# 7.2.2 "file has been changed by another application" **URL:** \ **Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\ **Created:** [February 15, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543 "2017-02-15T19:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iansinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/919ad9/32.png) [@iansinclair](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/iansinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/1 "2017-02-15T19:32:20Z")
I see that this was a problem with previous versions. But it never happened to me before this week. I have just started getting this message when I attempt to publish a page, > “This document’s file has been changed by another application since you opened or saved it. > The changes made by the other application will be lost if you save. Save anyway?” Is anyone else experiencing this with 7.2.2 ? Mine seems to occur with simple stacks page. ---
**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/2 "2017-02-15T19:37:16Z")
Is your project file located inside iCloud documents folder? ---
**Author:** ![thang](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/thang/32/303_2.png) [@thang](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/thang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/3 "2017-02-15T19:47:21Z")
I’ve seen this happen sometimes as well after previewing in a browser. All my pages are stacks pages so can’t say if it happens on non-stacks pages. ---
**Author:** ![iansinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/919ad9/32.png) [@iansinclair](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/iansinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/4 "2017-02-15T19:48:54Z")
No. It is in a user folder on my hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![MarkSealey](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/marksealey/32/22895_2.png) [@MarkSealey](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MarkSealey)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/5 "2017-02-15T20:41:22Z")
Do you have more than one version (e.g. an older version) of _RW_ installed anywhere on your system? ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/6 "2017-02-15T22:05:38Z")
Hello… this had been mentioned elsewhere on the forums (myself included). So far there has been no explanation or solution. I have used RW for years and this just recently started. Doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen. No, I don’t use iCloud. No, my project files are not in Dropbox. No, I never have more than one version running. I have used Mac’s since day one, (I had an Apple ///) and I am stymied by this error. I can think of absolutely NO outside app that would change the RW file. My project file does not appear to actually have been changed, despite the msg. This msg has to be coded into RW for a reason. @dan - I wish RealMac would let us know what “other” app could possibly change a RW file or what it is that triggers this msg. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![iansinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/919ad9/32.png) [@iansinclair](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/iansinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/7 "2017-02-15T22:20:29Z")
My main concern is that if some other application is altering my document, there could be malware or a virus involved. ---
**Author:** ![MarkSealey](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/marksealey/32/22895_2.png) [@MarkSealey](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MarkSealey)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/8 "2017-02-16T17:40:04Z")
Isn’t the message (_this document’s file has been changed by another application_) actually suggesting not so much that another (potentially rogue) app has actually changed the _RW_ file itself, but that (some component of) it has been altered outside the _RW_ environment and so whatever checking _RW_ does on loading the file is revealing an inconsistency - perhaps of timestamps? For example a graphic component inside the sandwich? Note that the text of the message doesn’t actually mention _RW_ itself, does it? So couldn’t a cloning, copying or other minor change to date or path inside the file also cause this message if that _RW_ checking relies on some OS consistency check? ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/9 "2017-02-16T19:48:09Z")
Could be I guess but again, I can’t think of ANY component inside my RW projects that would be changed by another app while I have RW open. My clones and backups run at night when I’m in bed. I really can’t think of anything in the sandwich that would change. And again, this just started with one of the 7 version updates. Never happened in 5, or 6 and I used 5 for years. And my workflow causes me to do pretty much the same things each time I’m in a project and yet the msg is rare. It really has me baffled! ---
**Author:** ![MarkSealey](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/marksealey/32/22895_2.png) [@MarkSealey](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MarkSealey)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/10 "2017-02-17T04:11:02Z")
Greg, If you put the text string of the message you are receiving (_“This document’s file has been changed by another application since you opened or saved it. The changes made by the other application will be lost if you save. Save anyway?”_) into Google, you’ll see that hundreds (thousands) of cases are returned where applications of many kinds can behave that way. IOW I don’t think it’s a message specifically from _RW_. If I’m right, then it suggests it’s something else happening other than from within _RW_. Not sure what - and I appreciate that this appears to have started with _RW 7_. That must be very disconcerting for you ☹ May I suggest you try looking at the threads which are returned from this (Google) search: could it be that the file is locked, has been copied and renamed in an order that the OS can’t follow; (previously) in DropBox etc. I suspect it’s some sort of date and time issue that is confusing the OS, not _RW_. Fixing it, of course, is another challenge. But to know that the message is masking another circumstance may be a good way to start. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![ricinport](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ricinport/32/9349_2.png) [@ricinport](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/ricinport)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/11 "2017-02-17T04:46:22Z")
I’d suggest it’s a bug in RW and you can stop worrying. I too have seen it in the past and also more recently. I can force this message: I regularly save the project before publishing (lock-ups or crashes in the past on pressing publish have taught me a lesson). Publishing forces a project save anyway so If I save and then don’t give enough time before I press publish the ‘file has been changed’ message crops up. It’s as if RW hasn’t finished the manual save and then tries to save the file on pressing publish but is still in a save cycle anyway. My project is large and closing in on a GB so saving can take a good few seconds. In a similar scenario the project now ‘appears’ to open quickly in RW7. Opening used to take close to a minute but now takes around 10 seconds. However I would suggest that whilst the project initially is presented as open it still has some loading to do. I get strange behaviour from the project file if I try working on it too quickly. Leave it to ‘fully open’ (maybe 30 seconds in total) and I can then use it without problems. Faster opening of larger files was touted as an improvement in a recent update and I’m grateful for it, but there has been some slight trickery performed because all is not as it appears. I believe saving a file to have similar trickery and it may be the cause of your ‘file changed’ message. ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/12 "2017-02-17T14:28:19Z")
> [@MarkSealey](#): > > If you put the text string of the message you are receiving (“This document’s file has been changed by another application since you opened or saved it. The changes made by the other application will be lost if you save. Save anyway?”) into Google, you’ll see that hundreds (thousands) of cases are returned where applications of many kinds can behave that way. If I had to guess I’d say the msg is generated by system but the change to the file surely is happening within RW. So the OSX msg is merely reporting the result of what the app did. That is probably why there are so many hits on search engines as any app can have this msg generated within in by OSX. BUT THIS IS ALL JUST A GUESS. ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/13 "2017-02-17T14:33:36Z")
INT[quote=“ricinport, post:11, topic:12543”] I can force this message: [/quote] Very interesting. My project file was so large I broke it down into 7 project files. My largest is now only 130MB and though a bit irritating to maintain seven projects for one site it pays off many times over in time savings (open, close) and such. I tried your steps to reproduce the msg and I can’t reproduce here. I suspect my “save” is happening too quickly since my files are so small. And perhaps I get the msg under rare circumstances when the system is busy and a save is slower… Who Knows… ---
**Author:** ![ricinport](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ricinport/32/9349_2.png) [@ricinport](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/ricinport)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/14 "2017-02-17T15:48:19Z")
@1611mac > [@1611mac](#): > > My project file was so large I broke it down into 7 project files Hi greg I’d be interested to see the project website. Any chance of a link? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/7-2-2-file-has-been-changed-by-another-application/12543/15 "2017-02-17T15:54:39Z")
It’ a site that I maintain for a missionary/writer. I took if over some time ago and it still needs a lot of TLC. Converted a 600 page blog to individual stacks pages, etc. > **[Way of Life Literature - Home Page](https://www.wayoflife.org/)** > > Way of Life Literature - Home Page