Do not use "forward slash" in Mac OS X filenames, Distiller 6.0 example

MacFixIt reader Richard Spensley describes a problem with Adobe Acrobat Distiller that shows why you should never use the forward slash "/" in filenames under Mac OS X.

"I have just been trying to create PDF files from two source .PS documents that contained the forward slash '/' character in their filename. The .PS files, when dropped on to Distiller, appear to process in the normal fashion and Distiller reports that the files have been correctly processed and even lists the directory where they were placed. However, upon searching, these files are nowhere to be found on the entire hard disk. I noticed that Distiller reported that it had replaced the '/" character in the filename with a colon ":" so then I removed the forward slashes and re-Distilled the files - hey presto, no problems."

The forward slash should also never be used in the name of a drive or partition, or virtually in any other name field in Mac OS X. The reason behind this limitation stems from Mac OS X's UNIX underpinnings

In prior versions of Mac OS the location of a file was noted using a path, with the colon ( :) separating objects. Mac OS X uses the forward slash ( /) in place of the colon.

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