Why does Windows Explorer or `cmd` show only 260 characters of a shortcut's command line, yet the full payload executes?

Windows Explorer and the `cmd` `dir` command use a legacy API or property handler that truncates the displayed command-line string at 260 characters (the classic `MAX_PATH` limit). However, when the shortcut is launched, the Windows shell reads the raw binary LNK file and passes the complete command-line arguments (stored as a Unicode string with explicit length) to the target process. The article demonstrates this by creating a `.lnk` file with a 2.45 KB file size, far larger than what a 260-character shortcut would be, proving the extra data is present and executable.