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Working with Busy Files

Overview

What should an operating system do if the user renames a file that is currently open in another application? Mac OS X and Windows XP have different methods for dealing with this scenario.

Mac OS X

OS X allows files to be renamed and/or moved to a different location while they are open. The majority of applications will update to reflect these changes transparently to the user, although some applications behave differently. TextEdit, for example, will not recognize the new file name or location, and resaving the file will simply create a brand new version of it in its original location with its original filename. Script Editor behaves differently as well. We renamed a script that was open in Script Editor, and were prompted with the following dialog when attempting to resave the file:

Most applications, however, will simply reflect the new name in their titlebar as soon as you switch back to the application, and if you've also changed the location, resaving the document will automatically save it to the new location.

Windows XP

XP doesn't allow you to rename or move files to a different location while they are open. However, XP does have the ability to detect which application has the file open, so it will tell the user to close it before it can be renamed or moved. You can see this in action if you try to rename a Word document in Explorer while it is currently open - the error message will tell you to close Word before you can rename the file. XP uses the running object table to map open files to their applications.

Conclusion

Mac OS X

  • Can rename and move files to a different location while they are open
  • Some inconsistent behavior between applications on how to handle files that have been renamed or moved while they are open

Windows XP

  • Can't rename and move files to a different location while they are open

Mac OS X bests Windows XP with its ability to move or rename busy files, although some applications will handle this differently. XP has no such ability, although, to its credit, it can tell you which application is using the file so that you can close it first.

Mac OS X: 8
Windows XP: 3

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