$$$ signs in file names and files?

[itdaddy]

Hey gurus

may seems dumb but what are the $$ signs in file names
and files for? like tempdb$er for??? and for both file names and files??

thanks

[hbroomhall]

In most cases these files are usualy 'hidden' from normal view. The usual reason for weird characters in filenames is to improive the likelyhood that they are unique in a directory. Users tend not to use such characters.

Harry.

[itdaddy]

Hey harry

thanks for replying; i have seen yes $$ files for
say MS install files in blue and displayed on when unhidding these files.

But I have also seen these files when in Microsoft SQL server directory in Program Files....not sure..why some are called this
so for security reasons aye?

thanks

robert

[Sparky]

Files that are blue means they are compressed.

[Stoney]

And.......

If you type $ as the last character in the file name of a shared folder then the folder becomes hidden to users in Windows Explorer. But the folder can still be mapped.

[hbroomhall]

Originally Posted by itdaddy

Hey harry

thanks for replying; i have seen yes $$ files for
say MS install files in blue and displayed on when unhidding these files.

But I have also seen these files when in Microsoft SQL server directory in Program Files....not sure..why some are called this
so for security reasons aye?

I'm not very familiar with SQL Server, and don't have a copy to hand. My guess is that they are 'system' files it uses and the use of the $ character avoids filename clashes.

Harry.

[Crito]

You probably installed SQL Server as a named instance, so

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$Server1
and
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$Server2

would be two completely different database servers.