The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group There’s Something About Microsoft Files Major Keary |
In my experience Microsoft Office makes big - very big - files. The "quick save"
feature contributes because, instead of discarding data that is no longer
required, files keep the lot. That's why 'fast save' is faster: each time a file
is edited Office simply closes without erasing redundant data. In other words,
the more often a file is edited or used, the more detritus it accumulates.
Typically the name of the originator will appear multiple times, probably
because it is recorded each time the file is opened. Saving font information
also contributes to avoidable file obesity.
Reprinted from the July 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
Another 'feature', which seems to be peculiar to the Windows operating system in
versions 95/98/ME, is that the kernel does not provide zero-filled memory, which
can result in the allocation of memory containing previously saved data that may
be dumped within the open file.
When a program calls for memory to be allocated the operating system should
ensure the memory provided is empty (zero-filled). Memory holds whatever data
has been loaded until either it is flushed or the system is shut down. I have
seen Microsoft Word files with the contents of other, unrelated, files embedded
in them. That material can't be seen when the file is opened with Word, but it
can be seen with a text editor such as UltraEdit. Apart from a potential
security problem, it adds to the bloat.
There is another reason for the difference in file size. When testing StarOffice
I was given a 2.2 Megabyte .DOC file that contained no excess baggage, but when
saved by StarOffice the resulting file was 1.2 Megabytes. To test the fidelity
of the file I used StarOffice to export both the original and the StarOffice
versions to PDF. The PDF files were identical. The answer lies in the way
StarOffice stores data: compressed XML.
Microsoft files can lock themselves out, so to speak. Office applications appear
to write a check sum or CRC (cyclical redundancy check) that is appended when a
file is saved or correctly closed. If closure is the result of an unexpected
event (power failure, book dropped on keyboard, system crash, etc.) the checksum
operation is not performed. When Office attempts to reopen a 'forced-close' file
it encounters an incorrect check sum and returns an error message.
In such cases StarOffice can be used to open the file and 'repair' it simply by
'save as'. StarOffice can save Microsoft Office files to the original format, or
in an StarOffice format. Which begs the question, why bother using Office in the
first place?
