Windows support for long filenames

Microsoft Windows enforces a Maximum Path Length Limitation, which unfortunately is likely to cause issues in developer usage.

In particular, our set of tools are affected by how we create isolated Python environments. For example, we cannot influence or guarantee how the Python libraries added as dependencies are named and structured.

So, to ensure the proper functioning of our tools, Windows Long Path Support needs to be enabled in your system.

How to enable Windows Long Path Support

NOTE: Microsoft Windows comes in many revisions and variants: different versions can impact how the setting is applied or if this is supported at all.

This guide and our apps work under our system requirements.

Admin permissions are required to execute the fix.

If you are working with an IT department, you should notify them to make this change into a company-wide setting using group policies, as shown in the step-by-step guide.

Applications

With the latest versions of our applications Robocorp Assistant, Robocorp Workforce Agent and Robocorp Code for VS Code, all make initial system diagnoses to detect the problem and provide an automatic way to fixing it.

Robocorp Code extension users

Support to fix the issue is integrated into the extension.

RCC users

Starting from version 7.0.7, RCC can detect the problem and fix it:

• To check run rcc configure longpaths
• To enable run rcc configure longpaths --enable (admin permissions are required)

Step-by-step guide

• Open the Local Group Policy Editor application: - Start --> type gpedit.msc --> Enter:
• Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem. On the right, find the "Enable win32 long paths" item and double-click it.
• Change the setting to Enabled
• Exit the Local Group Policy Editor and restart your computer (or sign out and back in) to allow the changes to finish.

If the problem persists after those steps, try the following:

• Open the Registry Editor application: - Start --> type regedit.msc and press Enter:
• Navigate to HKEY-LOCAL-MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > FileSystem. On the right, find the LongPathsEnabled item and double-click it.
• Change the Value data: to 1.
• Exit the Registry Editor.