das@ecsvax.UUCP (05/29/84)
Refs: druxm.857, druky.680, genrad.4016, sdcsla.561, sri-arpa.1177
A good explanation of the save/replace problem is given in the last
reference, unfortunately not in a .cbm newsgroup. I've been bitten
by the bug too, and my experience is consistent with the next-to-last
reference. I can recommend a good product that provides one solution:
Disk Support, a $15 program from J & H Computers, formerly H & H
Enterprises. You can find their ads in COMPUTE! and/or Gazette, I
think under the old name. It provides simple disk commands for all
the things you might want to do with a disk, and hides itself
wherever you want to put it in memory. The commands are mostly
two keystrokes, the first of which is ". Thus "C is catalog (without
disturbing program), "S is save, etc. Save/replace is "S@, and this
initiates the sequence: delete old file, save new file, verify new
file. To paraphrase an obnoxious ad, it takes a little longer, but
it's worth it!
I heard somewhere, a year or more ago, that developers of software all
new about the 1541 bug early on and wrote their disk utilities around
it. I have since heard that that is not true with WordPro 3+, on
which I have become very dependent, and with which I frequently
save/replace. Anybody know if I am courting disaster with my text
files? Anybody know which important programs do or don't delete
files before saving under the same name? Or better yet, a way to test
whether your favorite program does or doesn't?
David A. Smith
Department of Mathematics
Duke University
Durham, NC 27706
(919) 684-2321
{decvax,akgua}!mcnc!ecsvax!das