Issue with list attachments when content approval is enabled

Question

I have a very simple custom list in a Sharepoint 2007 which I'm having an issue with attachments disappearing when content approval is switched on and I edit an item that was previously approved. It happens when I do the following:

1. I add a new item to my list with an attachment (it doesn't seem to matter what type of attachment. The approval status of the item is now 'Pending'.
2. I then approve the item. I am still able to access the attachment when it is approved.
3. I then edit the item (the attachment is still shown on the edit form). However, once I press OK the attachment disappears!

Even when I approve the item again, the attachment is no longer visible. I've also tried the following:

• I've tried reattaching the file but I get the following error:
• I've turned on Item Version History for the list then repeated the above steps. The attachment still exists on the version 1.0, but not version 2.0.
• I've also found that when you add another attachment to a document it, the original attachment reappears:

Is there any way around this so attachments stay with the latest version when content approval is switched on?

Thanks for your help,

Kahle

Answer 1

The dumb workaround, if nothing else works, is to turn content approval on, add a dummy attachment, and then remove that dummy attachment. Dumb workaround #2: re-create the list if it's only on this one list.

Make sure the advanced settings allow read access to all items, and that you can see draft items in the list.

Further investigations would be to check the directory /site/Lists/listname/Attachments and see if something wonky is going on there. I tried to reproduce your situation and didn't encounter this issue.

Dumb workaround #3 (untested): add a calculated column - a link that points to the attachments folder for that item. e.g. the formula should look like:

="\\server\site\listname\Attachments\"&[ID]&"\"

to provide a link to open the folder in Window Explorer.

(sorry, I don't have anything that isn't a dumb workaround.)