Setting Up Document Locking

Document locking allows users with Author access or higher to lock documents within a database. Locking a document gives exclusive rights to the person who has locked the document to modify it. Other users with the same rights cannot modify the document even if they are working on another replica on the same local area network. Therefore, document locking prevents editing of documents and replication conflicts.

To enable design element locking, specify a Master Lock Administration Server in the Advanced panel of the database Access Control dialog. Then select File, Database, Properties to open the Database properties box. On the Design tab, select the Allow Document Locking option (see Figure 2.11). Of course, document locking must be set up individually for each database.

If you are working locally and unable to connect to the administration server for the current database, attempting to lock a document causes the Master Lock Database Cannot Be Reached message to display. You are then prompted as to whether you want to proceed with locking the document. If you answer yes, there is a chance that your edits may be lost if the document is edited by another user. When this happens, you will receive an email notifying you that the changes were not saved in the document. When a document is successfully locked, the message Document successfully locked is printed to the status bar.

To unlock a document, you must use the same ID as the ID used when the document was locked. Alternatively, managers can unlock documents.

To lock a design element, simply right-click the design element and select Lock from the drop-down menu. To unlock a design element, right-click on the design element and select Unlock from the drop-down menu.

When one shared action is locked or unlocked, all shared actions are locked because all the shared actions are considered one design element.