read-only problem

users
#1

I saved a small (14 page) styled part of a large project as read-only to
protect
against accidents while I did something else. Later wanting to check a
style, I
unchecked read-only and reopened the file. Yet it still opens as read-only
and
"styles and formatting" is grayed out. Does anyone know how this can happen
and how I can prevent it?

The best I could do was copy the contents into a new file from which I could
retrieve the styles. That work-around will be a great pain with the rest of
the
project. I'm running LO 4.2.0.4 in Win7 x64. Thanks for any help! - edo1

#2

Last time I had a read-only document, I used Save As and made sure it was not saved as read-only. You have to use a different file name to get it to work, or at least it did the last time I needed to do that. I think that was during the 4.0.4 or .5 version of LO.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Use "Save As" to give it a new name. I tend to add "-v1" to the end
or gradually increase that number. So in a folder i get names such as
Khidmat-v1.odt
Khidmat-v2.odt
Khidmat-v3.odt
Then if something has gone wrong with the latest version it's easy to
go back to a fairly recent version. I tend to find that files become
read-only if opened over a network by a different desktop machine or
after rebooting the machine i am using.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

Thanks guys. Saving under a new name works as you suggested. I wonder, does
it rise to a bug that saving and marking read-only causes this lockup? -
edo1

#5

What exactly do you mean with "save as read-only"?

Stephan

#6

I have been using the "save as new name" for many years. I have done this with LO, OOo, and earlier word processors, since the early days of Windows PCs.

As for a "bug", I do not know what you are stating the bug would be. It is not clear to me this morning. If you are saying that trying to edit a read-only file, or use the standard "Save" option freezes or locks up LO, then this might be a bug.

To be honest, I tend to open documents that are attached to an email, directly into LO. Unless I save the file before opening it, I cannot edit it. That includes doing the "Save As" option. I tend to open these documents, from trusted people I deal with on a weekly or monthly basis, before I save them outside of the "temporary folders" the system stores them in. That way, I can decide if I want to save them or not. A good third of these documents I do not need, so they are not saved.

So, the use of "Save As" with read-only files, created as read-only in various ways and reasons, is something that is a part of my office suite activities since the early 90's.

#7

edo1 wrote:

I saved a small (14 page) styled part of a large project as read-only to
protect
against accidents while I did something else.

How did you do this? e.g.:
- saved the file, then from Windows Explorer set the "read only" attribute?
- set File > Properties > Security > "Open file as read-only" in LibreOffice before saving the file?
- or something else?

Later wanting to check a
style, I
unchecked read-only and reopened the file.

As far as I'm aware, this should have worked - assuming you removed the same option as you originally set. But again, what exactly did you do?

Yet it still opens as read-only
and
"styles and formatting" is grayed out. Does anyone know how this can happen
and how I can prevent it?

Usually, editing is disabled if the file is read-only when it's opened; if the read-only attribute is changed while the file is open, it does not affect the editing options available. But you say you reopened the file after unchecking the read-only option, so I wouldn't expect that to be a problem.

About the 5th icon in on the toolbar is one which looks like a pencil and paper, and hovering over it shows a tooltip "Edit File". You could try clicking that, and then see if you can edit the file. This just allows or prohibits editing the document on-screen; it doesn't change the read-only attribute on the file, so you still might not be able to save the file with the same name if that attribute is still set for some reason.

#8

sberg wrote

I saved a small (14 page) styled part of a large project as read-only

What exactly do you mean with "save as read-only"?

Stephan

In windows: After the file is saved to some folder, go to that folder and
right-click (if you're right-handed) on the file name; choose "Properties"
and check off "read only" on the popup panel. SOP

Sorry this reply is late . Yesterday's message seems to have gotten lost in
the void . edo1

#9

Mark Bourne wrote

edo1 wrote:

I saved a small (14 page) styled part of a large project as read-only to
protect
against accidents while I did something else.

How did you do this? e.g.:
- saved the file, then from Windows Explorer set the "read only"
attribute?
- set File > Properties > Security > "Open file as read-only" in
LibreOffice before saving the file?
- or something else?

Later wanting to check a
style, I
unchecked read-only and reopened the file.

As far as I'm aware, this should have worked - assuming you removed the
same option as you originally set. But again, what exactly did you do?

Yet it still opens as read-only
and
"styles and formatting" is grayed out. Does anyone know how this can
happen
and how I can prevent it?

Usually, editing is disabled if the file is read-only when it's opened;
if the read-only attribute is changed while the file is open, it does
not affect the editing options available. But you say you reopened the
file after unchecking the read-only option, so I wouldn't expect that to
be a problem.

About the 5th icon in on the toolbar is one which looks like a pencil
and paper, and hovering over it shows a tooltip "Edit File". You could
try clicking that, and then see if you can edit the file. This just
allows or prohibits editing the document on-screen; it doesn't change
the read-only attribute on the file, so you still might not be able to
save the file with the same name if that attribute is still set for some
reason.

our right. I was using the Windows Properties panel, I'd forgotten
about the panel in LO itself. Problem solved, thanks - edo1

#10

So when you later "unchecked read-only and reopened the file" you changed the Windows file-system--level property again. But how did you reopen the file, was it still open and did you chose "Reload", or was it no longer open in LibreOffice in between? Because, when a file is not marked as read-only at the file-system--level, it should not open as read-only in LibreOffice.

Stephan

#11

Hi :slight_smile:
I think a few of us have found that files do become read-only without
us being really clear exactly why. We just work-around it rather than
hunt down specific causes and those work-arounds often result in
creating a back-up of the file so it's a bonus rather than a problem.

I hadn't realised it might be worth posting a bug-report but maybe now
might encourage people to do so if they encounter the problem in the
future.
Thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#12

And feel free to put me on CC. (I'd once tinkered with the relevant code, to allow to toggle edit mode even for "physically" read-only documents, so thought this thread might be about a regression that may have caused.)

Stephan