Excel XLS files corruption in Seafile?

#1

I encountered some strange file differences with Seafile.

Using client version 7.0.10 on Windows 10 and Server Version: 7.1.4

What happened is:

  • I had Seafile syncing a few folder as libraries on my Windows 10 laptop
  • I made a separate backup of all files on the laptop
  • I reinstalled the OS (deleting all old files)
  • I restored the files from my backup
  • I set up Seafile client again to sync the same folders/libraries

What I noticed is that Seafile reported several conflicts (created a copy of the file with the “SFConflict” added to the filename).

The log says:

[02/18/21 15:29:32] repo-mgr.c(4358): File C:/x/y/z/foo-2013-08-30.xls is updated by user. Will checkout to conflict file later.

But the file was not updated. It is also stored to a SVN repository and I can check the SVN history, which says it was last modified 7 years ago. (and the current file on )

The file is changed in a few bytes at the end.

filsize:26624 bytes
cmp -l output:
26221 360 0
26222 145 115
26223 312 332
26224 64 21
26225 302 241
26226 263 245

The file history on the Seafile server web GUI has only one line, saying:

Time: 3 years ago(current version)

Any idea what might be going on?

PS: Strange, maybe related: if I open any of those files in Excel, and close it without making any changes, the checksum (CRC32) of the file changes. And Seafile stores a new version on the server (I see a new line in the file history). But I am sure I did not open any of those files recently (they are all very old, for some old projects).

#2

One possibility is this scenario:

  • create XLS file
  • commit it to SVN
  • open the file in Excel and close it (this makes some changes to it, but does not change the timestamp, so SVN does not notice the change)
  • install and setup Seafile client : this copies the changed version to the Seafile server

Result: different files in Seafile server and SVN server

I started using Seafile after I was already using SVN.

#3

OK, after more thinking, this does not explain the things.

I made a backup of the files just a few days ago, and also Seafile client was running at that time.
The Seafile copy and the backup copy should have been the same.