File storage in Moodle 2

7. Common questions and concerns!!

What happens if two people upload files with the same name?

As Moodle only keeps one copy of each file many people are concerned that their file will be overwritten with someone elses content.  This is not the case.  Moodle is very clever!  When two files are uploaded Moodle checks the entire content of the file as well as the file name.  If the files are identical it will only keep one of the files.  If they are not different (even if the only difference is full stop) they will be seen as different files and each will be stored within Moodle.

If I upload a file from my computer and then change it on the computer - will it change the uploaded version on Moodle too?

No.  When you upload something, it is stored completely seperately.  If you change the file on the computer and you want that version on Moodle, you need to upload it again.  However, in contrast to Moodle 1, when you re-upload a file in Moodle the file name does not have to be changed to force it to update.  See the 'some tips' page for instructions on how to do this.

However, for future versions of Moodle they are working on developing repositories to allow you to link to files within a repository and if you put the file into a course from the respository and then change the file within the repository it will change the file within the course.  It would essentially link to a central file.  There is also talk that that we could add files into our private files area and then add these into 3 Moodle courses. If the file is updated within the private files it will also update the file in the 3 courses too.  Something to look out for!!