Error Help: Requested path is outside local namespace root

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2005 Apr 01, 07:18

I figured out the cause of most of my xplorer2 problems - I have been unable to access the Recycling Bin and a few other 'special folders' from within my normal xplorer2 window. When I tried using xplorer2 for ftp access for the first, I get this error message in the statusBar:

"Requested path is outside local namespace root"

I do not fully understand what this means, but it definitely sounds like its the same problem source. I know the root of the problem is, humorously, my 'root' (custom set as 'My Computer'), as I can view all these places from a default-setting xplorer2 window without any problems.

My question is, Why is this the case? How come xplorer2 cannot access the Recycling Bin because my 'root' is custom defined? I would actually like a technical description of paths & namespaces from a coder's perspective (URL pointer would probably be best as I doubt others care), but a simple explanation of why this has to be the case would be nice. Of course, if this could be changed, I would be grateful!

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Apr 01, 07:50

well that's the point of the "root" command line argument
it means that you want to limit access to a part of the filesystem
you can have a separate shortcut to start x2 when you want it rooted and a separate for all-area access

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2005 Apr 01, 08:11

nikos wrote:well that's the point of the "root" command line argument
it means that you want to limit access to a part of the filesystem
you can have a separate shortcut to start x2 when you want it rooted and a separate for all-area access

I use the 'root' to be my homebase, as far 'back' as I can possibly go - a list of all my drives, instead of my 'desktop' which to me is just another folder on a drive that I never use but can't get ride of.

I guess I do not see why it would mean that you want to limit access to a part of the filesystem. FTP & the Recycling Bin are not sub-directories of the desktop, which is the only thing 'higher' than MyComputer under the default settings. If this is simply how the windows API handles things, then please just let me know that!

Again, if there's some technical documentation of how windows manages its paths/namespaces I'd like to read it. Does anybody know of any or am I going to have to spend 2 hours on google this weekend?...

All said and done, does this mean that this functionality is a necessity? It is annoying having to have a special method set asside just so I can get to my Recycling Bin. So if there's a way to fix it, I'd like it done. Or, if there's something I can do as a workaround, that would be fine too. Maybe I could create my own namespace/CLSID/whatever that 'looks' like MyComputer yet has everything else in its namespace so xplorer2 could access it?

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Apr 01, 13:45

desktop is only one layer above "my computer"
no matter how much you hate it, desktop is more than a plain folder, it is the root of shell namespace. There's no way to exclude it and keep access to the recyclebin etc

the /R argument is meant for people that want to limit access to parts of the filesystem, e.g. only within some folder like c:\documents

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2005 Apr 01, 19:14

nikos wrote:desktop is only one layer above "my computer"
no matter how much you hate it, desktop is more than a plain folder, it is the root of shell namespace. There's no way to exclude it and keep access to the recyclebin etc

Yea, you answered my question this time! heh... Sucks, but as expected, that is just the way things are. If I find a workaround, I'll post it here. Thanks for the info.