I searched the forums unsuccessfully for an explanation of this behavior. I assume I’m doing something incorrectly.
I have an Excel file saved in DTPO. I “open with” Excel, make a change, and then save the file.
DTPO creates an additional file. How do I have it “update” rather than “add” a file??
Thanks!
Isn’t DTPO a very old version of DEVONThink? What MacOS version are you on?
I meant to abbreviate DEVONthink Pro Office. I’m on 3.9.1, which I think is current. I’m on a 2023 M2 MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.2.1.
DEVONthink on its own doesn’t duplicate files automatically. Is this e.g. a backup created by Excel? What’s the filename and extension?
Is the file imported or indexed in the database?
PS: The current version of macOS Ventura is 13.4. We suggest you stay current with operating system and our point releases.
@cgrunenberg The duplicated files appear to have the same name and extension:
However, the back-up question is a good one. Here are my Excel file saving preferences:
Is Autosave on in the toolbar in the workbook?
When I enable it, I get this dialog…
However, there isn’t an option to save to the location of the current document, i.e., into the internals of the database.
Which path & filename is shown in the Info inspector?
Thanks!
I can’t reproduce the behavior here.
Do you have any smart rules running, like ones set to Before Synchronization?
@cgrunenberg There is a number in the path which is different for each instance of the file when I look at the inspector:
This indicates they are indeed separate files.
What about the smart groups I asked about?
Didn’t think I have used those, so I had to figure out how to view them 
!
Appears that the only smart groups or smart rules that are set up are the ones set up by default with the program:
What’s the path of the document after opening it with Excel? Is it the one located inside the database package?
My two cents: Microsoft Office Auto Save is not compatible with local files. At the moment you enable that switch, it moves the file into OneDrive Cloud folder. Then, if that file is located INSIDE a DT database (imported, not indexed), that file goes outdated, if remains locally.
Said that, don’t be so confident with that option in MSOffice: I have a lot of friends and co-workers that have lost files and latest changes in auto save mode. And as a personal recommendation, don’t use OneDrive under macOS and don’t put any egg that you could not replicate in OneDrive.
