SPSS .sav files sometimes become text documents?!

[Jill S.5]

Hi,

I am using dropbox to backup work and upload several different SPSS data sets (all .sav file types) at the end of the day. They always appear to upload fine and file type is listed as you would expect (.sav) in my dropbox folder. However when I go to open or download them from dropbox (e.g. the next day), sometimes I find that they are no longer SPSS files but simple text files (even though they remain listed as .sav). This seems to happen randomly. For example this morning, two data sets that I uploaded yesterday open from dropbox into SPSS with no problem while two others have basically been lost to this issue. Please can someone explain what is happening or even better does someone know how I can retrieve the files that are currently un-openable. Thanks!

[Richard P.]

Are you downloading them via your browser?

[Jill S.5]

Yes, it's a shared work computer so I don't have my personal dropbox on the actual computer, I am accessing dropbox only from the website

[Richard P.]

Thought so 🙂

Its your browser which is "converting" it into a text file during the downloading process, not Dropbox I'm afraid 🙂  You probably have .sav files associated with the app which opens the text file, and the browser is using that.

[Jill S.5]

I can copy the .sav files I am having issues with from my home computer dropbox onto a memory stick and then try to open them from this on the work computer tomorrow (I don't have SPSS on my home computer). Do you think this might work?

[Jill S.5]

Oh ok great thanks (I wonder why it does this with some and not others?). Anyway thanks for your help, hopefully this means that the files on dropbox which I can't open from the browser are still fine and I will be able to open them in SPSS if I load them onto my memory stick from my home computer dropbox folder - phew!