Where does Lion save version of your document?

krbusby wrote:

I was working on a project and had to quit Pages and I thought "How cool, I can just close the app and when I reopen it my article will still be there. That did not happen.

That is what is supposed to happen. It always works for me. Try it again and see if you can reproduce the problem. Have you applied any of the hacks or tricks to control or change Lion's behavior that people post on this site? If so, all bets are off.

krbusby,

I haven't saved anything since starting to use Lion unless I needed a file to transfer or I've finished the project and need to archive. So, I'm not sure why you had a problem. When you quit Pages, did it present any sort of dialog box?

Perhaps that might be part of the problem. Quitting no longer has anything to do with saving. You can quit a Lion-savvy program with an open, untitled file with no problem. Then, when you run the application again, your untitled file will be still be open in a window. You don't get any dialog until you close a file. That is when you must give the file a name.

I would have replied sooner but for some reason I haven't been receiving emails that the thread has been updated.

To anwer etresoft, no I do not use any addons or third party software or hacks etc.

Re: Where does Lion save version of your document?

Aug 4, 2011 5:40 AM (in response to Kevin41269)

Kevin41269 wrote:

1) Where does Lion save the versions?

In a hidden folder named .DocumentRevisions-V100 in the root directory of your hard drive.

2) If I save a copy of my document on a second external harddrive or thumb drive will a copy of the version be saved there too?

It depends on the format of the external drive. An external HFS+ drive will have its own .DocumentRevisions-V100 directory. Other types of volumes such as thumb drives or network drives do not fully support versions. While you are editing a versioned file on such a volume, you will have temporary versions stored in the .DocumentRevisions-V100 folder of your startup drive. As soon as you close the file (on a non-HFS+ volume), all of those temporary versions will be deleted and only the last version will be recorded. You have to manually close the file for this. If you just quit the application, that doesn't close the file. You can run the application again and you will still have those temporary versions.

3) Can i delete parts or all of the versions of my document?

No.

Etresoft --

I realize the above discussion is rather old but your response might shed some light on a question I have. I just installed Lion on an iMac that I backup using TIme Machine connected (wifi) to a TIme Capsule.

Whenever I use the "Browse Previous Versions" feature with TextEdit or an iWork app, my TC disc mounts. Is this normal? The disc does not dismount it when I exit the starfield browser so I have to eject it manually. It's kind of pain. If I turn off wifi, Versions still works and of course the TC doesn't mount.

I have not been able to get an answer to this question and I have not seen anyone else bring up the issue. Is there something wrong with my Lion installation? Or is this because the TC is an HFS+ drive and therefore will have its own .DocumentRevisions-V100 directory once I back up a file?

Thanks.

Saved versions are stored in your .DocumentRevisions-V100 locally and older ones are stored on your time capsule. Mystery solved.

Therefore the most recent will be accessible immediately whether you are connected or not but older saved versions require the Time Capsule to mount. Hope this helps.

 Also but not in most cases 

If you have partitioned your Time Machine backup you can also save files and their related saved versions and work directly off that time machine backup just like an external HD. Enjoy. 

I just installed Lion on an iMac that I backup using TIme Machine connected (wifi) to a TIme Capsule.

Whenever I use the "Browse Previous Versions" feature with TextEdit or an iWork app, my TC disc mounts. Is this normal? The disc does not dismount it when I exit the starfield browser so I have to eject it manually. It's kind of pain. If I turn off wifi, Versions still works and of course the TC doesn't mount.

I have not been able to get an answer to this question and I have not seen anyone else bring up the issue. Is there something wrong with my Lion installation? Or is this because the TC is an HFS+ drive and therefore will have its own .DocumentRevisions-V100 directory once I back up a file?

Message was edited by: sabatica