Why Can't I Upload Files With Complicated File Names?

Files that contain invalid characters are not permitted because they can either cause errors when post processing the file or when being called within a URL. For example, a file with two periods in it is not allowed because we do not know what is the real file extension then. A file with a slash in it confuses the file system because it thinks this represents a containing folder. Other characters like number signs and question marks confuse URLs because they are reserved characters. A file with a single apostrophe or a bracket can confuse the javascript responsible for beginning the upload.

We have always tried to remove illegal characters but we cannot do it for all files because some characters will cause failures before the clean up process can actually begin on the server, namely those that affect the javascript.

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