MS Project sets open file to "read-only"; must do "save as..."

[cryolyte]

No one else has this file open. After a period of inactivity in the document,
I make some changes and then try to save, and I get a dialog box saying that
the file is read-only. I checked to make sure the NIC wasn't being put to
sleep as well....

 

[JulieS]

Hello cryolyte,

As far as I know, this is not a feature of Project. Are you opening
the file from a network drive where you do not have read/write
access?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[cryolyte]

The user is opening the file from her "My Documents" folder, which is
redirected from a file server (standard org procedure). She has full access
in that share. Thank you for your attention on this matter.

cryolyte

 

[JulieS]

Hi,

Again, this is not a feature of Project. If the user opens the file
does it open as read-only or only become read-only after a time? I
am not personally aware of any software that sets a file to
read-only after time.

Julie

 

[cryolyte]

The user can successfully open the document, change something, and save.
Everything is ok. The problem occurs when she opens the document and she's in
a meeting so she's talking. She changes a few things and then goes back to
talking again. At the end of the meeting, when she tries to save, it will
tell her the document is read-only.

I think I said that I've already ruled out the network - let me elaborate on
that. This is a wireless user (802.11g with good coverage). If she is
stationary throughout her logon, while opening and changing her document, and
then attempting to save, she still has this problem. I should add that the
problem does not happen all the time. There is no evidence of any wireless
connection drop in her event logs. Putting her on a wired connection is not
an option, and she is our only MS Project user. Other Office 2007
applications have never had any issues like this.

Thanks again!
cryolyte

 

[cryolyte]

It has nothing to do with non-use either. The error just came up while my
user was actively using the program, when Project went to auto-save (I turned
that on after the first wave of this error). The user has been sitting at her
desk all day and has not moved at all.

cryolyte

 

[JulieS]

Hello cryolyte,

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'm sorry, but I am stumped. I
know of no setting in Project that accounts for the issue. If the
user moves the file from the network share to local, does the
problem still occur?

Julie

 

[cryolyte]

That's what I will try next. I also have MS Support involved. I will post if
there is any resolution.

 

[JulieS]

Super. That would be great if you could keep us posted about what
happens.

Thanks.
Julie

 

[cryolyte]

This is what I received back from MS Support:


-----------------------

Hello Charles,


I did a bit more looking into the issue. It seems that you are not the first
person to have come across this. It is recommended for Project to not open
projects through links or file shares. As for why this does not work the same
as other Office products, apparently Microsoft Project was designed outside
the Microsoft Office group. Thus many of the basic protocols, such as saving,
loading and printing, are fundamentally different from other Office products
from a design standpoint. We can continue testing to verify that it is an
issue with opening the project from a file share, but I have been advised
that it is very likely that this is what we will find to be the case.

 

[JulieS]

Charles,

Thanks so much for sharing this somewhat unsettling news. I wish
there was better news however. I really appreciate you taking the
time to share this -- I hope it will help other users in the
future -- and more importantly, I hope it gets raised to a level at
Microsoft where something is fixed.

Regards,

Julie