Attached Link: Poser History

The 8 characters was just a guess based on the names they used. I’m not sure why the internal names would have to conform to any OS limits though, and the actual file names like P4NudeWoman .cr2 exceed 8 chars. DOS/Win may have moved past 8.3 when Poser came out and even at that, AFAIK, it was originally released for the Mac and I don’t know what the limits were for OS 6 or whatever it was at the time – probably bigger than MS though. You’ll have to ask Larry Weinberg what the rationale was.

“Which cause no end of trouble, and sensible people avoid using them in file and directory names.”

No disrespect but I can’t say that I agree with that, at least not as a universal dictum – it all depends on the context. If you’re working in a multi-OS environment where they don’t translate well then perhaps. In a Windows (and probably Mac) GUI environment, which is what most people use, I think they’re fine. They contribute to readability and enable a more natural naming convention. I prefer “My Documents” to MyDocuments,” etc. The goal is to make things easier for the average user. If you’re using a command line interface (or writing code for that matter), yeah, it is a hassle to have to enclose them in quotes, but again, I think most people are using the point and click GUI most of the time. In that context, IMO, there’s no compelling reason to have AccountsReceivableAug09 any more than AcRc0809, if the OS will support using “Accounts Receivable Aug 09” If there are problems with individual apps or Oses, they need to be fixed. Computers are so widespread now, they should accommodate humans, not vice versa ÷)
 

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