wslusc: Target exceeds 260 character limit for shortcut when using '-i' argument

[tveyben]

Background Information:

• Windows Build: 19044.1586 (21H2)
• WSL: Ubuntu 20.04
• WSL Version: WSL2

$ wslusc --version
wslu v3.2.2-1; wslusc v40
tve@TvE-PC-X1:~/workspace

$ wslsys
WSL Version: 2
Locale: en_US
Release Install Date: Thu Jun 25 15:54:18 CEST 2020
Branch: vb_release
Build: 19044
Full Build: 19041.1.amd64fre.vb_release.191206-1406
Display Scaling: 1.25
Windows Theme: light
Windows Uptime: 6d 21h 33m
WSL Uptime: 0d 4h 9m
WSL Release: Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS
WSL Kernel: Linux 5.10.60.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Packages Count: 1250

Describe the bug
Generating shortcuts when adding a custom icon results in "Target" field exceeding a 260 character Windows limitation
(https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/53779044-d453-458b-b8c4-96d41711ea69/file-name-too-long-cannot-copy?forum=w7itprogeneral)

Also the custom icon is not being applied, the generix "X" icon (wsl-gui.ico) is used

BAD (with icon)

$ wslusc -g emacs -i ~/workspace/spacemacs-logo/spacemacs.ico
[info] Create shortcut emacs.lnk successful

TARGET:
C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe C:\\Users\\TvE\wslu\runHidden.vbs C:\\Users\\TvE\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps\\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu20.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\\ubuntu2004.exe run  /usr/share/wslu/wslusc-helper.sh "/usr/bin/emacs -i /home/t

GOOD (without icon)

$ wslusc emacs
[info] Create shortcut emacs.lnk successful

TARGET:
C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe C:\\Users\\TvE\wslu\runHidden.vbs C:\\Users\\TvE\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps\\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu20.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\\ubuntu2004.exe run  /usr/share/wslu/wslusc-helper.sh "/usr/bin/emacs "

NB.: The derived limitation for the length of the username is thus now 13 characters, if using a longer username then it will always fail unconditionally

To Reproduce
wslusc -g emacs -i [path to icon]

Expected behavior
A working (non-truncated) shortcut using [path to icon]

Additional context
Placing the icon I wanted to use (https://github.com/nashamri/spacemacs-logo/blob/master/spacemacs.ico but saved as "emacs.ico") in the C:\Users<user>\wslu folder and then generating a link:

$ wslusc emacs
[info] Create shortcut emacs.lnk successful

did not result in that icon being used, in stead the wsl-term.ico icon was used
NB:: Initially the icon wsl-gui.ico was used..

Why the "-i" argument is added I do not understand, as man emacs have no reference for that flag...

[patrick330602]

so you should not place -i in the end as wslusc's help sugest:

wslusc [-gi] [-e PATH] [-n NAME] [-i FILE] COMMAND

every parameter should be passed before the command, otherwise they will be considered as part of the command, and that is what happened. what you want to do is wslusc -g -i ~/workspace/spacemacs-logo/spacemacs.ico emacs.

Hope this can help you.

[tveyben]

HA! - I could have saved a lot of typing if I had paid attention to that detail.
Works as advertised thank you very much!

$ wslusc -g -i ~/workspace/spacemacs-logo/spacemacs.ico emacs
[info] You choose to use custom icon: /home/tve/workspace/spacemacs-logo/spacemacs.ico. Processing...
[info] Create shortcut emacs.lnk successful

NB.: The max 13 character username limitation is still valid though (not a bug, but a limitation one can easily encounter if using a "full name")

[patrick330602]

Maybe you can enable the "NTFS long paths policy/Win32 long paths policy"? this group policy has existed for several years now

[tveyben]

Excellent info - I can probably use that for other problems!
Unfortunately it does not change the 260 char limitation for the Target property in the link (I just tested it).
So despite the same value - 260 - that specific limitation is either hardcoded or must be defined elsewhere...

So - now I just need to figure out what's going on inside org-mode on emacs:
wslview http://google.com let's me open a URL from WSL2 in my default Windows browser (great!)
BUT trying to open a link from an org file (thus using the org-open-at-point function) results in vcxsrv opening a browser (and so far that (FF in my case) just hangs most of the times).

I know the latte is Off Topic for your great wslu tool, but ideas are welcomed :-)

[patrick330602]

well, i don't use emacs but I think emacs just don't respect default browser settings from what I can tell. maybe you can try this?

(setq browse-url-browser-function 'browse-url-generic
      browse-url-generic-program "wslview")

[tveyben]

Yeah - I did play with that, but so far without success.
I'll try to find help with more googling (and in emacs-specific groups)