Master Project

[MB]

I have created a master project but for some reason when team members open
their respective source file (the linked projects) to update, that file often
becomes "read only." The user who has it open is "laa" which is not any
person. Any thoughts on this?

 

[John]

I have created a master project but for some reason when team members open
their respective source file (the linked projects) to update, that file often
becomes "read only." The user who has it open is "laa" which is not any
person. Any thoughts on this?

MB,
Do the files reside on a server (not Project Server) such that an
administrator may have the file open?

The most likely cause for "read only" is that someone else with write
access has the file open or, the file is recommended for read only. I
suppose it is possible that if someone didn't completely close out of a
file (i.e. had both source and destination files open), then the link
structure would still be active and not allow others to open either file
for writing.

If you don't know who "laa" is, I suggest you contact IT and have them
determine who has the file open.

John
Project MVP

 

[MB]

Thanks for the response. Basically, we created the master and the linked
source files all on our shared folder. I had the master file opened while
reviewing the status of the sub projects. At the same time someone had a sub
project source file open and was updating. When they went to close the
source file they clicked save and the message back was that they were trying
to save a read only file. They were the only person in the file.
Subsequently, the link in the master project then showed the file that was
linked to be read only. Once this happened no one could modify the linked
source file because it was locked for editing by "laa." I assume that you
should be able to be in the master project while others are in the source
projects. Is this an accurate assumption? To fix, I had to delete the
linked file and re-insert. Problem is, I have had to do that for 3 different
project files inserted in the master. Each one showing the same read only
message and no longer allowing anyone to access it.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[John]

Thanks for the response. Basically, we created the master and the linked
source files all on our shared folder. I had the master file opened while
reviewing the status of the sub projects. At the same time someone had a sub
project source file open and was updating. When they went to close the
source file they clicked save and the message back was that they were trying
to save a read only file. They were the only person in the file.
Subsequently, the link in the master project then showed the file that was
linked to be read only. Once this happened no one could modify the linked
source file because it was locked for editing by "laa." I assume that you
should be able to be in the master project while others are in the source
projects. Is this an accurate assumption? To fix, I had to delete the
linked file and re-insert. Problem is, I have had to do that for 3 different
project files inserted in the master. Each one showing the same read only
message and no longer allowing anyone to access it.

Any help is appreciated.

MB,
If you had the master file open, it was basically locked for other
users. It doesn't matter if you were in fact editing or updating the
file that was another user was attempting to access. You can however
open it read only for yourself - then the users have full access.

You should not have had to delete and re-insert the file. The IT folks
that administer your server should have been able to "dump" both users
(edits would have been lost of course). We had to do that more than once
when we had a similar configuration.

One of the problems with multiple users and linked files is exactly what
you experienced. Some type of user "protocol" needs to be instilled so
that this type of problem does not occur or is at least minimized. In
our case, I simply didn't access the liked master for maintenance or
editing until after hours. Of course occasionally there was a user who
was working late, so our protocol wasn't perfect, but for the most part
it worked.

John
Project MVP