Powershell script to find TDS files with length error

December 17, 2018 Rodrigo Peplau 0

A very well described problem with TDS is the File Name length error. This article from Hedgehog brings everything you need to know about the issue itself, and how to work it out. The solution is to use the “Alias” TDS feature to cut down the file path length.

For instance, if you have an item with a very long name such as “Subpage with Left Rail Without Footer”, you could choose an Alias as “sub3″ and save 33 characters. Of course, your original item name is preserved, as this only applies to the file system.

In short:

• File path should not exceed 260 chars
• Folder path should not exceed 248 chars

What causes and what to do about

1. You have cloned the repository into a folder with a too large name
   What to do about: 
   1. Make sure you have something short like:
      C:\src\ABC
      instead of
      C:\Source Control\My Client Name Is Long\My Long Project Name
2. TDS project name is too wide – due to the Helix standard TDS projects can have longer names (Eg: MyProject.Foundation.DependencyInjection.Master)
   What to do about:
   1. New projects: avoid long names (Eg: DI instead of DependencyInjection)
   2. Existent projects:
      1. Use the Powershell script to find long paths and apply Aliases
      2. Be proactive to apply Aliases to TDS long names
3. The Sitecore Item Path added to TDS (including the item itself) is too long
   What to do about:
   1. Use the Powershell script to identify long paths, then apply a TDS Alias to each item that makes it longer
   2. EG: this path
      /sitecore/content/mywebsite/This page has a big name/But this page also has a big name/NotToBlame
      has 2 problematic items:
      1. “This page has a big name”
      2. “But this page also has a big name”
   3. Those 2 items must be added to TDS and have their “File System Alias” setup to something smaller

Powershell script

When a certain environment has this issue, make sure to follow the steps described earlier. However, to execute Step 3 you should first discover what items are problematic.

To quickly obtain such a list, use the following Powershell script:

# Script Setup
$pathToScan = “D:\src\ABC”;
$outputToCsv = $false;
$outputToPrompt = $true;
$maxLength = 225;
#########

cls;

if ($pathToScan.IndexOf(“\src”) -eq -1){
$pathToScan = “$pathToScan\src”;
}

# Get all TDS folders
$tdsFolders = Get-ChildItem -Path $pathToScan -File -Recurse | Where-Object {($_.FullName -like ‘*.Master*’) -or ($_.FullName -like ‘*.Core*’)} | Where-Object {($_.FullName -notlike ‘*\bin\*’)};
#$tdsFolders = Get-ChildItem -Path $pathToScan -Directory -Recurse;

# Add properties
foreach ($folder in $tdsFolders){
$folder | Add-Member PathLength $folder.FullName.Length;
}

# Sort
$tdsFoldersSorted = $tdsFolders | sort FullName | sort PathLength -Descending;

# Get Max Length to filter those that will not match
#$maxLength = Read-Host -Prompt ‘Max Length allowed';
$tdsFoldersToShow = $tdsFoldersSorted | Where-Object {$_.PathLength -gt $maxLength};

# Output Loop
$fileName = “$PSScriptRoot\beyond $maxLength.csv”;
$csvText = “”;
if ($outputToCsv){
$csvText = “$($csvText)Length,FullName`n”;
#Add-Content -Path $fileName -Value “Length,FullName”;
}
if ($outputToPrompt){
Write-Output(“Length,FullName”);
}

foreach ($folder in $tdsFoldersToShow){
if ($outputToCsv){
$csvText = “$($csvText)$($folder.PathLength),$($folder.FullName)`n”;
#Add-Content -Path $fileName -Value “$($folder.PathLength),$($folder.FullName)”;
}
if ($outputToPrompt){
Write-Output(“$($folder.PathLength),$($folder.FullName)”);
}
}

if ($outputToCsv){
Add-Content -Path $fileName -Value $csvText;
Write-Output(“File $fileName saved”);
}

Instructions

1. Open the script in Powershell ISE as Administrator
2. Setup script changing variables at the top:
   1. $pathToScan – should point to your git folder
   2. $outputToCsv – Set as $true if you want the script to create a CSV file with results, $false otherwise
   3. $outputToPrompt – Set as $true if you want the script to display results at prompt, $false otherwise
   4. $maxLength – Max length tolerated to a TDS item path – the script will list everything that goes beyond this vale
3. Run the script
4. Use the list obtained to apply instructions Aliases, making paths shorter

Categories: Powershell, TDS