Empty files

[vhradice]

I am seeing something and I don’t know if it is a problem or something I have to live with.

In the ~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/backup directory, I have 3,000+ files with 0 bytes. I assume that this means the files are empty. There are other files there which are not empty. The non-empty ones appear to be backups of files I have worked on. The empty files all appear to be attempts to backup a Base database that I have created using the built in hsql engine. The file is stored on my computer. The time stamps on the files are unusual. There are 6 files with a time stamp of 15:58, 6 with 15:59, 6 with 16:00 and the pattern continues for the other 3,500 empty files.

Does any one else have the same situation? I have the save/backup time in the general options set to 15 minutes.

I have a listing of all of the files if anyone wants to see it.

Thank you,
Vince Radice

[razon_22]

Hi Vince. Very good question. The timestamps and number of files show what is happening. LibreOffice is trying to back up your database, failing and trying again for up to six times each minute until it is successful. That’s why you have all the empty files. You can safely delete these. Why the backup fails I’m not sure, maybe an internal issue with the code. What version of LO are you running? 4.2 will be coming out shortly so you might benefit by upgrading to see if that solves the problem. If not, look into filing a bug report or in the meantime try using a separate backup app to create a backup copy of the file every 15 minutes.

[MichaelLager]

This happens (it used not to) on Ubuntu 14.04 with Writer Version: 4.2.4.2 Build ID: 420m0(Build:2). In my case, the backup files aren’t empty but contain the text being edited up to the point the automatic backup is made. I haven’t checked if this happens on other LO applications.

Apparently LO 4.3.2 includes a fix.