Files locked or in use

[Debbie Smith]

My office recently upgraded to OSX Leopard on brand new Intel machines, the main one is an iMac and the other that the bookkeeper uses is a Mini. They are networked so that the Mini logs into my iMac and uses files that are housed on my hard drive. I've been using Appleworks for six years now with this setup with no problems, and knew from reading here and my AWUG newsletter that Appleworks should work well on the new Intel machines and Leopard.

Today the bookeeper tried to open an Appleworks database and got the message, " THIS FILE IS LOCKED OR IN USE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN A COPY OF IT?" 2 options are given, CANCEL AND OPEN A COPY. Neither of them works. She had to force quit to even get the message to go off the desktop.

These files open fine and can be altered and saved on the iMac, so it's not the files but something with Appleworks on the Mini. I tried opening a new file on the Mini, and I can open and start one, but it will not allow me to save anything, giving an error message.

I've done the following: Repaired permissions on both machines, reinstalled Appleworks on the Mini, checked for locked files (don't see any), re-started the computer several times.

Any ideas? I really don't want to give up Appleworks yet!

[Barry]

My office recently upgraded to OSX Leopard on brand new Intel machines, the main one is an iMac and the other that the bookkeeper uses is a Mini. They are networked so that the Mini logs into my iMac and uses files that are housed on my hard drive. I've been using Appleworks for six years now with this setup with no problems, and knew from reading here and my AWUG newsletter that Appleworks should work well on the new Intel machines and Leopard.

Today the bookeeper tried to open an Appleworks database and got the message, " THIS FILE IS LOCKED OR IN USE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN A COPY OF IT?" 2 options are given, CANCEL AND OPEN A COPY. Neither of them works. She had to force quit to even get the message to go off the desktop.

These files open fine and can be altered and saved on the iMac, so it's not the files but something with Appleworks on the Mini. I tried opening a new file on the Mini, and I can open and start one, but it will not allow me to save anything, giving an error message.

I've done the following: Repaired permissions on both machines, reinstalled Appleworks on the Mini, checked for locked files (don't see any), re-started the computer several times.

Any ideas? I really don't want to give up Appleworks yet!

Hi Debby,

1
For AppleWorks, a good first step when things stop working properly is to delete the preferences files.

AppleWorks keeps five preferences and cache files for each user. One of them, AppleWorks Button Bars, is seldom responsible for any problems that do not affect the Button Bar, and may be safely retained (unless there is a problem affecting the Button Bar) if you have made changes to the Button Bar.

For the others:
Quit AppleWorks then, in the Finder, go to Home > Library > Preferences...

In the Preferences folder, locate and delete the file com.apple.appleworks.plist
Still in the Preferences folder, locate and open the folder AppleWorks.
In the AppleWorks folder, select and delete the two Cache files and the AppleWorks Preferences file (and, optionally, the AppleWorks Button Bars file).

2
Although you have Repaired Permissions, there may still be a permissions issue here.

In the Finder, navigate to the folder containing the problem file(s).
Click on the folder (once) to select it, then press command-I
In the Ownership and Permissions section of the Get Info window, click the disclosure triangle beside "Details". Set the permission for Others to Read & Write, then click the button to Apply change to all enclosed items.

3
There is a known issue with files saved directly from AppleWorks to a networked file server (which the Mini user is doing if she saves the file to the iMac). To avoid this issue, the user should save the file the local drive (ie. the Mini's hard drive) then transfer the file to the server.

Regards,
Barry

[Debbie Smith]

Barry,

Thanks so much, I think we can keep Appleworks for a while now! The main issue seems to be that in the transfer to the new system, my files got locked for other users. I'll have to go through and unlock the needed files on the iMac (step 3). I've set up a "working folder" on the Mini desktop for the bookkeeper so she can move the files to her computer, work on them, save them, and then move them back over to the iMac. A little cumbersome, but better than giving up Appleworks.

Thanks again!