Peter,
it's right, there is an ADSM limitation to 255 characters for a pathname
(including filename). The same restriction exists within NT, so usually NT
should prevent the creation of such files.

... If there were not an exception to this rule:
You create a path like D:\thisisthepointwheremysharewillbeanchored\start
Now you share the directory start as \\server\start
You connect this share on a workstation (e.g. as drive e:)
On the workstations drive e: NT now lets you create a pathname with up to
255 chars.
= Result: On your server the real path for the file has additional
characters (thisisthe...), making up more than 255.

NT also has some problems in handling those files, like it tends to fall
back into 8.3 notation when renaming or copying a file, but it doesn't
crash.
ADSM has to use a NT OS-function to get access to the file. I'm not sure if
one should search the problem mainly within NT or within ADSM. At least ADSM
should not cancel the whole backup process but simply print an error message
and skip the file.

Regards,
Michael
--
Michael H. Bartl
Michael H. Bartl
ADAC e.V. (Rechenzentrum, Produktionsplanung und Organisation)
Tel.: (089) 7676-4063, Fax: (089) 7676-8161
EMail: Michael.Bartl AT Zentrale.ADAC DOT de