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20110406-3 -
Why Certain ERDAS Modules Rely Upon 8dot3 Shortcuts
April 06, 2011
About file names that contain spaces
All ERDAS application modules are designed to handle spaces in directory and file names.
ERDAS includes certain legacy third-party modules that were never designed to properly handle file names that included spaces, and can not be re-engineered to handle them.
These modules still operate correctly, even when installed into "C:\Program Files", provided that an 8dot3 alternative name like "c:\progra~1" is available.
When is this a problem?
The only place where these third party modules have a problem is when the 8dot3 alternative names are intentionally disabled by the system administrator. Disabling 8dot3 Name Generation can make a systems a little harder for an attacker to damage. However, folders created while this setting is in force may be unsuitable for use by these third-party modules, particularly if they are installed into such folders.
There are two opportunities to detect and avoid this problem before it affects you:
- ERDAS Desktop installers (versions 9.2 and higher) will not run if they detect that folders without necessary 8dot3 alternatives will be created
- After installation, occurrences of Error 193 provide additional warning that the installation is not compatible with these third-party modules.
What to do
If you wish to use all ERDAS Desktop software modules, you need to either install ERDAS Desktop products into a folder path that contains no spaces, or you need to establish 8dot3 shortcuts for the directory path in which you install these applications.
Consult Installation Problems with Error 193 or 8dot3 for details of the strategies to resolve this problem.
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Product(s):
ERDAS IMAGINE
LPS