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Lock file naming pattern

What does the tilde (~) mean at the end of a filename?bulk rename (or correctly display) files with special charactersUnix file naming conventionWhat is the file-naming convention for regular text files?Lock Parted Magic?Disallowing blank space in file system namingLibreOffice introducing random page breaksWhy are certain naming conventions so inconsistent in Linux?How to stop opening a file in LibreOffice from changing folder's Date ModifiedKernighan and Pike challenge: how to put a slash in a filename?Why flock doesn't clean the lock file?

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1

Whenever I open a LibreOffice document, LibreOffice creates a lock file along the original file. This file has a naming schema like the following:

.~lock.MyDocument.odt# 

Is this a LibreOffice specific naming pattern? Is it common on Linux?
Why do LibreOffice use exactly that pattern? Why did they choose those specific extra characters?

filenames libreoffice lock

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  It is not a Linux thing (Linux is just a kernel). It may be a Unix, Gnu thing.
  
  – ctrl-alt-delor
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

1

Whenever I open a LibreOffice document, LibreOffice creates a lock file along the original file. This file has a naming schema like the following:

.~lock.MyDocument.odt# 

Is this a LibreOffice specific naming pattern? Is it common on Linux?
Why do LibreOffice use exactly that pattern? Why did they choose those specific extra characters?

filenames libreoffice lock

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  It is not a Linux thing (Linux is just a kernel). It may be a Unix, Gnu thing.
  
  – ctrl-alt-delor
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

Whenever I open a LibreOffice document, LibreOffice creates a lock file along the original file. This file has a naming schema like the following:

.~lock.MyDocument.odt# 

Is this a LibreOffice specific naming pattern? Is it common on Linux?
Why do LibreOffice use exactly that pattern? Why did they choose those specific extra characters?

filenames libreoffice lock

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

.~lock.MyDocument.odt# 

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

edited 2 hours ago

Rui F Ribeiro

42.4k1485146

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

asked 2 hours ago

SilicomancerSilicomancer

1163

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

1

If a program uses a lock file for anything, it is up to the program to choose the name of that lock file.

The name chosen by LibreOffice seems to be a hidden name constructed in such a way that it's unlikely to collide with a pre-existing filename, while still being specific to whatever document you are currently editing.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So while the "." obviously hides the file the "~" and the "#" are arbitrary?
  
  – Silicomancer
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer Yes, they are prepended and appended to the name of your file and it creates a filename that is unlikely to exist.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer They are arbitrary, but not random, meaning LibreOffice will always name lock files in this way (as will OpenOffice I believe).
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

1

The leading dot hides the file from some directory listings. This comes from historical behavior of the ls command, which lead many programs to use leading dots to denote files that aren't meant to be visible in directory listings, which in turn lead to many file managers hiding such files by default.

The tilde is an unusual character in file names, so there's not much risk of colliding the file name chosen by the user. Why a tilde? Tildes are especially unusual at the beginning of file names, because a leading ~ means “home directory” in shells and many other programs. So prepending a tilde is unlikely to cause a collision. A possible additional factor because when it's at the end of a file name, it's a traditional way to name backups, so adding a tilde to a file's name has a flavor of “some file that is related to this other file, but is not the one the user usually wants” (but it couldn't be at the end because that's already taken). The tilde may additionally have been inspired by the lock files used by Microsoft Office, which start with ~$.

The hash at the end ensures that the file doesn't have an extension that other programs would recognize. If the file was called .~lock.MyDocument.odt, file managers would offer to open it in LibreOffice. Why a hash rather than some other character? Hash has a small tradition of being used in lock file names, for example Emacs uses .# followed by the name of the file that's being edited.

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

add a comment | 

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1

If a program uses a lock file for anything, it is up to the program to choose the name of that lock file.

The name chosen by LibreOffice seems to be a hidden name constructed in such a way that it's unlikely to collide with a pre-existing filename, while still being specific to whatever document you are currently editing.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So while the "." obviously hides the file the "~" and the "#" are arbitrary?
  
  – Silicomancer
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer Yes, they are prepended and appended to the name of your file and it creates a filename that is unlikely to exist.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer They are arbitrary, but not random, meaning LibreOffice will always name lock files in this way (as will OpenOffice I believe).
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

1

If a program uses a lock file for anything, it is up to the program to choose the name of that lock file.

The name chosen by LibreOffice seems to be a hidden name constructed in such a way that it's unlikely to collide with a pre-existing filename, while still being specific to whatever document you are currently editing.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So while the "." obviously hides the file the "~" and the "#" are arbitrary?
  
  – Silicomancer
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer Yes, they are prepended and appended to the name of your file and it creates a filename that is unlikely to exist.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Silicomancer They are arbitrary, but not random, meaning LibreOffice will always name lock files in this way (as will OpenOffice I believe).
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  2 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

If a program uses a lock file for anything, it is up to the program to choose the name of that lock file.

The name chosen by LibreOffice seems to be a hidden name constructed in such a way that it's unlikely to collide with a pre-existing filename, while still being specific to whatever document you are currently editing.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

answered 2 hours ago

Kusalananda♦Kusalananda

144k18268448

1

The leading dot hides the file from some directory listings. This comes from historical behavior of the ls command, which lead many programs to use leading dots to denote files that aren't meant to be visible in directory listings, which in turn lead to many file managers hiding such files by default.

The tilde is an unusual character in file names, so there's not much risk of colliding the file name chosen by the user. Why a tilde? Tildes are especially unusual at the beginning of file names, because a leading ~ means “home directory” in shells and many other programs. So prepending a tilde is unlikely to cause a collision. A possible additional factor because when it's at the end of a file name, it's a traditional way to name backups, so adding a tilde to a file's name has a flavor of “some file that is related to this other file, but is not the one the user usually wants” (but it couldn't be at the end because that's already taken). The tilde may additionally have been inspired by the lock files used by Microsoft Office, which start with ~$.

The hash at the end ensures that the file doesn't have an extension that other programs would recognize. If the file was called .~lock.MyDocument.odt, file managers would offer to open it in LibreOffice. Why a hash rather than some other character? Hash has a small tradition of being used in lock file names, for example Emacs uses .# followed by the name of the file that's being edited.

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

add a comment | 

1

The leading dot hides the file from some directory listings. This comes from historical behavior of the ls command, which lead many programs to use leading dots to denote files that aren't meant to be visible in directory listings, which in turn lead to many file managers hiding such files by default.

The tilde is an unusual character in file names, so there's not much risk of colliding the file name chosen by the user. Why a tilde? Tildes are especially unusual at the beginning of file names, because a leading ~ means “home directory” in shells and many other programs. So prepending a tilde is unlikely to cause a collision. A possible additional factor because when it's at the end of a file name, it's a traditional way to name backups, so adding a tilde to a file's name has a flavor of “some file that is related to this other file, but is not the one the user usually wants” (but it couldn't be at the end because that's already taken). The tilde may additionally have been inspired by the lock files used by Microsoft Office, which start with ~$.

The hash at the end ensures that the file doesn't have an extension that other programs would recognize. If the file was called .~lock.MyDocument.odt, file managers would offer to open it in LibreOffice. Why a hash rather than some other character? Hash has a small tradition of being used in lock file names, for example Emacs uses .# followed by the name of the file that's being edited.

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

add a comment | 

The leading dot hides the file from some directory listings. This comes from historical behavior of the ls command, which lead many programs to use leading dots to denote files that aren't meant to be visible in directory listings, which in turn lead to many file managers hiding such files by default.

The tilde is an unusual character in file names, so there's not much risk of colliding the file name chosen by the user. Why a tilde? Tildes are especially unusual at the beginning of file names, because a leading ~ means “home directory” in shells and many other programs. So prepending a tilde is unlikely to cause a collision. A possible additional factor because when it's at the end of a file name, it's a traditional way to name backups, so adding a tilde to a file's name has a flavor of “some file that is related to this other file, but is not the one the user usually wants” (but it couldn't be at the end because that's already taken). The tilde may additionally have been inspired by the lock files used by Microsoft Office, which start with ~$.

The hash at the end ensures that the file doesn't have an extension that other programs would recognize. If the file was called .~lock.MyDocument.odt, file managers would offer to open it in LibreOffice. Why a hash rather than some other character? Hash has a small tradition of being used in lock file names, for example Emacs uses .# followed by the name of the file that's being edited.

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634

answered 1 hour ago

GillesGilles

550k13111201634