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Info from Anonymous...
Authored by: robg on Sep 25, '02 08:29:53AM

The following was sent in as a tip by an anonymous reader, and posted here as a comment for others to see by yours truly...

"I don't know that this bug is limited to Word 2001, or to Mac OS X 10.2. It also may not be limited to network operations. I've had this happen to me on two occasions, using Appleworks on Mac OS X 10.1.5, all from my local hard disk.

I think there may be a flaw in the way Mac OS X saves information to disk. Without knowing for sure, my observations are that first it removes the original, then it writes the new file. While it works most of the time, if something interupts the save it fails in the worst way - the whole file is lost.

I'd thought the problem was with Appleworks, the fact that it happened to someone else using Word means it may be a system wide issue. Of course, I may just be an idiot who can't save a file, so until there's more confirmation I wouldn't post this as gospel. If you get more reports like this one, though you might want to post a warning.

I've already submitted feedback to Apple, and I think I'll resend it to let them know that at least one other person has experienced the same kind of loss (albeit under different circumstances)."



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Re: Info from Anonymous...
Authored by: brw3sbc on Sep 29, '02 10:05:56AM

It was good to read this post, as it confirmed my experience.

I am suspicious of timing of events in OS X. I note that on occassion when I send a multipage document to my HP LaserJet, I may get back, mid-print, an error message that indicates that the printer is busy. Yes, it was busy - on that very job that created the error message. Fortunately, no action is necessary, as the job does progress to completion, and the error message is automatically withdrawn.

Also, I keep a file of the Usenet groups to which I have subscribbed. When I double-click on the file, NewsWatcher is launched, however, frequently, NW reports that it cannot communicate with the server. A quick double-click on any of the subscribed items reveals that communications is sound. I believe that some processes are getting ahead of others in the normal sequence of events, and NW is being impatient (I have alway-on DSL).

With regards to the file destruction, I suspect that the OS is not letting the server, or other process, conclude its erasure of the file before it starts to write the new. The system is still busy finishing the erasure, the write attempts to start, and fails because the system is busy, and it quits, with its false error message.




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