Cannot Open Documents with Spaces in Name by Double-Clicking

• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you try to open a file with a long filename that contains a space by double-clicking the file in My Computer or Windows Explorer, you may receive the following error message

   Cannot open "<name>" please verify the correct path and filename are
   given

CAUSE

By default, the command line that is run when you double-click a file is exactly what the associated program registered, except that the full path name is substituted for %1 in the command line. If the registered command line does not contain %1, the filename is appended to the end of the line. Some programs parse the command line looking for arguments, and see the space in the appended filename as a separator for an argument. Such programs try to open the file using the portion of the filename before the space.

RESOLUTION

Place "%1" (with the quotation marks) on the end of the command line for the association with the specific document type. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Double-click My Computer.

2. On the View menu of the window that opens, click Options.

3. Click the File Types tab.

4. In the Registered File Types box, click the appropriate file type, then click the Edit button.

5. In the Actions box, click Open, then click Edit.

6. In the Application Used To Perform Action box, add a space, and then type "%1" (with the quotation marks) to the end of the line.

7. Click OK.

8. Click Close twice.

STATUS

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem applies only to 32-bit programs. 16-bit programs use the file's short MS-DOS name, which does not contain spaces.