Issue 80909

AUTOMATIC BACKUP REPOSITORY

This is different from the 'Always create backup copy'-option. Especially in
view of the requests to move those saved 'backups' to the same directory as of
the original document, this is very different, indeed.


A.) INTRO
B.) SOLUTION
C.) IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS


A.) INTRO

Losing data due to hardware or software failure is one of the most dreaded
complications of extensive computer usage. Every user is therefore urged to save
multiple backup copies of his work. While in professional settings, this data
backup is usually performed automatically by IT professionals, this is less so
the case with home users.

However, even when performed, this manual data-backup (especially in home
settings) creates a number of problems:
 - one has to regularly update the backup
 - and at the same time it is easy to loose track of the many backup copies
   which can easily get out of sync

Therefore, even when regularly updating the backup, one still can loose
extensive information, because even one day of work can signify many hours of
work. And saving multiple copies of the same document creates a mess, as one is
unable to sync the relevant document and ends up with multiple poorly tracked
copies of the same document.

Also, my personal experience was that both diskettes as well as memory sticks
and CDs fail more often than the original.

I experienced multiple instances of data loss due to hardware/software failure
both with OOo and competitor products. Just recently one of my friends
experienced a significant data loss due to a similar failure. Hand-made backups
are definitely insufficient.


B.) SOLUTION

Implement an automatic document backup mechanism using a central repository!

When the user first selects to save a document or selects 'Save as', OOo should
ask him, IF the user wants to save additionally a backup copy. Every subsequent
'Save' shall update this backup.

Unlike the 'Always create backup copy'-option, this new feature shall save the
*most recent* document. Also, the file structure shall be more *robust against
damage*. Also, OOo shall *keep track* of the backup, even IF the original files
get renamed or moved!

C.) IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

DOCUMENTS: Writer documents and Spreadsheets are the most used documents and
would probably benefit mostly from this feature, though other document types
might be included as well. The original document shall save a reference pointing
to the backup (inside the ODF-file), too, and a *unique file identifier* (like
an *URI*). IF the original document is renamed, OOo shall ask the user, IF a new
backup should be created or IF the old one should be further used.

CENTRAL REPOSITORY: The backups shall be saved in a central repository. The
structure and details of this repository shall be handled internally by OOo. The
physical location of this repository shall be on a HD different from that where
the documents are usually saved (a different partition is not enough). Other
options include network drives and other external data storage. In the extreme
case, where such a second HD is lacking, the user should be able to select a
different partition and also have the ability to automatically sync this backup
with an external storage (similarly to various iPods and handhelds sync
capabilities).

BACKUP FILE: The backup file shall be a modified ODF-document. Please note,
that, as this is NOT officially an ODF-file, there are really NO
standards-incompatibilities. Especially, the format shall be adapted to increase
the *robustness* against data loss. As the LZW-compress format can become
corrupt, the compression should be disabled and the document shall be saved as a
*plain tar-file*. Also, the portions of the file, that contain the relevant data
(the actual *content*) shall be saved with some *recovery records* to prevent
data loss even under very damaging conditions. Some 'Versioning' should be
automatically activated to easily *track changes*.