File names changed when uploaded

Grhm · 4 Jun 2018, 08:56 AM

Hi, all.
This may not be an issue with Fastmail at all, but perhaps the effect of some arcane thing about file names that I don't understand, but...
Earlier this evening I uploaded seven photographs so that I could publish them using Fastmail's excellent (and, I suspect, scandalously under-used) photo-gallery web-site facility.
After they had been uploaded, the file-names of all but one of them had changed.
I had re-named them all in the local file system to reflect their content but, after uploading, only one of them retained that name; the other six had new, generic-looking names beginning 'IMG_'
It seems particularly strange that it only happened to six out of the seven files.
Does anybody have any ideas why this may have happened, and/or how I can avoid it happening again?
Thanks,
Graham.

ADDENDUM - NEW INFO
It appears that the change of name happened not as the files were uploaded to Fastmail, as I had thought, but as they were bluetoothed from one device to another prior to being uploaded.
This means that Fastmail is in the clear, and is definitely not the culprit!
I'm still mystified by it, though, and would value anyone's opinion of what the cause might be.

JeremyNicoll · 4 Jun 2018, 03:01 PM

What are the devices?
What filings systems (FAT, FAT32, NTFS or whatever) do they use?

You mention a "local file system", bit don't say on which device that was.

I think the original device might use something very basic with filenames like IMG_nnnnnn.jpg, and when you renamed the files on that device either the new names weren't applied at all (but it didn't tell you) or they were stored somewhere (within the image perhaps?) and the device's own file manager didn't show you that the underlying file names hadn't been changed.

Grhm · 6 Jun 2018, 07:41 AM

Hi, Jeremy.
I'm not very technically minded, but I hope this description fills in the blanks:
The phone I took the pictures on is a Nokia C2-01.
The default name that it gives to photos is "PhotoXXXX.jpg", where XXXX is a simple serial number. (So, for example, Photo2000.jpg is the two-thousandth photograph taken by the device.)
I re-named the seven photographs to give them meaningful descriptive names, using the file manager that is part of the Nokia's Symbian operating system.
(At no point had any of them had names beginning "IMG_".)
I then sent the seven re-named files from the Nokia to my Fairphone 2 by Bluetooth, and uploaded them from the Fairphone to my Fastmail account using Fastmail's web interface. (I had to do it this way because the web interface no longer works on the Nokia).
The Fairphone 2 runs the Fairphone Open operating system, which is based on the open-source elements of Android.
Only one of the seven pictures emerged from this procedure with its descriptive name.
The others all had new names beginning "IMG_".
Looking back at the copies of the files that were retained on the other devices, all seven still have their descriptive names on the Nokia, but only one does on the Fairphone: the other six have those mysterious "IMG_" names.
Any ideas what the problem is?
Thanks,
Graham.

4 Jun 2018, 08:56 AM	#1
Grhm Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 270	File names changed when uploaded Hi, all. This may not be an issue with Fastmail at all, but perhaps the effect of some arcane thing about file names that I don't understand, but... Earlier this evening I uploaded seven photographs so that I could publish them using Fastmail's excellent (and, I suspect, scandalously under-used) photo-gallery web-site facility. After they had been uploaded, the file-names of all but one of them had changed. I had re-named them all in the local file system to reflect their content but, after uploading, only one of them retained that name; the other six had new, generic-looking names beginning 'IMG_' It seems particularly strange that it only happened to six out of the seven files. Does anybody have any ideas why this may have happened, and/or how I can avoid it happening again? Thanks, Graham. ADDENDUM - NEW INFO It appears that the change of name happened not as the files were uploaded to Fastmail, as I had thought, but as they were bluetoothed from one device to another prior to being uploaded. This means that Fastmail is in the clear, and is definitely not the culprit! I'm still mystified by it, though, and would value anyone's opinion of what the cause might be. Last edited by Grhm : 4 Jun 2018 at 01:51 PM. Reason: Addendum - new info

6 Jun 2018, 07:41 AM	#3
Grhm Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 270	Hi, Jeremy. I'm not very technically minded, but I hope this description fills in the blanks: The phone I took the pictures on is a Nokia C2-01. The default name that it gives to photos is "PhotoXXXX.jpg", where XXXX is a simple serial number. (So, for example, Photo2000.jpg is the two-thousandth photograph taken by the device.) I re-named the seven photographs to give them meaningful descriptive names, using the file manager that is part of the Nokia's Symbian operating system. (At no point had any of them had names beginning "IMG_".) I then sent the seven re-named files from the Nokia to my Fairphone 2 by Bluetooth, and uploaded them from the Fairphone to my Fastmail account using Fastmail's web interface. (I had to do it this way because the web interface no longer works on the Nokia). The Fairphone 2 runs the Fairphone Open operating system, which is based on the open-source elements of Android. Only one of the seven pictures emerged from this procedure with its descriptive name. The others all had new names beginning "IMG_". Looking back at the copies of the files that were retained on the other devices, all seven still have their descriptive names on the Nokia, but only one does on the Fairphone: the other six have those mysterious "IMG_" names. Any ideas what the problem is? Thanks, Graham. Last edited by Grhm : 6 Jun 2018 at 07:48 AM. Reason: Added info about Fairphone 2 operating system.

4 Jun 2018, 03:01 PM	#2
JeremyNicoll Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Scotland Posts: 484	What are the devices? What filings systems (FAT, FAT32, NTFS or whatever) do they use? You mention a "local file system", bit don't say on which device that was. I think the original device might use something very basic with filenames like IMG_nnnnnn.jpg, and when you renamed the files on that device either the new names weren't applied at all (but it didn't tell you) or they were stored somewhere (within the image perhaps?) and the device's own file manager didn't show you that the underlying file names hadn't been changed.