When I use TextEdit, I get the message that the doc can't be saved....

Question

Hi-I have had this issue for awhile now-when I open TextEdit and either type in or paste in something, I get the error message: "This document could not be autosaved because you don't have write access privileges to the folder that it's in. Your changes will be lost if this computer malfunctions or loses power before you save them."
What gives? I am in Admin mode. I don't know what folder the message is referring to. If I Get Info on TextEdit, under Sharing and Permissions, it says that I have custom access-System is Read & Write, wheel is Read only as is everyone.
Any ideas on how to correct this? Thanks for any help! Judy

Answer 1

It's worth looking there. You can add options to show flags, ACLs, and extended attributes:
ls -leO@ /path/to/file
However the error message was:
"This document could not be autosaved because you don't have write access privileges *to the folder that it's in*. Your changes will be lost if this computer malfunctions or loses power before you save them."
That seems to point to the folder that is being saved to, not to the app or to the document itself. I tried locking my own Desktop folder, opening a text document that was on the desktop, and then modifying the text. After a short time I got the identical error message as the one above.
So I was little surprised that the GetInfo information on the Desktop folder seemed OK, especially the Locked checkbox. I am interested in seeing whether the issue is specific both for the Desktop and for this particular app. I'd also like to know more details about the Desktop folder, particularly whether there are any flags or unusual ACLs that might not show up in GetInfo. I think this command would show those things:
ls -ldeO@ ~/Desktop