Temp Files created during file creation

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steve p - 28 Nov 2006 17:34 GMT

I have a small network consisting of 4 Mac OS X clients, and several Windows
clients. All workstations are accessing a single Windows 2K SP2 Server. My
problems is with file creation from the Mac's. When I save a file to the
server, a second hidden file with the same file name will appear, but with a
"._" before the name. For example, if I save a file called "123.ai" to the
server, that file along with a second file called "._123.ai" appears. When
saving an Illustrator file from a PC, this hidden file does not appear, only
from the Mac's.

The problem this is causing within Illustrator (all versions), is that I get
a -43 File System Error. This does not allow me to open a file from the
server and save it back to the server. If I open a file stored on another
Mac, and save it back to the Mac there is no problem. So I can only guess the
problem is with the Server.

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? Any insight will be appreciated.

Thanks.

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William Smith - 29 Nov 2006 03:13 GMT

> I have a small network consisting of 4 Mac OS X clients, and several Windows
> clients. All workstations are accessing a single Windows 2K SP2 Server. My
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Mac, and save it back to the Mac there is no problem. So I can only guess the
> problem is with the Server.

Hi Steve!

These aren't temp files. These files are created when using Mac OS X to
connect to a Windows workstation/server via SMB.

The SMB implementation in Mac OS X does not support the Mac resource
fork of a file. Apple gets around this problem by splitting the file
into a resource fork (._filename) and the data fork (filename) and
placing them both on the sever. Windows users will only see these files
if they have set their systems to view hidden files.

Rather than using Apple's SMB client I suggest you look into an
alternative SMB client called Dave from Thursby
<http://www.thursby.com>. It handles networking with a Windows machine
much better. It's worth the price just to avoid this problem and it's
more stable. Download the free trial for yourself to see if this
resolves your problem.

Hope this helps! bill

Signature

William M. Smith
(Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows)

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steve p - 29 Nov 2006 04:51 GMT

Bill,

Thanks for the info. Is there no other way around this problem without the
3rd party software though? I am having a hard time swallowing the fact that I
can't simply open an Illustrator file from the server and save it when I'm
done using the OS software out of the box. This is a pretty standard task,
and you would think that Apple would address this compatability issue.

Thanks again, and please share any further insight....

> > I have a small network consisting of 4 Mac OS X clients, and several Windows
> > clients. All workstations are accessing a single Windows 2K SP2 Server. My
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Hope this helps! bill

Reply to this Message

William Smith - 30 Nov 2006 03:18 GMT

> Bill,
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks again, and please share any further insight....

Hi Steve!

Simply put, Apple's implementation of SMB is just clunky. While I would
say you can easily use it for copying files on a fairly regular basis,
the two-part file implementation can cause problems when trying to open
files over this connection. Possibly Apple will change this behavior in
Mac OS X 10.5 but that's a speculation and it won't be released until
early next year.

bill

Signature

William M. Smith
(Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows)

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Mac Forum / Applications / Other MS Products / November 2006

Temp Files created during file creation