File Server Rename Patterns

[resplin]

Obsolete Pages{{Obsolete}}

The official documentation is at: http://docs.alfresco.com

There are a number of applications that can cause problems when a  versionable file is edited via the file server (usually CIFS, but could  apply to NFS and FTP too). These applications use file renames to move  the updated version of the edited file into place. This page is an  attempt to document the known problem applications and file save/rename  patterns.

Table of Contents

• 1 Application Patterns
  
  
  
  • 1.1 MS Word 2003
  
  
  • 1.2 MS Word 2007
  
  
  • 1.3 Emacs (Linux/CIFS)
  
  
  • 1.4 Vi (Linux/CIFS)
  
  
  • 1.5 Smultron (Mac/CIFS)
  
  

Application Patterns

MS Word 2003

Sequence for saving a document called TEST.DOC using MS Word 2003:

1. Save new document to ~WRDnnnn.TMP file, where 'nnnn' is a 4 digit sequence to make the name unique
   
2. Make sure the target for the first rename does not exist by deleting ~WRLnnnn.TMP
   
3. Rename existing TEST.DOC to ~WRLnnnn.TMP
   
4. Delete TEST.DOC, just to make sure it no longer exists
   
5. Rename the new version ~WRDnnnn.TMP to TEST.DOC
   
6. Delete the old document version ~WRLnnnn.TMP. The delete is done by opening the file, marking for delete then closing it
   

Sequence for saving a document called TEST.DOC using MS Word 2003 when backup files are enabled (Tools->Options, Save Tab, Always create backup copy checkbox):

1. Save new document to ~WRDnnnn.TMP file, where 'nnnn' is a 4 digit sequence to make the name unique
   
2. Make sure the target for the first rename does not exist by deleting Backup of TEST.DOC
   
3. Rename existing TEST.DOC to Backup of TEST.DOC
   
4. Delete TEST.DOC, just to make sure it no longer exists
   
5. Rename the new version ~WRDnnnn.TMP to TEST.DOC
   

Sequence for saving an existing document to a new file using Save As in MS Word 2003, when backup files are enabled:

1. Create new document SAVEAS.DOC, file did not exist
   
2. Create -WRDnnnn.TMP file, where 'nnnn' is a 4 digit sequence to make the name unique
   
3. Rename SAVEAS.DOC to Backup of SAVEAS.wbk
   
4. Rename -WRDnnnn.TMP to SAVEAS.DOC
   

MS Word 2007

Sequence for saving a document called TEST.DOCX using MS Word 2007:

1. Save new document to xxxxxxxx.tmp file, where 'xxxxxxxx' is an 8 digit hexadecimal unique name
   
2. Rename existing TEST.DOCX to xxxxxxxx.tmp, where 'xxxxxxxx' is an 8 digit hexadecimal unique name
   
3. Rename new document into place, xxxxxxxx.tmp to TEST.DOCX
   
4. Delete the old document file. the delete is done by opening the file, marking for delete then closing it.
   

Emacs (Linux/CIFS)

Sequence for saving a document called emacsTest.txt:

1. Rename original file to a backup file by adding '~' to the name, emacsTest.txt~
   
2. Create new file using the original document name
   

Vi (Linux/CIFS)

Sequence for saving a document called viTest.txt:

1. Rename original file to a backup by adding '-' to the name, viTest.txt-
   
2. Create new file using the original document name
   

Smultron (Mac/CIFS)

Sequence for saving a document called smultronTest.txt:

1. Save new document to .dat04cd.004 (not sure what the naming pattern is here)
   
2. Delete the original file, smultronTest.txt
   
3. Rename .dat04cd.004 to smultronTest.txt
   

Engineering Notes