SaveAs giving different file sizes (2000 SP3)

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I use a VBA-enhanced Word document to convert a plain text file without page breaks into a Word document with page breaks. Formerly, the VBA code I use would only make one copy of the converted file, but to gain a little bit of archival security I duplicated the SaveAs code to save an extra copy with a date-stamped filename. The code works but the two ‘identical’ files are completely different sizes. The date-stamped copy is 153KB versus the plain-named copy’s 94KB. The subsequent code does nothing to either modify or save the file.

I’m slightly confused — I would expect, and would much rather have, absolutely identical files. Is the second (DOC to DOC) file getting compressed, whereas the first (TXT to DOC) has some bloat left in it from the conversion?

Documents.Open FileName:="DOLLY.TXT", ConfirmConversions:=False, _
    ReadOnly:=True, AddToRecentFiles:=False, PasswordDocument:="", _
    PasswordTemplate:="", Revert:=False, WritePasswordDocument:="", _
    WritePasswordTemplate:="", Format:=wdOpenFormatAuto
With Selection.Find
    .ClearFormatting
    .Replacement.ClearFormatting
    .Text = "LOCATION"
    .Replacement.Text = "^mLOCATION"
    .Forward = True
    .Wrap = wdFindContinue
    .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
ChangeFileOpenDirectory "C:ApplicationsDolly"
ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="DOLLY" & " " & Format(Now(), "YYMMDD") & ".DOC", _
    FileFormat:=wdFormatDocument, LockComments:=False, Password:="", _
    AddToRecentFiles:=True, WritePassword:="", ReadOnlyRecommended:=False, _
    EmbedTrueTypeFonts:=False, SaveNativePictureFormat:=False, SaveFormsData:=False, _
    SaveAsAOCELetter:=False
ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="DOLLY.DOC", _
    FileFormat:=wdFormatDocument, LockComments:=False, Password:="", _
    AddToRecentFiles:=True, WritePassword:="", ReadOnlyRecommended:=False, _
    EmbedTrueTypeFonts:=False, SaveNativePictureFormat:=False, SaveFormsData:=False, _
    SaveAsAOCELetter:=False
Application.Documents("DollyConvert.doc").Close
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

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When I tried your code, it produced to .doc files of exactly the same size. I don’t know why it’s different when you try it. However, you could save the document once, then copy the saved file:

…
…
Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:=”C:ApplicationsDollyDolly.doc”
ActiveDocument.Close
FileCopy “C:ApplicationsDollyDolly.doc”, “”C:ApplicationsDollyDolly” & Format(Now(), “yymmdd”) & “.doc”

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That little trick should do the job just right, thanks. I was previously unaware of the FileCopy command but I’m sure I’ll find lots of other uses for it now. To use this fix I’ll have to save, close, FileCopy, and then open again but it should be an easy bit of code to whip together.

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The first thing I would check is the Allow Fast Saves option under Tools > Options > Save. This should be turned off.

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Maybe it’s metadata, as the second save is smaller than the first. Could you zip up a pair of those documents for examination with a metadata scanner?

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The FileCopy trick from Hans worked and I’m now getting identical files from the code, so my main concern is taken care of. The bloat is unquestionably metadata, but I’m not really concerned about squeezing it out since the file sizes are still small enough to email conveniently, even with the bloat.

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