As I understand it, LibreOffice (hereinafter LO) only supports saving of backup files (file type .BAK) in a single folder location (Windows7 default such as C:\Users\eBatch\AppData\Roaming\LibreOffice\4\user\backup) . I believe there are good significant drawback with the single default folder approach and would like to request a capability to save backup files in same folder as the respective original documents. I see the drawbacks of the single folder approach as follows: 1. The single default folder will just get fuller and fuller over time with what are potentially redundant backup files (of course, if one is aware of it, one can "manage" the situation to some degree, but it is not as obvious as storing the backups along with the original documents). 2. Following on from 1. above, if one comes to manage the backup files at a later it is not not so obvious as to what each file is (without reviewing the contents). This is particularly so when one has many projects under way at the same time (especially where the documents for each project are held in discrete folders but with some degree of commonality of document naming - e.g. ...\CustomerA\Costings.odt and ...\CustomerB\Costings.odt etc.). 3. Following the example given in 2. above, a conflict arises when editing documents with the same name from two different folders. LO does not manage this effectively at all, with the backup reflecting whichever was the latest document to be saved. This happens regardess of whether the files are being edited (and saved) concurrently or separately. IMHO, not good at all. Seems to me that one should at least have the choice of whether to use the current default method or store backups with the original documents. This request applies to all components that support saving of such backup files. Operating System: All Version: Inherited From OOo Last worked in: 4.1.0.4 release
Interesting enhancement request. Unsure about version (Inherited from OOo) Not a regression (removing keyword) Status -> NEW
*** Bug 77550 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
As one workaround to this problem, a suggestion has been floated that backups might be done with a macro enhancement to help fix this issue without any change to LO, ref: https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/88856/suggeston-for-location-of-backup-files/?answer=89030#post-id-89030 I want to make two points about this possible alternative, both in support of the direction of the enhancement suggestions here by eBatch & Maximiliano Castañón: 1) As Ratslinger points out, and as relating to a macro based backup method enhancement option: "Base is not included as this presents other challenges." In other words, this alternative does not appear to presently work for base users. 2) Backups should not work well only for advanced users able to setup a macro, rather a quality backup should work right out of the box, especially for inexperienced users. I have seen far too many users report loss of data in the ask.libreoffice.org support site. In the 6 month's I've been active there, I'm guessing I've seen between 10 and 20 posts of people who had a loss and apparently didn't have any backups to recover from. Most, if not all of these appeared to be people with low Karma (e.g. 1), or in other words, new users just learning LO. I think a good, easy, and slick backup is essentially to retaining new users. If one and only one thing works in all of LO, it should be the backup tools. So yes, I think the backup can and should be significantly improved, and I think this is a high priority (even thought I have many other things on my wish list for Base). ------------------------------------------- As I transition to LO Base from about 20 years of using Access, I very much miss the "Back Up Database" button that my Access has. ref: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Back-up-a-database-483D3D0A-4786-4BFF-9F70-B11BAEA520A7?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&fromAR=1 I want a better solution for Base that does not force me to keep re-naming my application using Save-As, which is the only solution we have right now for successive backups as I develop Base applications. e.g. Save As: MyApplication-01.odb Save As: MyApplication-02.odb Save As: MyApplication-03.odb etc. -------------------------------------- Also there is another pitfall with the current Base Save-As method: If you do a Save-As while you are in a form, it saves the form, not the database, creating an *.odt file, and fooling you into thinking you have a database backup. -------------------------------------- In particular, I want something like Access has: A menu item which creates a backup on my command, and allows me to modify the auto-generated place and name before committing the save. I recall back in the early days, when Access did not yet have it, and I thought it was a great improvement when it was added, and I have loved the way they got this right, and it has saved me hundreds of times when things went wrong. It's simple and quick. It's time LO has such a backup I think.
More reasons: Security, Privacy: certain data should be kept inside the same secure locations. e.g. A remote server, external device, mounted FS, etc. p.s. I lost 2 files in the past year, due to backup issues in the ~/. folder tree. Backups should be clear an visible, and within the same scope as the original. This is a serious issue.
Note a hack in commit 6af4c1d097dfba897e305a1e57d1e920f36ce264 Author: László Németh on Mon May 16 16:05:59 2022 +0200 tdf#123877 sc XLSX: don't freeze during saving recovery It checks the path for the backup directory instead of discovering if this is a special auto-save document.
*** Bug 150148 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
proposed fix at https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/154489
Justin Luth committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/09d3e887b41a36bd0852ac004c6744f447361ac6 tdf#68565 autosave: add option to store backup in document's folder It will be available in 24.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Justin Luth committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/24c52c6f8674a716f3f5102095421c97d03b19d8 related tdf#68565 tdf#123877 autosave: identify by args, not path It will be available in 24.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Seth Chaiklin committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/help/commit/3e6ed0152d5a8f824a4e1a3066caef1e0ad1be85 (related) tdf#68565 add "Place backup in same folder as document" option