Bridge can't interact with directories containing a question mark

[BridgeUser666]

This took me quite a while to figure out, but Bridge 11 seems to have serious problems dealing with any directories that have a question mark in their name. If you try to open such a directory by dragging it onto Bridge, it does nothing. If you manually navigate to the directory and try to open a file, it does nothing.

I'm using:

* MacOS Catalina 10.15.7

* Adobe Bridge 11.0.1.109

[gary_sc]

That's because the Mac OS and Window's OS both cannot use "illegal characters" in file names, folder names, etc.

? / . * are amongst them.

Here's more info:

https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/writing/characters-avoid/

[BridgeUser666]

@gary_sc That's not true. The only characters you can't use for directories in MacOS are : and /. I've been using question marks in directories for years and it's not a problem for any other program. (It also worked fine with Adobe Bridge until recently.)

[Lumigraphics]

Its generally a bad idea to use question marks and with Bridge being cross-pllatform, I'm not surprised. Just change those folder names.

[BridgeUser666]

It's a bad idea to use question marks???! I'm trying to report a bug that likely affects thousands of users and y'all are telling me I just need to stop using question marks? Even though MacOS has supported question marks in directory names since its inception? Even though all other programs for MacOS (even cross-platform ones) are fine with question marks? Do you think I should stop using lowercase letters as well? I hear some older computer systems don't support them.

[Lumigraphics]

I would have said that even if Adobe wasn't involved. But hey you do you.

[Tamina5CE4]

I have got the same problem. In my workflow it just makes sense to use question marks. I have used Bridge like that for years and now there s no solution to that?

Please Adobe react!

[Lumigraphics]

The question mark is an illegal character for Windows filenames. Since Bridge is cross-platform, its not surprise that it isn't supported.

[Tamina5CE4]

I use Mac. And it has been working for years ... until now.

[Lumigraphics]

I'm a Mac user by choice as well, but Bridge has a common codebase which is used with both the Mac and Windows versions. What happens on one platform can have effects on the other, we saw this with the whole Photoshop Save As debacle where a change on the Mac had ripple effects on the Windows version.

I don't know if its been working for years, but as I said I'm not surprised.

[jbm007]

Works just fine here.

Big Slur 11.2.3

Adobe Bridge 11.0.1.109

Could be a OS issue.

[MarkTaylor88]

I discovered the same problem today. If there is a question mark in the folder name, Bridge is unable to find photos within it by searching metadata, and changing the metadata causes thumbnails to turn blank (white), and other weirdness. Even if question marks are not allowed, Bridge should inform the user rather than just failing to work properly.

[mike boruta]

Agreed! If Bridge would've just told me that I couldn't use "?" in my file or folder name I would have saved a lot of time trying to figure out why my workflow didn't work.

[gary_sc]

There are very, very, very few applications* that do point that out. I do know that FileMaker Pro will not let you use a hyphen in a calculation, but that's a calculation, not a name. (To get around that limitation, I use an "n" dash.)

*In reality, I do not know ANY application that does; I'm just giving myself an out if someone says that XXX does.

[BridgeUser666]

Maybe that's because most applications accept the same file names as their OS.