Forum Discussion
versioning fails when copying
Hi mtarler,
I thought a custom permission level would work but it did not. I could not find a site, document library or versioning setting that would help either.
This is not ideal, but you can create a trigger to notify you when a file is deleted using Power Automate. This will provide an opportunity to intervene and restore the file (and version history) from the site recycle bin.
I hope this helps.
Norm
Let me give an example because I think it might be confusing:
I have Doc123 and it is an a controlled library with versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and the current version is 5.0
IF I copy that Doc123 somewhere else I understand that it will ONLY copy version 5.0 and lose all the prior history.
IF I check out Doc123 and upload a local updated version of the document to over write it, it will then become version 6.0 and I can then check it back in.
IF my new updated version of the document is in a shared working directory in a different sharepoint library, then if I copy that file (using the online copy to feature) when it overwrites Doc123 in the controlled library it wipes out all previous versions there also (i.e. not only does it not keep prior versions from the source file you are copying from but it also wipes out all prior versions of the file you are copying it TO).
Let me explain why this is such a PROBLEM:
The 'how it is intended to work' is fine since if you MOVE a file you keep all version history and if you COPY a file you only keep the most recent version BUT the original still has the full version history. So that is all fine. But if I have a pdf file (let's say a pdf drawing from SolidWorks) in a protected controlled library that must keep all past versions and I need to update it I have to overwrite it using a new pdf created from SolidWorks. That works if I upload it from my desktop but gets destroyed if I copy it from a shared/working library. Fine, I know to download the file then upload it to prevent loss, but what if a new employee comes in and doesn't know. How do I protect my version history.
Hi mtarler,
The issue was not clear to me at first. Now that I follow, what are the specific settings do you have on in the "controlled library"?
Norm
Norman Young thank you. In the controlled library the versioning settings are:
content approval - NO
Doc Vers History - Major Versions Only
Draft Items - any user (but not applicable since we have major versions only)
Require Check Out - YES
on a side note. If you consider the "copy to" function will not save prior versions on the source or destination, that doesn't explain the "move to" which is suppose to save prior versions. That said I have no idea how a "move to" versioning would work with overwritting another file that also has versioning. Hence I would expect that in a controlled versioning library the 'move to' function should not be allowed to overwrite another file, but the "copy to" could be used to copy the most recent version of the source and make it the destination's new version and keep the destination version history.
Hi mtarler,
I thought a custom permission level would work but it did not. I could not find a site, document library or versioning setting that would help either.
This is not ideal, but you can create a trigger to notify you when a file is deleted using Power Automate. This will provide an opportunity to intervene and restore the file (and version history) from the site recycle bin.
I hope this helps.
Norm
Norman Young like you said, it is not ideal, but at least that will detect the problem and it can be addressed as opposed to being hidden and not discovered until it is too late (depending on the trash policy)
I think part of the problem is that the warnings are so similar or identical. If you are trained/used to getting the "warning this will overwrite..." dialog when you drag and drop, you wont think twice about that same warning when you copy/move, but now you lost your version history.