File Locking Error

 HELP - When trying to open an existing job on the hard drive, I run into an error dialog saying something like the following:

Q) What is going on? What happened to my drawing? What is this Lock it mentions?"

A) Very simply put, the file lock is there to protect you from 2 people working on the same job at the same time - then when both people save their work - one ends up overwriting the other and you lose many hours of work.

Q) But I am the only one working on the file, and in fact it says that I am the one in the job - but how can I be in the job and not in the job at the same time?

A) What has likely happened is that you have had a problem, and either the power went out or the program kicked you out, and you did not have the ability or option to exit normally from the job. Because you did not exit normally, the program was unable to remove the lock file, as it normally would.

Q) Who turned this file locking on to start with?

A) When you installed MSCAD, we automatically turn this option on to help protect your jobs.

Q) Is my job gone?

A) No - your job should be safe and sound, you just can't get into it yet.

Q) How do I get back into my job?

A) We have to remove the lock from the drawing so you can open the job again.

Q) How do I remove this lock file?

A) There are 2 different ways to remove a lock from a job.

1) The first is done from inside MSCAD. Go to the File pulldown menu -> down to Delete Lock Files.

 This will bring up the following dialog box;

This dialog will automatically display lock files in the current directory. You may have to change your current directory to the location where your job is sitting. When you see the file with the extension of FLK, this is the lock file, pick on it once and then pick on the OK button. This will erase the FLK, lock file. Repeat the command if you have other lock files to erase for other jobs.

2) The second way would be to use your windows explorer program to go out and search for the FLK file in the directory where the job exists. When you locate it via windows explorer then you can pick on it and erase it.

Q) I hate doing this every time I have a problem. Can I disable this option completely?

A) Yes you can but you have to be careful. If you are running a stand alone computer, not on a network, or you only have one copy of MSCAD, then you can disable this option. If you are running more than one copy of MSCAD on a network situation where 2 or more people could try and load the same job at the same time, then I would not disable this option.

Q) Okay, I am running only one copy of MSCAD, how do I turn this file locking off?

A) When inside MSCAD, pick on the following button in the top left of the screen;

or type CONFIG at the command prompt.

Either way you will see the following dialog box;

Pick on the little check mark beside File Locking. When the check mark is gone pick the APPLY button at the bottom and then OK. You have now turned file locking off permanently. You will no longer run into locked files in MSCAD.

Q) Now that File Locking is off, are there any potential problems I may run into in the future?

A) Yes, if you decide to purchase a second copy of MSCAD or if you network your office so now more than one MSCAD can get access to the same job at the same time, you may need to turn File Locking back on.

Q) Does this need to be done on each copy of MSCAD?

A) Yes, each copy maintains it's own locking options.

Q) Can I open my drawing now or is there anything else I need to do?

A) You should be able to go to the MicroSurvey Project Manager under the File menu and open your job now without any problems.

I hope this answers some of the questions you may have run into and provided you with answers that helped you solve your situation.