Dropbox is Changing the file name to UPPERCASE letters

Hey @Henrik K.3,

You may keep in mind that Dropbox supports case-sensitive file names, but Windows pcs don't. While it may appear that you can have mixed case file names, they both don't at the file system level. Consequently, you can’t have two files named "temp" and "TEMP" in the same folder on Windows operating systems.

Thus, there is no event that Dropbox can send to a Windows or Mac client that says "rename temp to TEMP" because that's not possible. This will work on Linux, and specially configured Mac OS, because they support mixed case.

What you can do to work around this issue is rename the file twice, like this example:

rename "temp" to "tmp"
rename "tmp" to "TEMP"

Hope this helps you clarify, let me know if you need more details about it in your reply!

All comments

Sanchez

Hey @Henrik K.3,

That’s a new one! It sounds like something we’ll need to send to our team for review. Before we do that, would you be able to send me a screenshot showing what you’ve described? If you do, just make sure there isn’t any personal info show, as this is a public forum

Thanks!

2017-09-14 15_10_06-Files - Dropbox.png

Here is the full log for the file. The only rename I did is the first one where it was renamed from "test.xlsm". The file has been used on two different computers where one is a Mac.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lg8j0z5uli36wnl/2017-09-14%2015_10_06-Files%20-%20Dropbox.png?dl=0

Sanchez

Thanks for the link to the screenshot, @Henrik K.3.

In the upper portion of your image, there are a couple of consecutive renames of the file, at 4:42 and 4:43 PM. Did you do either of these renames, or maybe access the files on a Mac and a Windows machine at those times?

Let me know when you can.

Have a great weekend

I have not changed the case myself in any of the cases. I have switched between Mac and Windows on this file, but I am not sure when this was.

However I have seen other files that have changed case too, and they were never opened/saved on the Mac. Only Windows.

Hey @Henrik K.3,

What you can do to work around this issue is rename the file twice, like this example:

rename "temp" to "tmp"
rename "tmp" to "TEMP"

Hope this helps you clarify, let me know if you need more details about it in your reply!

Weird thing, but I will have to stick to the workaround then. Thanks!

Hey @Henrik K.3,

Great, this trick will help you organize your Dropbox files! :tools:

If it's not too much trouble for you, would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using the Dropbox Community? You can access it here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT .

[ Please feel free to get back in touch here at any time if you have any other Dropbox questions or experience any issues in the future. ]

Hope you have a great rest of the day! :coffee:

BMP

The solution I found was to select Properties of my dropbox folder and then to unselect the files as "Read Only" and saved that.

Then in the preferences I unselected the lowercase files and once they had cleared my pc, I added the files back to my dropbox folder - they were now in caitals as on the web.

ben p.11

Hi all,

I just had yet another file case changed by Dropbox, however this time I'm absolutely sure it was changed by Dropbox, because the file is part of a script, and is referenced by a piece of code with its original name.

I filed a ticket under Ticket #9720408

The chat assistance was not helpful, this is all really scary and I'd like to get a feedback from you guys other than "Dropbox won't do that".

I'm absolutely positive that it happened, and if you cannot demonstrate why and how it will quickly be fixed, I'll have to let go of your - otherwise very helpful - service.

Daphne

Hey there @ben p.11,

Just to note, I've merged your post here as it seems your issue is similar to the one discussed here.

To start off, could you please just let me know what OS systems you're using when accessing your Dropbox files via the desktop app? Also, if you check the version history of the file and are able to locate where the rename took place, can you see which device this change was made from?

Let me know what you find and we'll go from there - thanks!

ben p.11

I'm using Dropbox for linux under ubuntu 18.04 as per your instructions here : https://www.dropbox.com/fr/install-linux

The version history is worthless, not mentioning the current state of the file.

My problem is NOT SOLVED. I think moving my post to a solved topic is not good practice.

Daphne

Hey @ben p.11,

I understand that for you this isn't solved, however this helps us to keep all relevant information in one place.

I located your open ticket with our Support team and passed along your comments here, and I'd advise to continue working on this with our specialist as you'd need to discuss account specific info for further investigation.

Unfortunately, as this is a public forum I wouldn't be able to look into this with you in nearly as much detail as I don't have access to the necessary info, and we wouldn't be able to discuss sensitive info here.

Sorry that I can't be of much more help here, but please don't hesitate to get back to the specialist with any further info or questions you have as they are better suited to assisting you with getting to the bottom of this.

Thanks!

I'll just add what we found on this issue yesterday on our Windows sytem (what's shown on dropbox.com agrees with what's local):

A number of dirs and even some files changed case on a mass scale, and quickly, definitely by DB itself.

For example:

Rssc Invoices --> RSSC Invoices

Bylaws_Final_Unsigned.docx --> Bylaws_Final_UNsigned.docx

After much discussion, we determined what DB did: out of the blue reverted months-old changes that we made to the case of some dirs and files.

At different times early in the year, we corrected/changed the case of some dirs and files, two of which are shown above. In those cases, we changed "RSSC" to "Rssc" and "UNsigned" to "Unsigned." Just to pick those two examples out of the many involved. Dropbox then yesterday decided to undo those almost-forgotten changes througout our file structure.

Hopefully this bug can be found. And let's pray that DB never undoes renames where more than the case changes.

Hey @Brian1, I appreciate the detailed description!

As you mentioned that this is happening within your Dropbox directories, I’m wondering if the files are renamed by another shared folder member/a device you haven’t linked for some time. Have you had a chance to check an example file’s Version History (tip: it’s on the on the 💬 of the file in question)?

Please let me know of your findings. Thanks!

There are only two devices joined (I checked in the Security section), and they're both synced 24x7, so that wasn't it.

Directories don't have history, but I spot-checked some files that we know changed, and only old events are listed, nothing for the given day and the actions in question.

Thanks for keeping in touch here @Brian1!

As I’d need account-specific info to further investigate, would it be okay with you if I created a support request on our system on your behalf to cross-check our findings?

Please let me know when you have some spare time & I’ll touch-base with you asap. Thanks again!

Wasn't this already investigated via prior cases with others? Looking at those might show what the problem was and why it wasn't resolved. That would seem much easier than trying to go through the whole thing again each time with support.

Thanks for your speedy reply back @Brian1!

While the thread dates back to 2017, it looks like the OP’s inquiry has been addressed by my comment on the first page. From there, it’s not clear whether/how Ben’s question has been answered & that’s why I thought it would be best to further investigate via ticket.

Keep me posted on how you'd like to proceed in your next message & I'll follow-up with you asap.

Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again!

I didn't follow that answer for OP and didn't see it as a solution at all. The conclusion ("there is no event that Dropbox can send to a Windows or Mac client that says "rename temp to TEMP") seems to exonorate DB completely. Is that what you meant? If so, that precludes my following up on our issue, especially since Dropbox history doesn't even show any of it happening.

It would basically be me saying: DB must have done it, and you saying "Impossible."

Getting back to your temp/TEMP example, while I understand what you're saying about the impossibility of files by those names existing in the same dir in Windows, that's beside the point. We're merely talking about a file changing from one thing to another thing as humans see it. So, temp->TEMP or whatever, which is perfectly legal and supported by everything, DB included. We're not talking about temp and TEMP coexisting, and we understand that at a non-human level there is no difference. Keep in mind also that what I saw, at least, was DB reverting old changes that we made, not just up and deciding to do this to random dirs/files.

Looking at Ben's case would make sense, since it already exists.

Hey again @Brian1,

I’ve had a chance to check Ben’s case & it wasn’t clear how the rename happened, as they also mentioned that the original filename was part of a script. I’m asking you more questions on that, in order to see whether Dropbox is indeed the cause.

That being said, I’ve been able to play around with a few example files & it looks like renaming a file from “temp” to “TEMP” will stick once you refresh the File Explorer, however your last comment makes me think that the issue has been slightly different on this specific case.

It would be more efficient if we discussed that checking back on the details we have on file for your account after this point. If you have some time to work on that with me, please let me know here.

Thanks again!

mauricev

I have files with uppercase (capital) letters in the filenames. Recently, I've noticed that Dropbox is on its own converting them to lower case. Even if I manually change the name to something else and then set it back to with upper case letters, it will eventually get converted. I decided on an experiment to confirm Dropbox was doing this. I moved the parent folder out of Dropbox with all its upper case letters in the filenames intact. They didn't change*. Then after it finishing syncing their deletion, I moved the parent folder back. As expected, Dropbox converted the upper case letters. This is on a Mac Pro with Mojave.

*This is on an external ZFS RAID, but ZFS completely honors the lower/upper case distinction even though it's configured case insensitive. Dropbox is at fault here.