Bug? autosaving does not seem to work

[Alfred Lang]

Timothy Wood has written:

>   We'd need details as to how to reproduce this problem -- I 
>certainly haven't seen it (and I'm constantly on the lookout for 
>auto-backup problems).

I simply have observed the loss of added data of a file that has been 
open for more than 15 minutes while I was working on the file. Then I 
got only one chance to select either the backup or the primary 
version. I didn't want to loose my further work, so I did not choose 
backup. That forced choice means I lose either the new or the old 
passage. If I wait twice the backup interval time, my old passage is 
lost in any case because the backup will be overwritten by the new 
version.

I see now that backup is made automatically when I check the time of 
modification in the Finder after selecting something else first and 
then the file I worked before. So in this "bug" point, I have no 
longer any problems. Thank you.

>   There are two versions, but one is hidden.  If you want to know 
>the gory details... it's archived in a OABK entry in the resource 
>fork of the original document, or as a ".OABK" document inside the 
>file wrapper (if your document has been promoted to wrapper status 
>due to having an attachment).  The big advantage of this is that it 
>makes it hard accidentally break the associating between your backup 
>and your original, or to accidentally open the backup instead of 
>your original or to accidentally delete the original and not the 
>backup.  We don't feel this is a perfect solution, but it has many 
>good attributes.  Feedback to omnioutliner3 at omnigroup.com on this 
>and other issues is always appreciated.

Glad to understand better. Thanks Tim. But in this point, I have 
questions open. The Help file does not orient the user sufficiently 
on the procedure. To store a backup within the same file as the 
original has the absurd consequence, that you lose everything when 
you lose your file while a backup is exactly made to avoid this 
problem, I think. So its not really a backup and should not be called 
so. It is only a safety in case of computer failure and should be 
calles what it is. Certainly not a backup. In addition I miss a 
procedure to return to this safety version without losing the 
original and at times of my own liking instead of in failure 
situations only. Imagine e.g. a situation where I have deleted a 
passage of my text, have written a new one, but then prefer to return 
to my original passage. How could I do that with the present 
outliner, with no access option except in failure situation which is 
out of my control? Also this procedure doubles the size of any one 
file: a little disturbing.

Alfred

-- 

Alfred Lang, Psychology, Univ. Bern, Switzerland
http://www.langpapers.net --- alfred.lang at psy.unibe.ch