No filename

[admin]

The thing is that some people might not have any problem with a file called .txt while some rather not have the ability to do it or have it happen accidentally...

Maybe I did not get it but: when you rename a file you are responsible for the new name. When you call a file ".txt" it's your choice. Or are you talking about any way the results in a file called ".txt" without a clear user decision to do so?

[RalphM]

What if some malicious software did it? What if I screwed up a rename job, but there is no undo function in the program or in XYplorer?

If some malicious software did it, then XY not allowing it probably doesn't prevent that either.
For the bad rename job we are back to my initial post...

[j_c_hallgren]

For the bad rename job we are back to my initial post...

Agreed! If user screws up and doesn't do a preview and looses data, well....then...it's kinda up to user to un-screw themselves, IMO...

Having an undo function will help in this, but for now, I don't see any reason to prevent XY from doing something that WE can't..

[serendipity]

I dont see anything wrong with having just .txt as name. Ofcourse i dont use it, but it doesnt harm anything as far as i can see. Ofcourse, a file having no name is funny, but its definitely not harmful. Personally, i would not care too much if i by mistake renamed my file with .txt.
But on the other hand i just viewed my .txt file with WE and with the option "hide extensions of known file types" enabled all i see is a text file icon with no name which is kind of funny .

[ivan]

That's what I'm talking about. Especially since that option of hiding extensions is there by default. To some it would be useful to have no filename, to some it would be scary. What makes XYplorer great is (amongst other things) its customizing options and this one is would make a nice addition. No harm in it methinks...

[PeterH]

I don't know if it is NTFS or the Windows File API, but trailing dots are not allowed resp. they are simply ignored when renaming a file.

Ah - that's it. Thanks!

To the other posts: when a file is called .txt, then it has a name. And if any program like WE does suppress a part of it, then this program is to blame, I think. (And the name still is .txt - isn't it?)
(For a new user on any windows-PC as a first action I always change this option, as I want to know what's going on. If I allow it to "lie" I shouldn't complain about not knowing what's going on...)

Next: in Notepad I can save a file to .txt (and then can open it again) - so even MS-programs know of such files.

And even more: I wouldn't like any program to name a file a.txt by mistake - so should this be made impossible, too?
(OK - I would like any program disabling me to make any mistake )

[ivan]

We're getting technical here. If you separate text in the file into filename and extension and have a file called .txt then it has no name or more correctly the space for a name exists but it's empty.

Disabling being able to rename files into such with this space empty is a safety net for those who might appreciate it. Those who don't need this feature shouldn't really get involved as it doesn't affect them

[PeterH]

I think it's good and neccessary to get technical here.
If the parts of the splitted "thing" are called filename and filetype - what would you call the string that has been splitted? That string, beeing the name of the file in the file system?
And if the name of the file (in the file system and elsewhere) is the filename, you should not name a splitted part of it filename, too! No matter, what MS says...

[ivan]

There is no name for string that is being splitted. It's not filename because it includes extension. It's a combo of filename and extension. Unless you'd decide to split hairs and say that filename and name of file aren't the same...