deleting backup files

[Fred Ridder]

I'm convinced that autosave and automatic backup are among the
most misunderstood features in FrameMaker, which is why I continue
to post messages explaining them. No need to go slinking off to the
back of the classroom if you were laboring under a misconception.

In the case of autosave, many users assume that the well-engineered
feature in FrameMaker operates in the same brain-dead way that it
is implemented in so many of the applications we are all familiar with.

And in the case of the automatic backup feature, users assume that
it is a well-engineered feature when it is really kind of a Q&D kludge
that functions quite differently than its name implies that it should work.

-Fred Ridder


>From: "Carol Wade" <Carol.Wade at healthlanguage.com>
>To: "Fred Ridder" <docudoc at hotmail.com>,<framers at lists.frameusers.com>
>Subject: RE: deleting backup files
>Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:49:33 -0600
>
>Wow. Thanks for the clarification. ...going to the back of the class
>now...
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Fred Ridder [mailto:docudoc at hotmail.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:26 PM
>To: Carol Wade; framers at lists.frameusers.com
>Subject: RE: deleting backup files
>
>You don't need the .backup to back out of an unwanted editing
>change because right there in the File menu is the "Revert to last
>saved" command, wich does exactly what it says and does not rely
>on the the .backup file created by the "automatic backup" mode.
>
>I can see where a global find and replace could be a case where
>it might be necessary to use the .backup files to back out of the
>change. But in my own workflow I tend to use variables for anything
>that is likely to need to be changed globally, and variable changes
>are easy to undo without reverting to an older version of the doc.
>
>But it's important to note that manually reverting to the .backup
>is actually taking you back to the version *before* your last save
>because the .backup file is *not*a*backup* of the version you
>saved. It's the file as it existed *prior*to* the last save. The only
>time that this is what you really want to do is when you have
>made *and*saved* some unwanted changes and need to revert
>to the second previous saved version. The .backup file is always
>one save behind the changes you have made, so you'll be throwing
>out both the current changes and the last saved set of changes
>if you revert to the .backup.
>
>Fred Ridder

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