read only .dat folder issue

[Christian]

Hi, I have an issue with .dat folders becoming read-only and then not being able to open them again after closing a project. It's also not possible to open the example projects due to the same reason. I've seen other people have had this issue but is there a fix?

I've tried to unmark the folders and use the attrib command line, but it doesn't remove the read-only status.

Would be grateful for any ideas. I'm using distance 8 on windows 10,  with projects saved within one drive. I can't change this set up as it's for a student practical.

thanks!

best wishes

Christian

[Eric Rexstad]

Christian

Thanks for your report. Yes, the "read-only" .dat folder issue has been previously reported. The previous report traced the problem to files being backed up to Google Drive.  In your case, the files appear to reside on OneDrive and presumably are to be shared by students for their practical.

You don't mention whether the problem exists when the Distance project in question is not on OneDrive. I speculate the problem does not exist when OneDrive is taken out of the equation. I understand the practicality of using OneDrive for practicals, however, I think the prudent strategy would be to have the exported .zip files for the students to access from OneDrive. They would then save the Distance project to their local drive and carry out their analyses.

This side-steps having .dat folders on OneDrive that become read-only.

Let us know if this resolves your difficulties.

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Sent: 21 January 2025 17:20
To: distance-sampling <distance...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {Suspected Spam} [distance-sampling] read only .dat folder issue

 

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[Christian]

Hi Eric,

thanks a lot for your response. I can confirm now that it does seem to be a OneDrive issue - as a workaround I created a new project and saved it to the "Downloads" folder - which is not backed up by onedrive and I was able to save and reopen projects from here. However, if I copy sample projects from their default installation location (in Documents - also on OneDrive) to the "downloads" folder I still can't open them. Also, the error states that the folder is read-only but if I look at the properties of the project I created in downloads (which allows saving and opening) it is also read only. Maybe onedrive is changing some other attributes of the files as soon as it is saved in a one drive location? Are the sample projects available elsewhere as a download apart from inside the installation? They may work if I save them directly outside of onedrive.

Saving to 'downloads' will work for the moment, but won't allow students to save any projects outside of downloads (which isn't permanent) - so probably best on a usb drive if they need to be able to be able to use them elsewhere. I will encourage them to use R, but I did want to present the standalone software as an option too.

best wishes

Christian

[Eric Rexstad]

Christian

Glad you've created a work-around. Similar to the previous user who noted their read-only problem arose from a folder marked for backup by Google Drive, you seem to have a similar situation with a location backed up by OneDrive. You may well be right that something is afoot with directory attributes with third-party backup solutions.

If you wish to make a copy of the Sample Project directory to a more handy location, you can access all files via the operating system here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Distance 8\Sample Projects

You can then copy them to wherever you wish.

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From: distance...@googlegroups.com <distance...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Christian <cdev...@gmail.com>

Sent: 23 January 2025 10:25
To: distance-sampling <distance...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {Suspected Spam} [distance-sampling] read only .dat folder issue

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/distance-sampling/6362e987-7846-4821-8a42-9083326110dbn%40googlegroups.com.

[Christian]

Hi Eric, 

Thanks for that. 

Just to note here for any others with this issue. I was able to copy these sample projects to a location with write access outside of OneDrive (in my case, the Downloads folder on windows) and open them from there successfully.

best wishes

Christian

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christian Devenish, PhD
Lecturer in Ecology and Environment
Programme Director for MSc in Biodiversity & Conservation
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment

Office: WS1.39b, William Smith Building, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK
tel. +44 1782 731784
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