LyX ⇒ Meaning of the ".lyx~" File

[harper]

Hey there,

does anyone know what the .lyx~ files do that LyX creates for every document? I did not find any references in the manual. My questions are:

• What is it and what does it do?
• Can I delete it without destroying the original Document?
• Can I rename the original Document, without renaming the .lyx~ File?

Thank you for your help and time =)
Harper

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Harper,

welcome to the board!

I don't use LyX, however I guess it's a backup file. Some editors add a tilde to the names of backup files. Open it with a text editor or any program to read it, look if it's similar to the original .lyx file.

Stefan

[harper]

Thank you =)

Seems the files are identical...

[meho_r]

As Stefan said, it is a backup file indeed. If you rename your main .lyx file, a new .lyx~ file will be created, with the new name, while the old one, with the old name, will not be deleted. It is good to have these files in case of a disaster (e.g., power-cut might destroy your document completely or mess it up badly).

There are two things you might want to know regarding backup files:
1. You can tell LyX how often it should create/update backup files, or even disable them completely (which is not a good idea): Tools > Preferences > Look & Feel > User Interface (first two checkboxes under "Document")
2. You can create a directory in which backup files of all your projects will be stored, instead of the current directory: Tools > Preferences > Paths > Backup directory.