not create a dot file in same folder as document when opening it for viewing

Enda · September 11, 2012, 4:01pm

Can Libreoffice not create a dot file in same folder as document when opening it for viewing?
.~lock.file.doc#

- Enda

Villeroy · September 11, 2012, 4:11pm

Am 11.09.2012 18:01, Enda wrote:

Can Libreoffice not create a dot file in same folder as document when opening it for viewing?
.~lock.file.doc#

- Enda

That's what it does.

Brian_Barker · September 11, 2012, 6:29pm

I think the questioner is asking "Can it please *not* do so [when viewing is all that is required]?" This is a sensible question.

Try setting the document file to "read-only" in the operating system before you open the file. That may achieve what you ask.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

Villeroy · September 11, 2012, 7:41pm

Am 11.09.2012 20:28, Brian Barker wrote:

Am 11.09.2012 18:01, Enda Noname wrote:

Can Libreoffice not create a dot file in same folder as document when
opening it for viewing?
.~lock.file.doc#

That's what it does.

I think the questioner is asking "Can it please *not* do so [when
viewing is all that is required]?" This is a sensible question.

Try setting the document file to "read-only" in the operating system
before you open the file. That may achieve what you ask.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

Is it really that difficult to tell us exactly about the situation? We don't even know the operating system.
Is it really that difficult to copy some documents into a test directory, display hidden files and open them read-only?

4 tests on Linux:
1) libreoffice -view blah.odt [no lock file]
2) chmod -w blah.odt
libreoffice blah.odt [no lock file]
3) menu:File>Open... [X] Read Only [no lock file]
4) menu:Save As... [X]Password blah2.odt with a read-only password
close, re-open blah2.odt [creates a lock file]

Enda · September 12, 2012, 1:23pm

OS: Ubuntu

Calligra does not create a dot file when viewing files, is there an option to turn this off in LibreOffice?

- Enda

Cc:

Am 11.09.2012 18:01, Enda Noname wrote:

Can Libreoffice not create a dot file in same folder as document when
opening it for viewing?
.~lock.file.doc#

Is it really that difficult to tell us exactly about the situation? We
don't even know the operating system.
Is it really that difficult to copy some documents into a test
directory, display hidden files and open them read-only?

4 tests on Linux:
1) libreoffice -view blah.odt [no lock file]
2) chmod -w blah.odt
libreoffice blah.odt [no lock file]
3) menu:File>Open... [X] Read Only [no lock file]
4) menu:Save As... [X]Password blah2.odt with a read-only password
close, re-open blah2.odt [creates a lock file]

Villeroy · September 12, 2012, 2:30pm

Am 12.09.2012 15:23, Enda wrote:

OS: Ubuntu

Calligra does not create a dot file when viewing files, is there an option to turn this off in LibreOffice?

I give up.

planas · September 12, 2012, 2:33pm

OS: Ubuntu

Calligra does not create a dot file when viewing files, is there an option to turn this off in LibreOffice?

- Enda

Do you want multiple users to be able to edit the file at the same time?
I think this is causing confusion on the list.

Often a program will create a lock file to prevent other users from
modifying a file while someone is editing the file. This is a fairly
common procedure and in some programs can be over ridden.

A "dot" file can also refer to the MSO XP Word template with *.dot
extension.

Enda · September 13, 2012, 2:00pm

I am the only user on the system. When I view a file, a dot file (like .~lock.file.doc#) is created. How can I override (stop) this in LibreOffice?

- Enda

elderdanlewis · September 13, 2012, 2:14pm

What does it prevent you from doing? Are you trying to open this file more than once? You see, I'm confused why you need to override this function of LO. Since the dot files are hidden anyway, I don't see what difference the existence of these files make. The answer to my questions might enlighten me.

--Dan

Enda · September 13, 2012, 2:29pm

When I backup all the files, I like to see which files are being backed up, if the folder has changed (by having a file created and deleted) I see this folder I when I backup. I would rather not see folders that have not really changed.

(I am not trying to open the file more than once.)

- Enda

planas · September 13, 2012, 2:40pm

I am the only user on the system. When I view a file, a dot file (like .~lock.file.doc#) is created. How can I override (stop) this in LibreOffice?

- Enda

Normally the lock file (.lock, .doc~) is created to prevent multiple
users from updating the same document simultaneously. The problem is
that different changes multiple users can work against each other such
as major edits adding or deleting large section of text. This can cause
major problems when resolving which edits should by kept. Once the file
is locked by someone opening it, the file can be modified by one person
at a time. These files are normally deleted when the file is closed.
Lock files are used by many programs, not just LO.

If there are stray lock files on the system, usually they can be deleted
without causing problems.

On a single user system lock files may not be needed, only one copy of
the file is normally open and no one else has access to the file.
Normally, the existence of these files is not an issue.

Why do you want to stop the creation of lock files?

Enda · September 13, 2012, 2:40pm

There are many directories (and if the file has changed, I want it backed up), is there a way to stop creating dot files?

- Enda

John_Clegg · September 13, 2012, 2:44pm

Could you just not exclude this directory from the backup?

Dries_Feys1 · September 13, 2012, 3:16pm

IMHO, why don't you exclude the dot-files from the backup? The really
important dot-system files can then be another exception on the
exclusion exception (opt-in)

Met vriendelijke groeten, Cordialement, Regards,

DRIES FEYS
CORPORATE SERVICES • Senior Software Engineer

Tom_Davies · September 13, 2012, 3:25pm

Hi
Good back-up processes 'should' exclude anything that has not changed. That is they 'should' be able to identify which files and folders have changed with a reasonable level of accuracy. Like syncing process are meant to do.

Grsync is quite nice. If you are happy on the command-line then you can use it's back-end "rsync" on it's own. Just install from your package manager (assuming you are not using Windows). There are other programs.

If that is the reason you want to get rid of lock-files then just close the document you are editing and then the lock-file should disappear and if not then it can be deleted without it grumbling. Other system files you might want to get rid of are the desktop.ini files that appear in every folder but they might be important to Windows so it might not be a good idea to remove them.
Regards from
Tom

Tom_Davies · September 13, 2012, 3:45pm

Hi
+1
Do you delete cookies, temp-files, history, cache, desktop.ini, thumbnails and so on too? It all seems too much effort and too likely to create problems.

Regards from
Tom

Anthony_Easthope · September 14, 2012, 7:12am

Forgive me in asking, But only windows to my knowledge has a desktop.ini
settings file and Enda said earlier on in the thread that the OS they
had was ubuntu? surley ubuntu does not use a windows registry file for a
settings store?

Tom_Davies · September 14, 2012, 8:16am

Hi
Sorry about all that! Ubuntu tends to be a lot cleaner than Windows, as Anthony points out there are no desktop.ini files and no thumbnail files (other than those you deliberately save because you want them). The cookies and other invisible files we all get from normal use are much less likely to achieve any dodgy aims they might have. It's easier to clear out all the junk from Ubuntu and Ubuntu has a "Janitor" to make it even easier to clean.
Regards from
Tom

jfn · September 15, 2012, 6:29am

As I understand Enda's request, the problem lies in the following situation:

1. she opens an ODF file using LibO.
2. LibO automatically creates the .~lock flag thingy.
3. she closes the ODF file without any edition, hence the ODF file contents is not changed [1]
4. the .~lock flag file is deleted

But now, the directory is flagged as having changed because of the .~lock file creation/deletion. Then her backup tool stalls on this directory that should in fact be ignored.

IMO, this is a problem with the backup tool, not LibO. But Enda didn't give many details about that part of the process.

[1] important note: at this point, the operating system records the last access time, which could also lead your backup system to process that file. There could be some option in the tool that might disable that functionnality.

planas · September 15, 2012, 5:05pm

Jean,

Following up on your comment I did the following:

1. Opened an ODF file in LO
2. Verified the creation of the lock
3. Made changes to file
4. Undid all changes
5.Closed file, which deleted the lock file

I noticed when closing the file I was asked to save or discard the
changes. I choose discard and the file time stamp was unchanged.

I repeated the above and Saved the changes and the time stamp changed.

The creation of the lock file has no affect on the ODF file time stamp.
Checking the properties of ODF files shows both last changed and last
accessed. I would think if the last changed date was later than the last
time a backup was run the file is backed otherwise the file is not
backed up. The last accessed date does not always match the last changed
date.