It's 2024, how does ArcGIS do with spaces in file paths nowadays?

MKF62

I've been out of the ArcGIS arena for a while now and upon my return, I am wondering if file paths can now have spaces in them without causing problems for geoprocessing tools? A lot of our data is kept in Dropbox or OneDrive for our organization and enterprise installations of those tools always have spaces in the folder name, like "Dropbox (OrgName)" or "OneDrive - OrgName". Is ArcGIS Pro able to handle things like this now or do I need to move everything out of these folders?

BarryNorthey

From esri Technical Support less than a year ago:

What are the recommendations for avoiding the use of spaces in file and folder names when working with ArcGIS products?

Last Published: March 27, 2023

Answer

In ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, and other computer software in general, use of spaces in both file names and folders may lead to unexpected behavior as some software components and tools may have difficulty accessing such file paths. In ArcGIS Pro, this may result in some of the tools running with unexpected outcomes, or receiving errors.

Due to this, as a general good practice, it is recommended to avoid using spaces when naming files and folders, and instead substituting them with underscores, for example, "separate_words", or using a technique called camelCase, which uses uppercase letters to signify individual words in the names of both files and folders connected to ArcGIS Pro and other software, for example, "iPad".

Using other special characters is generally not recommended, since they may cause similar issues, and may not be understood by the ArcGIS software or the operating system it is running on. This applies to files and folders both local to the computer being used, or being accessed remotely such as on a network drive or another server.