How to get a file in Windows with a colon in the filename?

I am getting errors from customers who are uploading files with a colon in the file name, i.e. C:/uploads/test : doc.html

I assume that some Unix or Linux system is generating the file but I'm not sure how the users are saving them with the invalid filename. I have coded a piece that should rename the document on upload. My problem is that I can't test it because I can't get a file on Windows that has a colon in the filename.

I found a very similar character to a colon, "꞉" it is a unicode character called a Modifier Letter Colon. This has no space like the fullwidth colon and is pretty much exactly the same as a regular colon but the symbol works. You can either copy and paste it from above or you can use the code point, U+A789

A colon is an invalid character for a Windows file name. You won't be able to allow ':' in the file name, but you can work around it.

You can either do what it sounds like you have already done; create a script that replaces these invalid characters with valid ones on the UNIX side. Or, you can take care of this on the Windows server with File Name Character Translation: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289627

Other replacements I've found for reserved characters are

” ‹ › ⁎ ∕ ⑊ ＼︖ ꞉ ⏐

For example in python you would do:

fixed_name = orig_name.replace('\\\\','⑊')
forbidden_characters = '"*/:<>?\|'
unicode_characters = '”⁎∕꞉‹›︖＼⏐'
for a, b in zip(forbidden_characters, unicode_characters):
    fixed_name = fixed_name.replace(a, b)

• Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces