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Forum Discussion
Henrik K.3
9 years agoExplorer | Level 3
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...
- 9 years agoYou 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:
- rename "temp" to "tmp"
- rename "tmp" to "TEMP"
Hope this helps you clarify, let me know if you need more details about it in your reply!
Brian1
7 years agoCollaborator | Level 10
There are only two devices joined (I checked in the Security section), and they're both synced 24x7, so that wasn't it.
Directories don't have history, but I spot-checked some files that we know changed, and only old events are listed, nothing for the given day and the actions in question.
Jane
Dropbox Staff
7 years agoThanks for keeping in touch here Brian1!
As I’d need account-specific info to further investigate, would it be okay with you if I created a support request on our system on your behalf to cross-check our findings?
Please let me know when you have some spare time & I’ll touch-base with you asap. Thanks again!
- Brian17 years agoCollaborator | Level 10
Wasn't this already investigated via prior cases with others? Looking at those might show what the problem was and why it wasn't resolved. That would seem much easier than trying to go through the whole thing again each time with support.
- Jane7 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Thanks for your speedy reply back Brian1!While the thread dates back to 2017, it looks like the OP’s inquiry has been addressed by my comment on the first page. From there, it’s not clear whether/how Ben’s question has been answered & that’s why I thought it would be best to further investigate via ticket.Keep me posted on how you'd like to proceed in your next message & I'll follow-up with you asap.Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again! - Brian17 years agoCollaborator | Level 10
I didn't follow that answer for OP and didn't see it as a solution at all. The conclusion ("there is no event that Dropbox can send to a Windows or Mac client that says "rename temp to TEMP") seems to exonorate DB completely. Is that what you meant? If so, that precludes my following up on our issue, especially since Dropbox history doesn't even show any of it happening.
It would basically be me saying: DB must have done it, and you saying "Impossible."
Getting back to your temp/TEMP example, while I understand what you're saying about the impossibility of files by those names existing in the same dir in Windows, that's beside the point. We're merely talking about a file changing from one thing to another thing as humans see it. So, temp->TEMP or whatever, which is perfectly legal and supported by everything, DB included. We're not talking about temp and TEMP coexisting, and we understand that at a non-human level there is no difference. Keep in mind also that what I saw, at least, was DB reverting old changes that we made, not just up and deciding to do this to random dirs/files.
Looking at Ben's case would make sense, since it already exists.
- Jane7 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Hey again Brian1,I’ve had a chance to check Ben’s case & it wasn’t clear how the rename happened, as they also mentioned that the original filename was part of a script. I’m asking you more questions on that, in order to see whether Dropbox is indeed the cause.That being said, I’ve been able to play around with a few example files & it looks like renaming a file from “temp” to “TEMP” will stick once you refresh the File Explorer, however your last comment makes me think that the issue has been slightly different on this specific case.It would be more efficient if we discussed that checking back on the details we have on file for your account after this point. If you have some time to work on that with me, please let me know here.Thanks again!
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