Guides / Paths that are too long

Paths that are too long

On Windows, a sample can sit on your disk and still not open in Live. A path that is too long is one cause.

Why it happens

Windows cannot open a file when its full path has more than 260 characters. The full path is every folder name, then the file name.

Deep folders and long names add up fast. A sample inside a sample pack, inside a project, inside a library folder can pass the limit.

Collect All and Save can leave such a sample behind without saying so. See Collect All and Save.

What to do by hand

1. Find the sample. File Explorer shows the path of its folder in the address bar.
2. Move the sample to a folder with a short path, for example a folder near the top of a drive.
3. Open the Set in Live and point Live at the new place.
4. Save the Set under a new name. Keep the old Set as it is.

Do this once for each sample. A project with many long paths takes a long time.

What Nearfield does

“Shorten sample paths” measures the sample paths in your whole library at once. It counts the samples that are past the limit or close to it.

1. Open the “Fix” tab.
2. Under “More ways to fix”, press “Shorten sample paths”.
3. Choose how close to the limit a sample must be. For example, choose “Broken now”.
4. Press “Shorten these samples”. Nearfield copies them to shorter paths in your User Library.
5. Press “Write the repointed copies”. Nearfield writes a new Set beside the Set of each project that you ticked.

The copies go in the folder NF Shortened in your User Library. Your original packs stay where they were. Your own Sets stay as they are.

Read more in the help for Shorten sample paths. The limit is for Windows.