The following is an email exchange between myself and the support department of PDF995, .. I think it sums up the problem fairly well:

----- Original Message -----

From: Jose Guia

To: support@software995.com

Subject: PDF995 and Long File Names

Hello,

 We are having issues with PDF995, when I do a silent BATCH plot using a directory with a long path our pdfs are not plotting and are instead being over-written by each other to a set folder with the name “.pdf”

  Is there an INI switch to force it to use SHORT FILE NAME ?

  Jose

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jose,

 

This following indicates that document name that the windows printer system is passing to pdf995.

Document Name=T:\Directory Where we Store a Bunch of Stuff\ST\NO ADDRESS.NO ADDRESS\01.11111.00-Fancy name of a fancy project\Design\Arch\DWG\CD\A\011111100-Current Phase of Project\

We cannot control this. You need to use a shorter file path. Otherws, pdf995 cannot determine the name of the file.

Thank you,
Software995 Support

So after a bit of googling I came across Robin's blog entry about an AutoCAD variable I hadn't known about, "FULLPLOTPATH" 

http://rcd.typepad.com/rcd/2005/09/seeing_the_plot.html

Seeing the plot with AutoCAD 2006

It won’t help you figure out “who done it” in the thriller you’re reading but I found an AutoCAD variable that will let you see the plot.

If you have a plotter with a small on-board display, like our HP 800, AutoCAD’s recently acquired habit of sending the full path of the plot file to the printer can be rather frustrating. You see an endless list of truncated paths but can’t see the filename.

AutoCAD 2006 “fullplotpath” variable toggles between sending the full path or just the filename. This makes reprints from the plotter and cancelling other peoples plots, so yours come out faster, much easier.

Command: fullplotpath
Enter new value for FULLPLOTPATH <1>: 0

0 Sends the drawing file name only, 1 Sends the full path of the drawing file

 

I just noticed my blog and site was added to Shaan Hurley's blog, .. pretty cool since I'm a Hurley fan!
http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/blogs_i_read.html 

 Anyhow, I need to update these sites BADLY, .. I'm considering someone else in to help submit links to help start driving content. I'm open for suggestions..

I'm also posting this 'cause also on Shaan's blog post is a TON of really good sites, so go check them out!

On May 1st we were mentioned over at http://blog.jtbworld.com.  Which is pretty cool because I have been a long time follower of Jimmy's work. He's a really smart guy who's does an excellent job of keeping his finger on the pulse of the CAD world.

Anyhow,

Thanks for the post Jimmy!

Here was my reply on Jimmys blog: 

Jimmy,
Thanks for the mention, what I'm trying to do with CadKicks.com is bring the CAD community together, I find it difficult to gather information for the different CAD/BIM offerings in one PLACE, without product affiliation.

The intent of CadKicks.com is not to regurgitate BLOGs, it is to provide a central spot for users to decide what CAD-related news is important enough to share with others.

I also think its important to note that the site doesn't just cater to the Autodesk world, but other software applications that otherwise folks would not be exposed to.

I'm trying to get the word out, and your blogpost is definitely a big help.

I'm thinking of firing up a FREE no frills jobs.cadkicks.com , if you guys have any openings drop me a line and I'll add ya to the list.

 I know this site is still in its infancy so many of you "Application Engineers" may not get this but I'd like to ask a question anyhow. If you are a CAD Application Engineer, what exactly does that mean to you? What are your duties specifically? I ask because I just accepted a job as an Application Engineer at a bigger company and I'm curious to know exactly what is expected of me.

 At my previous place of employment, where I was the IT Manager / CAD Manager / Database Developer (SQL) / Web Developer (ASP.NET), I had always told my fellow drafters that if I ever won the lottery my dream job would be to just create applications without the hassle of any of the other IT-related tasks. So when this new opportunity came along my resume matched what they were looking for to a tee.

 Going from ONE discipline (structural engineering) to a company where I will be responsible for supporting multi-disciplines I kind of get the feeling its going to overwhelm me. But I've always liked a good challenge so we'll see how it goes. 

Howdy,

  Ok, I do believe I am almost ready to unleash this badboy to the masses. I've put a lot of time into this site and I hope you enjoy using it as much as I have creating it for US!

  I got a question for ya, .. where do you go for your CAD info? Do you go to Forums, or RSS feeds from the different sites. 

  The goal of this site is to get YOU GUYS to share with us any sites/blogs/articles that you guys find interesting.

 Let see, how about the .. CREDITS:

     Gavin Joyce (http://www.dotnetkicks.com/, http://blog.incremental.ie/)
        Without access to his source code and extremely knowledgeable support staff I would have had to outsource this site to India or something just to get the ball rolling.

     1and1.com (http://www.1and1.com)
        Without these guys I'd probably would have set this thing up on a 486 Thinkpad with no screen hooked up to an etch-a-sketch (I know that makes no sense). They have VERY, VERY competetive pricing on hostiing solutions.

     Wikipedia (come on you should know how to get there ..)
        I am pretty familiar with the big-dogs in the CAD industry but thanks to wiki-wiki-wikipedia I am now an expert in ALL-THINGS-CAD and stitching.  
 

So there you have it, I will try and keep this thing updated as best as I can, .. but no promises.

Enjoy,
Jose Guia