You receive an error message when you try to use the Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server tf command-line utility to access source code

View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

You receive an error message when you try to use the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server tf command-line utility to access source code.

For example, you receive an error message if you use the following command to try to access the Myform.cs user-created class:

tf get /s:StringLongerThan259Characters myform.cs /version:c1256

The error message text resembles the following:

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Microsoft Visual Studio
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Error

TF10128: The path <path> contains more than the allowed 260 characters. Type or select a shorter path.
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OK   
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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, create directory paths that contain two characters fewer than the limit that is stated in the error message. You can also use the History window and Source Code Explorer to find the information that you are looking for.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

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MORE INFORMATION

Despite the text in the error message, the path limit is not actually 260 characters when you search source code. The following limits exist:

Server paths are limited to 258 characters.
Local paths are limited to 259 characters.

For more information about the tf command-line utility, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:

Tf command-line utility commands
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/z51z7zy0.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/z51z7zy0.aspx)

Using Source Code Explorer
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181370.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181370.aspx)

Understanding the History window
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms245475.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms245475.aspx)

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