Change the way Microsoft Word saves files

Question

I'm running Word 2007 but I've noticed this with earlier versions as well.

It appears that when I open and work on a document in word, the system creates a hidden file with a weird file name residing in the same folder. This is probably what allows me to auto-recover the file after a crash.

Unfortunately, when I hit save, it appears the system deletes the original file and renames the hidden file. This is a big problem for me because I'm often editing a file that is under source control (the documentation for my employer's product) and when that happens Visual Studio / Team Foundation Server assumes the file has been deleted and it vanishes from the product and from source control.

Any way to get this functionality to go away?

Answer 1

It appears to me that you are trying to move the mountain to Mahomet. Step back and think about how revision control usually works (think about check-ins and check-outs a la CVS or SVN).

Instead of working on the files live in the source control repository, you should probably:

• check out the file you intent to make changes to
• make your updates on your local copy of the file
• check in the new version of the file you updated

This seems to make so much more sense than what you are trying to do by changing how MS Word works.

Answer 2

Have you tried going to Word Options/Save and unchecking Save Autorecover information every [option] seconds?

I've no experience with dedicated source control, so I don't know if that'll do, but it looks promising.

Answer 3

It's hard coded for good reason - if you have an open handle on the actual file and then attempt to save, overwriting that file, then the save fails for some reason (especially on a network fileshare, but even just local issues like power failure), you would now have half a file which is useless. The method Word uses here when saving is to save a temporary file, make sure it saved properly then delete the original and 'swap in' the temporary file, all transparently to the user of course.

The "oddly named" files you see are meta files which enable users to get helpful locking messages - "the document you want is being edited by Barry" - the user name is fetched from that temp file (which is why it shows the user's name as stored in Office, not their login account name).

AutoRecover files are not stored in the same folder as the actual document, but in a user-profiled local folder.

Answer 4

1. This is not an option in Microsoft Word - you're stuck with the existing saving/deleting/replacing functionality.

2. Visual Studio notices when a file gets deleted from disk, and automatically removes it from the project. Deactivating the option "Detect when file is changed outside the environment" in the Tools > Options > Documents menu does not turn off this behaviour.

3. You can work around this (inconveniently) by doing the following:

   • Check out the DOC/DOCX file in your source control system.
   • Exit Visual Studio, or just close the Solution.
   • Do work on the file in Word, doing a final Save whenever you're done.
   • Open the solution back up and your file will still be included in the project.
   • Check the file back in.