RE: spaces in html file names...

["Braden N. McDaniel" <braden shadow net>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kevin marcal com [mailto:kevin marcal com]
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 1998 4:12 PM
> To: redhat-install-list redhat com
> Subject: Re: spaces in html file names...
>
>
> Paul Brady wrote:
> >
> > I use Webworks Publisher to convert framemaker files to HTML.
> Some of the
> > resulting names are large and contain spaces...like this one:
> >
> > "User GuideTOC.fm.html"
>
> DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
>
> > This should translate into:
> > "User%20GuideTOC.fm.html"
>
> Yick!  A kludge, at best.

How is this a kludge? RFC 1738 makes it pretty clear when and what
characters should be escaped. Note that the above string (including the
escaped space character) is what should appear in a URL, *not* what should
appear in the actual filename. (I think this is probably clear to all
involved, but just making sure.)

That said... If these are URLs a human will be expected to type in, get rid
of the space character. Otherwise, though, I don't see a problem.

> > Any way around this without renaming 6000 files?
>
> Are the framemaker files named in this manner?
> If not, complain to Webworks.
> If they are, rename them first--then convert.
>
> You could have a shell script easily rename them
> without the spaces, but refernces within the
> files may then be broken.  Of course, a shell
> script could fix those too (using 'sed'), but
> sheesh, what a mess.
>
> Using spaces in filename for webpages is _begging_
> for problems.

That depends on the context in which the pages will be used. Any URL parser
that can't grok escaped characters is very badly broken.

Prismatic Booger
Braden N. McDaniel, braden shadow net
<http://www.shadow.net/%7Ebraden/>