Find large files and folders exceeding 400 characters limits

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Posted on 6 Jun 2024 11:39:08 by EBMRay

1,710

Hello,

We have a large file server with files and folders that we need to migrate to SharePoint Online. In SharePoint Online, we have a limitation of 400 characters URL limit and a large number of our existing files and folders met this limitation.

I am planning to create an RPA that can fetch, in batches, those files and folders exceeding the 400 character limits due to multiple sub-layers and bad naming conventions.

The RPA should perform the following tasks:

Extract those files and folders into a CSV file. (The team will adjust the CSV for better naming.)
Trigger the RPA to loop through the Excel file and perform the renaming automatically to reduce the 400-character limit.

Could you please advise how this can be done or provide some guidance? Is the above a good approach?

Your assistance is highly appreciated.

Best regards,
Julien

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EBMRay 1,710 on 12 Jun 2024 at 06:23:38

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Re: Find large files and folders exceeding 400 characters limits

Hello @Deenuji ,

Thank you for clarifying those points.
Yes, I need to look into how to push the data into work queues as a list of items. I would appreciate it if you could share proper guidance on how to do this.

Best regards,
Julien
Deenuji_Loganathan_ 6,204 Super User 2025 Season 1 on 07 Jun 2024 at 11:56:41

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Re: Find large files and folders exceeding 400 characters limits

@Julien2

Certainly, there isn't a straightforward method to verify if a user has opened a file from your server.

However, you might encounter an error when attempting to rename a file if it's currently open. In such cases, you could copy and rename the files in a different or temporary location instead of renaming them directly.

Regarding the volume of data, it would be wise to first compile the folder names into a list or an Excel sheet. Then, you can push the data into work queues as list of items and set up a bot to process the items from the queue, distributing the workload across multiple machines.

Hope this helps!!

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
Automation Evangelist 🤖
Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

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EBMRay 1,710 on 07 Jun 2024 at 09:47:48

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Re: Find large files and folders exceeding 400 characters limits

Hi @Deenuji ,

Thank you for providing a sample. I will test it out.

Before renaming or restructuring (changing file paths), how can I check if the file is already open by the user? If it is open, can I skip the logic of renaming and update the Excel file as not processed?

What is the best practice for running the bot in batches, as I have large data?

I would appreciate it if you could provide a reference on that.

Best regards, Julien
Deenuji_Loganathan_ 6,204 Super User 2025 Season 1 on 06 Jun 2024 at 15:20:21

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Re: Find large files and folders exceeding 400 characters limits

@Julien2

Please refer some sample flow for your reference.

Thanks,
Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
Automation Evangelist 🤖
Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

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If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀