No Documents Appear in the File Open Dialog Box

• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you try to open a document on a Novell NetWare server, no documents may appear in the File Open dialog box in the program you are using.

CAUSE

If a 16-bit program uses the File Open dialog box from the Windows 95 version of the Commdlg.dll file, the program cannot view documents in a folder on a NetWare server if the folder has a long directory name. For example, a 16-bit program may not be able to view documents in a folder named "LongDirectoryName" on a NetWare server.

RESOLUTION

To access the documents, use one of the following methods:

• Change the name of the folder on the NetWare server so that it does not have a long directory name.
• View the documents using My Computer or Windows Explorer. Double- click the file you want to open.
• If possible, upgrade your 16-bit program to a 32-bit version.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95. A fix to this problem is in development, but has not been regression tested and may be destabilizing in production environments. Microsoft does not recommend implementing this fix at this time. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information on the availability of this fix.

MORE INFORMATION

The following programs exhibit the behavior described in this article:

• Lotus Notes (16-bit version)
• Microsoft Access version 2.0
• Microsoft Notepad (16-bit versions)
• Microsoft Project version 4.0

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q147838
   TITLE     : Cannot Access Folders with Long File Names on NetWare
               Servers