Support for paths longer than 260 characters on windows?

[imprity]

According to MSDN Windows now supports path longer than 260 characters.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation?tabs=registry

Starting in Windows 10, version 1607, MAX_PATH limitations have been removed from many common Win32 file and directory functions. However, your app must opt-in to the new behavior.

And it'd be nice if ctags supported paths longer than 260 characters on Windows.

According to MSDN from earlier, two conditions must be true for an application to support long paths.

1. The registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem LongPathsEnabled (Type: REG_DWORD) must exist and be set to 1

2. The application manifest must also include the longPathAware element.

<application xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
    <windowsSettings xmlns:ws2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">
        <ws2:longPathAware>true</ws2:longPathAware>
    </windowsSettings>
</application>

In my machine, I've already edited the registry value and confirmed that released version of ctags on windows doesn't support long path using below script.

set "LONG_DIR=.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg"

@REM in windows ntfs, file NAMES can't be longer than 255
set "LONG_FILE=255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js"

@REM regular file
echo let var_a=0; let var_b=1; let var_c=2; console.log(var_a, var_b, var_c) > test.js

mkdir  %LONG_DIR%

@REM regular file inside a long dir
echo let var_d=3; let var_e=4; let var_f=5; console.log(var_d, var_e, var_f) > %LONG_DIR%\test.js

@REM long file inside a regular dir
echo let var_g=3; let var_h=4; let var_i=5; console.log(var_g, var_h, var_i) > %LONG_FILE%

@REM long file inside a long dir
echo let var_j=3; let var_k=4; let var_l=5; console.log(var_j, var_k, var_l) > %LONG_DIR%\%LONG_FILE%

.\ctags.exe -R .

ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>.\test.bat

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>set "LONG_DIR=.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg"

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>set "LONG_FILE=255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js"

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>echo let var_a=0; let var_b=1; let var_c=2; console.log(var_a, var_b, var_c)  1>test.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>mkdir  .\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>echo let var_d=3; let var_e=4; let var_f=5; console.log(var_d, var_e, var_f)  1>.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg\test.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>echo let var_g=3; let var_h=4; let var_i=5; console.log(var_g, var_h, var_i)  1>255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>echo let var_j=3; let var_k=4; let var_l=5; console.log(var_j, var_k, var_l)  1>.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg\255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-x64
C:>.\ctags.exe -R .
ctags.exe: Warning: cannot open input file "./255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js" : No such file or directory
ctags.exe: Warning: cannot open input file "./50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb/50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc/50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd" : No such file or directory

ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>.\test.bat

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>set "LONG_DIR=.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg"

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>set "LONG_FILE=255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js"

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>echo let var_a=0; let var_b=1; let var_c=2; console.log(var_a, var_b, var_c)  1>test.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>mkdir  .\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>echo let var_d=3; let var_e=4; let var_f=5; console.log(var_d, var_e, var_f)  1>.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg\test.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>echo let var_g=3; let var_h=4; let var_i=5; console.log(var_g, var_h, var_i)  1>255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>echo let var_j=3; let var_k=4; let var_l=5; console.log(var_j, var_k, var_l)  1>.\50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd\50_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee\50_fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff\50_ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg\255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js

C:\Users\Bae\Documents\ctags\ctags-2026-06-18_p6.2.20260607.0-8-g7cef080-clang-x64
C:>.\ctags.exe -R .
ctags.exe: Warning: cannot open input file "./255_tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttest.js" : No such file or directory
ctags.exe: Warning: cannot open input file "./50_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/50_bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb/50_ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc/50_ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd" : No such file or directory

Possible Fix? (hack)

I tried to make ctags long path aware and was somewhat successful.

First, you need to edit win32/ctags.exe.manifest file like msdn said.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
  <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Universal Ctags" version="6.2.0.0" />
  <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
    <security>
      <requestedPrivileges>
        <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />
      </requestedPrivileges>
    </security>
  </trustInfo>
  <application xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
    <windowsSettings xmlns:ws2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">
      <activeCodePage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2019/WindowsSettings">UTF-8</activeCodePage>
      <ws2:longPathAware>true</ws2:longPathAware>
    </windowsSettings>
  </application>
  <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
    <application>
      <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows Vista -->
      <supportedOS Id="{e2011457-1546-43c5-a5fe-008deee3d3f0}"/>
      <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows 7 -->
      <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}"/>
      <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows 8 -->
      <supportedOS Id="{4a2f28e3-53b9-4441-ba9c-d69d4a4a6e38}"/>
      <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows 8.1 -->
      <supportedOS Id="{1f676c76-80e1-4239-95bb-83d0f6d0da78}"/>
      <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows 10 -->
      <supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}"/>
    </application>
  </compatibility>
</assembly>

Then Follow the build steps in written in https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags/blob/master/docs/windows.rst#gcc-1.

But before typing these commands,

./autogen.sh
./configure --disable-external-sort --enable-static
make

just before doing make command, you need to comment out #define HAVE_DIRENT_H 1 in config.h.

/* Define to 1 if you have the <direct.h> header file. */
#define HAVE_DIRECT_H 1

/* Define to 1 if you have the <dirent.h> header file. */
// comment out HAVE_DIRENT_H 1
// #define HAVE_DIRENT_H 1

/* Define to 1 if you have the <fcntl.h> header file. */
#define HAVE_FCNTL_H 1

it forces ctags to use _findfirst() when recursing at below code written in main.c

static bool recurseIntoDirectory (const char *const dirName)
{
	static unsigned int recursionDepth = 0;

	recursionDepth++;

	bool resize = false;
	if (isRecursiveLink (dirName))
		verbose ("ignoring \"%s\" (recursive link)\n", dirName);
	else if (! Option.recurse)
		verbose ("ignoring \"%s\" (directory)\n", dirName);
	else if(recursionDepth > Option.maxRecursionDepth)
		verbose ("not descending in directory \"%s\" (depth %u > %u)\n",
				dirName, recursionDepth, Option.maxRecursionDepth);
	else
	{
		verbose ("RECURSING into directory \"%s\"\n", dirName);
#if defined (HAVE_OPENDIR) && (defined (HAVE_DIRENT_H) || defined (_MSC_VER))
		resize = recurseUsingOpendir (dirName);
#elif defined (HAVE__FINDFIRST)
		{
			vString *const pattern = vStringNew ();
			vStringCopyS (pattern, dirName);
			vStringPut (pattern, OUTPUT_PATH_SEPARATOR);
			vStringCatS (pattern, "*.*");
			resize = createTagsForWildcardUsingFindfirst (vStringValue (pattern));
			vStringDelete (pattern);
		}
#endif
	}

	recursionDepth--;

	return resize;
}

With these steps above, I have confirmed that ctags built with above steps passes the batch script test.

But how does this work? (no idea, honestly)

It is clear that whatever opendir implementation msys2 currently ships doesn't support long paths. But I have no clue why _findfirst is okay with long paths. Couldn't find anything on msdn.

In fact, according to mingw mailing list here https://www.mail-archive.com/mingw-w64-public@lists.sourceforge.net/msg23934.html, _findfirst should not work at all for paths longer than 260 characters. But for some reason _findfirst happens to work well with long paths ON MY MACHINE.

[imprity]

Better Possible Fix? (less hack)

After tinkering some more, I've discovered using nmake like desribed in the link below is better than the hack I've wrote above.

https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags/blob/master/docs/windows.rst#building-ctags-with-nmake

Because when you build with nmake, you don't have to comment out #define HAVE_DIRENT_H 1. It's already not defined in nmake version.

Just edit win32/ctags.exe.manifest like written above and long path will be supported.

....Mostly.

extern void setCurrentDirectory (void) /* TODO */
{
	char* buf;
	if (CurrentDirectory == NULL)
		CurrentDirectory = xMalloc ((size_t) (PATH_MAX + 1), char);
	buf = getcwd (CurrentDirectory, PATH_MAX);
	if (buf == NULL)
		error (FATAL | PERROR, "failed in getcwd()");
	if (! isPathSeparator (CurrentDirectory [strlen (CurrentDirectory) - (size_t) 1]))
	{
		sprintf (CurrentDirectory + strlen (CurrentDirectory), "%c",
				OUTPUT_PATH_SEPARATOR);
	}
	canonicalizePath (CurrentDirectory);
}

Because of code above in main\routines.c, ctags will crash if you called ctags in a dir with a long path.