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I was wondering what are the forbidden characters in file name using XeLaTeX.

I know that the forbidden characters for Windows files are \ / ? : * " > < |

Also, I have found another character that is forbidden by XeLaTeX which is the apostrophe (') because it generated an error.

Anyone knows if there's a list of forbidden characters?

EDIT: I think my problem might be when I call the XeLaTeX in command line

" -output-directory \"C:/Pdf\" \"C:/Pdf/Doe_John_BURCUS Gregoire (F) - 121217.tex\""

MiKTeX doesn't recognize the file name. If I delete the parentheses, MiKTeX is able to generate the pdf.

Speravir
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Paul
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    may be related Naming LaTeX files: best practice? – texenthusiast Dec 20 '12 at 15:52
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    Some characters may be disallowed by the OS; but, for instance, with appropriate quoting, I'm able to input files with all those characters in their name (not on Windows, I admit). – egreg Dec 20 '12 at 16:16
  • thanks for your responses, i have edited my question, maybe the source of the problem is my command line – Paul Dec 20 '12 at 16:47
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    I don't really know about Windows, but in general it's not a good idea to use file names with spaces in TeX; avoiding special characters is also good practice. – egreg Dec 20 '12 at 16:51
  • If i delete the parenthese, miktek is able to generate the pdf. – Paul Dec 20 '12 at 17:23
  • Please add the error message. But the way you posted it here, there is in my opinion another mistake: It should be xelatex -output-directory="C:/Pdf" "C:/Pdf/Doe_John_BURCUS Gregoire (F) - 121217.tex", intentionally written with the error causing parentheses to show my intention. – Speravir Dec 20 '12 at 20:42
  • @Speravir Seems about right. Though, I find it weird that the OP is calling XeLaTeX with all parameters wrapped inside "s (and did’t write the actual xelatex call). – Qrrbrbirlbel Dec 20 '12 at 21:54
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    Though I’m still convinced you used the " not correctly, I see now, that there is really a bug: The xelatex call strips the parentheses, so it will be searched for another file. – And you are lucky, if this not exists! – Speravir Dec 21 '12 at 00:03
  • Bug filed under https://sourceforge.net/p/miktex/bugs/2203/ Therefore noone can help here and this question must be closed as “Too localized”. – Speravir Dec 21 '12 at 00:24
  • This discussion seems relevant. It appears to be a "feature" of XeTeX that the parentheses have a special meaning, though I don't really understand why. Also I think the question should be reopened as it would be useful to have a list of forbidden characters in file names. – Ari Brodsky Dec 21 '12 at 06:14
  • @Speravir: The fact that it's a bug doesn't mean the question should be closed; see here – Ari Brodsky Dec 21 '12 at 07:08
  • related: allowable filenames for source files – Lover of Structure Jul 13 '13 at 12:18

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