Read Only Attribute

[anon...@discussions.microsoft.com]

Hello all,

Has anyone ever seen when you open documents in Word, it
automatically gives it a read only attribute?..I saw some
KB articles but they are notting pegging this one...any
suggestions?

Thank you

[Phil Melek[MSFT]]

I found some info on opening files from a UNC file share:

SUMMARY
=========

When opening a document from a UNC file share (\\server\path), Word tries to open
files in the following manner:

1) First, it tries to open the file Read-write/Deny-read.
2) If that fails, it tries to open the file Read-only/Deny-write (thus
blocking other users from opening the file for editing).
3) If that fails, it tries to open the file Read-only/Deny-none (thus still
allowing other users to still open the file for editing).

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MORE INFORMATION
==================

In Method 3 (above), Word has to make a physical copy of the file, usually in
temporary files path (%temp%) and reads that copy instead of the original copy.
Word does this because serious error could occur if another process changes the
original file while it's being read. The reason that Word tries Method 2, even
though it may block out valid Read/Write users instead of going from Method 1 to
Method 3 is because Word doesn't have to make a physical copy of the file, or even
fully read the file. It's a much faster mode of opening a file for read, especially
for large files or for files over a slow network.

A user will get the following notification prompt when Method 2 fails:

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<filename> is locked for editing by <username>.

Do you want to:

o Open a Read Only copy.
o Create a local copy and merge your changes later.
o Receive notification when the original copy is available for editing.

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This notification was added in Office 2000 (all applications) to notify users that
a file is locked. The notification is tied to the "Open as copy," (Method 3 above),
and thus why the prompt does not appear when Method 2 is successful. It is because
of this a user will not always recieve a read only prompt.

Here are a few scenarios that will cause the file to open read-only:

1) User A has read (RX) permission to the \\server\share network folder. When User
A opens Document1.doc from this folder, they will not get a prompt for read-only,
but read-only will appear in the title bar. What happened here is:

- Method 1 failed to open exclusive (Read-write).
- Method 2 succeeded and opened the file Read-only/Deny-write.

2) After User A opens the file, if User B who has full permissions to the
\\server\share folder then tries to open Document1.doc, they will also not get a
prompt for read-only, but read-only will appear in the title bar. User B will only
be able to open the file for read-write after User A closes the document. What
happened here is:

- Method 1 failed because the Word process belonging to User A has locked the file
Read-only/Deny-write.
- Method 2 succeeded so the file was opened read-only (and the user did not
recieve a prompt).

3) If User A and User B both have full permissions to the \\server\share folder,
and User A openes the file Document1.doc first, then when User B opens the file,
User B will be prompted with the "Open as copy" notification. What happened here
is:

- Method 1succeeded for User A and the file was opened for Read-write/Deny-read.
- Method 1 failed for User B because the Word process for User A has locked the
file for read-write.
- Method 2 also failed for User B because the Word process for User A has locked
the file for even a read.
- So Word moves to Method 3, and User B gets the "Open as copy" notification. If
the user chooses to open a copy, the file is then copied from the server to the
local temporary folder on User Bs system, and then opened.

[Mike Williams [MVP]]

Have you restored the files from a CD backup?

Mike Williams - Office MVP http://www.mvps.org/faq/

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