Lost work bug: network file unavailable

[dsjstc]

After 45 minutes of working on a PDF on a network drive, I was suddenly given an alert bar indicating that the network path was no longer available, and therefore my file would be closed. The lesser problem is that it was incorrect: the network drive was still open, and the file was still there.

The real bug here is that the alert gave me no option to save elsewhere. Just "will be closed", and a meaningless "OK" acknowledgement.

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello dsjstc,
This regrettably happens sometimes with networked documents, we are working to combat this, and as such I have updated the corresponding ticket to confirm that this is still an issue in the latest version. For reference, and if you ever would like an update on the progress, please ask any support personnel here or with this RT ticket number:
#4214: Editor 323.2: Issues saving a file (even locally) when it was originally opened from a network and the connection was lost.
I added in notes requesting a method to allow users to save the document when they are presented with this error.
The issue is more prevalent on wireless devices, this is because the wireless network is liable to disconnect and reconnect when it is needed, causing the Editor to loose its path to the document. Keeping a wired connection helps to combat this. Another interim solution is to change the AutoRecover settings in the Preferences menu (Ctrl+K) under Documents, and ensuring that the "Keep Recovery information when..." tickbox is checked off. This may help to maintain some of the changed you have made to the document when this does happen.

[Illana]

Hello, any update on this? This is a cause of quite a lot of lost work for us at the moment

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Illana,

I see that a work item has been added to the ticket, and a developer assigned, but there is no further information in there at this time!

Cheers,
Stefan

[nuflux]

Hi, I'm writing to confirm that this is still an issue and I experience this error repeatedly. Oddly, my old office workstation ran Windows 7 and this never occurred. My new one runs Windows 10 and it happens constantly. I hope that this is fixed soon!

Thanks,
David

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello Nuflux,

The issue is primarily caused by temporarty loss of network connections, Windows now has some functions that cut connections like ours during sleep mode to reduce power consumption further, this has the side effect of causing this issue to occur. Disabling sleep mode, or ensuring that you save your documents before leaving the computer for an extend amount of time will help, and as before, avoid unstable wireless connections while working on networks files. If you need to work on a file while on the move, save it locally and work on that copy then overwrite the version on the network when all is done.

We are aware that it is still an issue, and are working on methods to prevent the issue from occuring as often, but without completely restructuring how we handle documents, this cannot be fully fixed. As such, you may see some minor improvements that make this less of an issue, but a true resolution will be a longer wait.

Kind regards,

[FHS]

One of the users in my office is now experiencing this for a while. We have 5 computers and only 1 is having this problem randomly (but rather frequently) throughout the day.

This is causing a great deal of lost productivity to this user as it sometimes happens 3 or 4 times an hour. Various PDFs. No other apps showing issues with the network, Autocad using files over the same network and from teh same server.
User reports no issues using the network at all but this error indicates a network issue.

Need a fix or some help how to diagnose the problem please asap.

thx.

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hi, FHS

As I mentioned before:

The issue is primarily caused by temporary loss of network connections, [...]. Disabling sleep mode, or ensuring that you save your documents before leaving the computer for an extend amount of time will help, and as before, avoid unstable wireless connections while working on networks files. If you need to work on a file while on the move, save it locally and work on that copy then overwrite the version on the network when all is done.

I cannot provide a timeline on the fix for this, but I can say that it is a high complex situation and a proper fix will likely not be available before the release of version 9.

Kind regards,

[Gagwel]

Hello,

When I found out the topic that causes me troubles was raised in 2018, I thought "cool, for sure a fix was found since then, even if it is a temporary fix, so I'm just going to have to make an update".

Now it seems it has not been fixed yet. So is it a big deal to automatically create locally saved temporay versions of the files that are opened ?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hi, Gagwel

It would be just as complex as the alternatives we are working on, as that too would require a fundamental change in the logic behind many functions.
Rest assured that our Dev team is aware of the issue, and is working to resolve this as soon as possible. As I mentioned before, this will not likely be available before V9 is released. Currently we intend for V9 to release in this coming January. I do not believe this is part of the initial release, but I will contact our Dev team to see if they think it can be done.

Kind regards,