File Name and Path Length Limits

Windows imposes limits on the lengths of path and file names maxing out around 260 characters.  For all Visual Studio projects, including VSTA projects, these limits are further reduced to accommodate for the entire file structure of the project.  For instance, the project solution "Test" located at C:\Test\Test.sln which has a fully qualified path name of only 16 characters, needs to accommodate many sub-directories and files including files like C:\Test\Test\obj\Debug\Test.Properties.Resources.resources which has a fully qualified path name of 58 characters.  In order to accommodate these files, the limit for Visual Studio and VSTA projects is further reduced by an additional 80 characters bringing the limit to about 180.

For more information on these limits please see the bug report: EnvDTE80.Solution2.AddFromTemplate - Reports path too long incorrectly.