DARS/GSBMNP/62118630/962/9629296189.pdf Double clicking doesn't open it nor does right-click & Open. If I save it, the '/' are replaced with '-' like this, and then I can open it. DARS-GSBMNP-62118630-962-9629296189.pdf Files that do not contain the `/` slash open just fine. Thank you & Happy New Year!

All Replies (3)

Amelia
Amelia
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I am assuming this is caused by how servers treat the / and how most clients use it.

I am impressed that someone was able to make a file with the / in the filename, as that tends to be not a character people can add, as on unix-based systems, it is represented as folders, and on windows it is treated as one of the cmd arguments

Please see File a bug report or feature request for Mozilla products for more details on how to submit a bug like this, but for the time being, do not use / or \ in filenames, as that can cause issues. (still wondering how you were allowed to do that in the first place)

nsolot
nsolot Question owner
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Thanks for fast reply. I am the recipient of these emails. They are actually being generated by a condo association billing system to send out monthly statements, with the statements as PDF attachments. Looking back a few months I see old statements which did not have the slashes in the filename. I have reported this problem to them also.

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 25 Contributor
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It might be worth while telling the sender they are generating files that are using illegal characters in file names which causes issues. However, there is a bug report which deals with illegal filenames and it has gone to beta for testing prior to release. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1747977

Modified by Toad-Hall