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Attempts to copy a file through ActiveSync that includes Vietnamese characters in its name from a Windows XP desktop computer to a Windows Mobile device will fail. The file will not be copied, nor will there be any errors indicating that a copy operation was ever attempted. The same problem also applies to files that include complex script characters (e.g., Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, etc) and all Indic language characters (south-east Asian scripts such as Devanagari, Tamil, Malayalam, etc).
Steps to reproduce the problem:
1. Create a document that includes Vietnamese characters in its name.
2. Use ActiveSync to connect the PC to a Windows Mobile 6.0 device.
3. Attempt to copy the file from the PC to the Windows Mobile 6.0 device using the ActiveSync Explorer utility.
When attempting to copy a file through ActiveSync, whose name includes Vietnamese characters, the file will not be transferred to the Windows Mobile 6.0 device. No error message will be displayed indicating that the file operation failed.
This is a known limitation of ActiveSync. ActiveSync is Code Page based and it needs to have matching System Locales (LNUP: Language for Non-Unicode Program) in both the destop and the device. ActiveSync does not support cross languages scenarios including file copies and sync operations and Office Mobile document fidelity.
For ActiveSync to work properly in the above scenarios the following must be true:
- The Windows Mobile device System Locale and desktop Windows LNUP must be matched. The language used on the desktop must match the language used in the Windows Mobile device.
- Characters used in files for desktop ActiveSync should be in the supported list of the System Locale code pages. See list below for Windows Mobile 6.0:
Collapse this tableExpand this table
| Locale identifier | Language | Language locale | Windows Mobile 6 Professional or Windows Mobile 6 Classic | Windows Mobile 6 Standard |
| 804 | Chinese | China | CHS | CHS |
| 404 | Chinese | Taiwan | CHT | CHT |
| 405 | Czech | Czech Republic | CSY | CSY |
| 406 | Danish | Denmark | DAN | DAN |
| 413 | Dutch | Netherlands | NLD | NLD |
| 809 | English | United Kingdom | n/a | ENG |
| 409 | English | United States | WWE | WWE |
| 040B | Finnish | Finland | FIN | FIN |
| 040C | French | France | FRA | FRA |
| 407 | German | Germany | GER | GER |
| 408 | Greek | Greece | ELL | ELL |
| 040E | Hungarian | Hungary | n/a | HUN |
| 410 | Italian | Italy | ITA | ITA |
| 411 | Japanese | Japan | JPN | JPN |
| 412 | Korean | Korea | KOR | KOR |
| 414 | Norwegian | Norway (Nynorsk) | NOR | NOR |
| 415 | Polish | Poland | PLK | PLK |
| 416 | Portuguese | Brazil | PTB | PTB |
| 816 | Portuguese | Portugal | PTG | PTG |
| 418 | Romanian | Romania | n/a | ROM |
| 419 | Russian | Russia | RUS | RUS |
| 041B | Slovak | Slovakia | n/a | SKY |
| 0C0A | Spanish | Spain (International Sort) | ESN | ESN |
| 041D | Swedish | Sweden | SVE | SVE |
| 041F | Turkish | Turkey | n/a | TUR |
This is a current design limitation of ActiveSync.
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