Posted By
JamesC
on 2002-12-18
|  File overwrite
The only reason to overwrite the existing file is if the diskette does not have enough free space to hold both at once. Otherwise there is a chance of data loss due to power outage.
You could write a file under a different name, SCRATCH the original file, then RENAME the new file to the old name.... but this requires free space you may not have.
The save-with-replace feature works properly over 99% of the time -- even more accurate when the drive number is used (SAVE"@0:filename,S"). But please note that save-with-replace also requires that both be existing on the diskette for a short amount of time, otherwise the DOS will cut off the new file or give a DISK FULL message.
Another way to foil save-with-replace is to reset the disk drive prior to the save. When the drive has not had any buffers allocated to files there is no problem.
If there is absolutely no way that both files can exist on the same disk at the same time, then a SCRATCH and SAVE would be mandatory.
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