vs code: file not found when trying to debug - debugging

Question

I'm trying to debug a main.cpp file that resides in a folder that has spaces in its filename: "Jim and the Skyscrapers".
The error message reads:
Unable to open 'Jim': File not found
And it also gives me the option of creating this "Jim" file.
The debug process works only if I rename the file to "JimAndTheSkyscrapers" so that it doesn't have any spaces.
The way i reference the path in the launch.json and c_cpp_properties.json files is by using the environment variable: ${workspaceFolder}.
As a debugger, I use cygwin's gdb.
I think the problem is: either the debugger parses filepaths in a manner that doesn't allow spaces, either it's a vs code problem. Knowing which one it is would be of great help.
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "(gdb) Launch",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "${workspaceFolder}/a.exe",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"environment": [
{"name": "OUTPUT_PATH", "value": "results.txt"}
],
"externalConsole": true,
"MIMode": "gdb",
"miDebuggerPath": "C:/cygwin64/bin/gdb.exe",
"preLaunchTask": "build",
"setupCommands": [
{
"description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
"text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
"ignoreFailures": true
}
]
}
]
}
c_cpp_properties.json:
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Win32",
"includePath": [
"${workspaceFolder}/**"
],
"defines": [
"_DEBUG",
"UNICODE",
"_UNICODE"
],
"compilerPath": "C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2017/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.13.26128/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe",
"cStandard": "c11",
"cppStandard": "c++14",
"intelliSenseMode": "msvc-x64"
}
],
"version": 4
}