Files saved to NFS shares by MS Word cause finder to loose sync with filesystem

E

emeitner

The following is a bug report I have open with Apple on an awfully
troubling problem we've been having for a long time. I would greatly
appreciate any help this forum can offer as I have recieved not even a
peep from Apple.
----------------------

Summary:
Files saved to an NFS volume by Microsoft Word dissappear from the
Finder. Many times "Ghosted" icons of "Word Work Files" are left
behind.

Steps to Reproduce & Actual Results:
1. Mount an NFS volume from a server(Mac or Linux, doesn't matter. NFS
options do not matter.) from the Finder or command line.
2. Open a Finder window to the mount point.
3. Create a word document(test.doc), save to the NFS mount point.
4. Make sure both the Word window and Finder window are visible.
5. Type a single letter, Save.
6. "Word Work File L_200098113"(the number varies.) apears and test.doc
dissapears from the folder. Then the icon for "Word Work File
L_200098113" goes "ghosted" (test.dc IS still there, just not shown.
You can verify this in the shell )
7. Type a letter, Save.
8. The work file dissapears and is replaces by "Word Work File
L_200098113"
9. Rinse, Repeat ad infinitum.

Expected Results:
File saved & Finder does NOT get out of sync with the filesystem.

Regression:
* Only happens on NFS volumes.
* Only happens with MS Word.
* It happens on Panther(10.3.9) and Tiger(up to 10.4.7)
* "Fast saves" in Word has no effect.
* The user has full access to the root of the NFS volume.(a
..TemporaryItems folder IS being created)
* Verified that problem happens with all Versions of Office 2004 from
11.2.3 to 11.2.6(current).
* Happens with ALL users: admin, local, and non-local(LDAP
authenticated, network homes).

Notes:
* The work files(with "ghosted" icons) never show up when listing the
folder via the CLI.
* The original(test.doc) always shows in the CLI.
* Relaunching the Finder usually causes the "missing" files to show
again, but not always.
* Problem is exacerbated by users losing faith in the system, thus
saving very frequently, guaranteeing that the problem will always
happen.
* Only workaround is to have users work on files "off the network" on
a local disk.


01-Sep-2006 08:37 AM
Relaunching the Finder will restore the icons to the proper state most
of the time. One can also use this application to force a refresh of a
folders contents: http://www.brockerhoff.net/nudge/index.html
I am not sure of the internal workings of "Nudge", but it does seem to
be the best hack available to get the Finder to work properly.


01-Sep-2006 08:48 AM
I should also add that this problem is repeatable on 15 different Macs
of different models, all running 10.3.9 with the latest updates.

11-Sep-2006 12:41 PM
Problem is repeatable on all 6 of our Machines running Tiger(10.4.7)
with all the latest updates.


20-Sep-2006 02:25 PM
The "Nudge" tool mentioned previously does not always work especially
for some users who experience this problem the worst. It will only
restore the file to a "ghosted" icon that is still inaccessable.

Moving the file to a different folder and deleting the resource fork
file is the only solution in this case.

18-Oct-2006 08:29 AM
OS X 10.4.8 update has not altered the behavior of this bug. The Office
2004 11.30 update seems to have caused the problem to happen less
frequently. I would say it now happens half as frequently.
 
E

emeitner

I tried those that apply to my situation. Others are just not relevant.
No improvment.
 

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