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Arcmap "save" should default to version of .mxd opened

mattwilkie

gotcha: Arcmap 10 "save a copy" will create a 9.3 .mxd. If however you open a 9.3 mxd in 10 and then save it using the toolbar button or [ctrl]- it upgrades it to 10 format, rendering it inaccessible to 9.3 clients.

Futhermore, save-a-copy will not let you overwrite the open map, therefore forcing a new document to be created. One must clean things up afterwards, after closing Arcmap, by manually deleting the old copy and renaming the new one. Needless to say most people will not be motivated to do this and there will be an escalation in the number of duplicate maps. yech.

This makes working in mixed environment very difficult. It would be much better if Arcmap saved the .mxd using the same version the file was in when it was opened. There should be a small noticeable but unobstrusive message reminding the user the file was "saved in 9.3 format", for example.

It would also be useful if ArcCatalog [select mxd] > properties showed the version number.

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Closed

Status: Closed

Comments

mattwilkie

I submitted this request through ESRI tech support. After some back and forthing it was partially accepted, as:

NIM059913: Provide a way for ArcMap 10 to show the version of MXD file being opened and a message after saving the MXD informing the version it was saved to.  
In my opinion this is a good enhancement, but not what is needed. Perhaps they need more encouragement.

TomMagdaleno

I agree. I had to upgrade to 10.1 for ArcGIS Server, but georeferencing is broken in 10.1 and won't be fixed until the service pack, so until they fix that I am the only one with 10.1. So this make working on the same document with someone else tricky.

LukeWebb

They need to fix this! (Yes another victim here ) ... this issue also holds back the implementation of newer versions within our organisation as we like to all update at once, for only this reason.

Anonymous User

This is still a good idea, and I would add that an Option be added in User Options. So we can permanently set the default version. For example... maybe we always want to save as 10.5, even if we go to 10.7 or 10.8. (I see that in the last few versions it's only some more obscure raster things they have added in the new file formats) Seems like this would be straightforward enough to add, since the underlying functionality is there in Save As a Copy.

williamscraigm

ArcGIS Desktop is in mature support and will be retired March 1, 2026 so we won’t be considering this idea. We recommend that you migrate to ArcGIS Pro, our fully supported desktop GIS application. See Migrate from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro for more information. Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas. We truly appreciate your contributions to continuously improving the software to help you do your work and look forward to what ideas you have for ArcGIS Pro.