What is the difference between saving in an opened file and saving via swiping left in the Live Docs tab?

[seloran]

I would have thought they should achieve the same thing, but I noticed saving in an opened file doesn’t remove the [M] tag to the right of the file name once I exit to the Live Docs tab.

[walt.farrell]

The [M] tag never seems to go away (even in V1).

I'm not sure if there is any difference between the two scenarios, but I'd let someone with more iPad experience than I have provide a better answer

[DM1]

6 hours ago, seloran said:

I would have thought they should achieve the same thing, but I noticed saving in an opened file doesn’t remove the [M] tag to the right of the file name once I exit to the Live Docs tab.

Saving in an opened file (Doument/Save) is only available after a file has been saved. There are two ways to achieve this.
The first is from Home Screen, left swipe/rename/save. On reopening the “saved” file, you will now find an option in the Document menu to Save. This saves the edits to the current default folder. 
The second is to open an unsaved file and use Document menu Save a Copy (note the absence of Save option). With Save a Copy you get to navigate to any folder and choose a file name. Remember though it is a copy, not your active file. If you want to edit it you need to open it from the selected folder, otherwise you are still working on your original.if you do open the saved copy you will now find a Save option in the Document menu.Hope that’s not too confusing.🙂

[seloran]

1 hour ago, DM1 said:

Saving in an opened file (Doument/Save) is only available after a file has been saved. There are two ways to achieve this.
The first is from Home Screen, left swipe/rename/save. On reopening the “saved” file, you will now find an option in the Document menu to Save. This saves the edits to the current default folder. 
The second is to open an unsaved file and use Document menu Save a Copy (note the absence of Save option). With Save a Copy you get to navigate to any folder and choose a file name. Remember though it is a copy, not your active file. If you want to edit it you need to open it from the selected folder, otherwise you are still working on your original.if you do open the saved copy you will now find a Save option in the Document menu.Hope that’s not too confusing.🙂

I think I understand your explanation. However, the mystery of the [M] tag still lingers. I think I heard it in one of the tutorials that it stands for an unsaved modified file? I saved a copy to a certain location outside of the Designer app data folder and opened the file and then saved it, but it still shows with the [M] tag in the Live Docs tab.

[DM1]

I created a new file and it was unnamed with an M. After swipe/Save the M was gone. Opened the file and made an edit then returned to Hone screen. M was back (edit not yet saved outside sandbox ), swiped and saved and M gone (external file updated).

 

[seloran]

1 minute ago, DM1 said:

I created a new file and it was unnamed with an M. After swipe/Save the M was gone.

Yeah, it seems to be removed only if we swipe left and save but not if we open it and save from the opened file however.

Edited November 12, 2022 by seloran

[DM1]

2 minutes ago, seloran said:

Yeah, it seems to be removed only if we swipe left and save but not if we open it and save from the opened file however

Affinity edits in sandbox. M indicates external copy not saved/updated with latest edits.

[walt.farrell]

8 hours ago, DM1 said:

Affinity edits in sandbox. M indicates external copy not saved/updated with latest edits.

But consider this sequence:

1. Create a new document. Add an object to it.
2. Return to Live Docs. You have an Untitled document, with your object. And an [M] flag.
3. Rename and Save within Live Docs. the [M] is gone.
4. Tap the document. Return to Live Docs from the document, without making changes.
5. [M] is back in Live Docs.
6. Save. [M] is gone.
7. Tap the document. Save again from document icon. 
8. Return to Live Docs. 

At this point (as in step 5) the [M] is back?

Why? In step 4 no changes were made. In step 7 a Save was done to the same location as a Save in Live Docs would do.

[seloran]

15 hours ago, DM1 said:

Affinity edits in sandbox. M indicates external copy not saved/updated with latest edits.

If I'm understanding correctly, this means the apps on iPad doesn't/can't save to the file from within the opened file but instead saves to a temporary/sandbox copy of the file in the apps, and people would have to save from the Live Docs page to actually save to the file?

I can certainly see how most people working on desktops would have an issue with this because they are used to actual files being saved on the save action in the opened files.

6 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

But consider this sequence:

1. Create a new document. Add an object to it.
2. Return to Live Docs. You have an Untitled document, with your object. And an [M] flag.
3. Rename and Save within Live Docs. the [M] is gone.
4. Tap the document. Return to Live Docs from the document, without making changes.
5. [M] is back in Live Docs.
6. Save. [M] is gone.
7. Tap the document. Save again from document icon. 
8. Return to Live Docs. 

At this point (as in step 5) the [M] is back?

Why? In step 4 no changes were made. In step 7 a Save was done to the same location as a Save in Live Docs would do.

5. The app probably doesn't check if any changes has been made and assumes the file has changes if you open it.

7. It probably just saves a temporary/sandbox copy of the file and doesn't change anything in the actual file.

9. So the temporary/sandbox file is deemed to have modifications [M] compared to the actual file.

[DM1]

9 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Tap the document. Return to Live Docs from the document, without making changes.

I suspect that returning to Home screen (Live Docs) always generates an update to sandbox version, regardless of changes being made. Saving is only way (currently) to update the external file. Saving is the step that removes the M.

[DM1]

2 hours ago, seloran said:

If I'm understanding correctly, this means the apps on iPad doesn't/can't save to the file from within the opened file but instead saves to a temporary/sandbox copy of the file in the apps, and people would have to save from the Live Docs page to actually save to the file?

Once a file has been Saved, a Save option is added within the Document menu. You can then save further edits from within the open file. These ‘Saves’ update the external file. I don’t understand why Affinity don’t simply make it available to begin with.

[walt.farrell]

14 minutes ago, DM1 said:

I suspect that returning to Home screen (Live Docs) always generates an update to sandbox version, regardless of changes being made. Saving is only way (currently) to update the external file. Saving is the step that removes the M.

And is it simply a bug that the Save (from within the document) in my step 7 doesn't remove the [M]. If they're saving to the same location, it seems both should have the same result unless you actually made changes after Saving.

[DM1]

6 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

my step 7 doesn't remove the [M]

The return to live docs generates the M by unnecessarily updating sandbox🙁.  As Paul has stated previously, this whole process requires a serious rework.