It's not only PowerPoint that Stinks!!

[Macslag]

Admittedly, Dennis's problem could easily be a system fault (have you tried
searching for 'hidden items, OSX has a habit of occasionally hiding files?),
but this whole 2004 thing is rubbish!

I want to know if anyone has experienced problems with PowerPoint files in a
shared directory of an OSX server.
When a client opens a PP presentation, makes a small amendment and then
saves (apple+s, as using the menu can also cause problems), the software
returns a message 'the file is locked' / read only. So the client saves it
as a different version (big problem). Nobody else on the network or with
this file open.
The saving of PPT files over the network can also be dogged slow.

Not really PP related, but also having a nightmare with Word. E.g. A 24 page
doc composed in 'Word X' will open in 'Word 2004' as a 6 page doc?

Many thanks in advance

Slag

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

I experience this problems once in a great while on a Windows shared
directory. It occurs if I open a document then try to save it or do
some other file activity with it before the network has had a chance to
catch up.

For example, if I open it, make some changes then close it, then open it
up again too soon then I will get the file locking you describe.

I've also had occassion where the hidden temp file copy on a network
simply does not go away once a document is closed. This tells the OS
that the main document is still open. The solution is to manually delete
the hidden temp file.

This is due to the fact that there is a lot more latency on network
drives than on local hard drives.

It is usually better to copy the network file to the local drive, work
on it there, then copy it back to the network drive when done.

The read-only problem is a result of the network and the application
trying to prevent you from having problems, but the irony in some cases
is this safety valve sometimes causes its own problems.

-Jim