Conference iosg::all-in-1_v30

4050.0. "Inconsistent sharing between TL and IOS" by GIDDAY::JOYCE (Burn me kangaroo down sport) Wed Apr 06 1994 07:40

    
    This note is also posted in ABBOTT::WINDOWS_OFFICE
    
    A customer is concerned about apparent inconsistencies with document
    sharing between IOS and Teamlinks users.  They have sent me a
    bucket-load of examples but I've only listed the main two below.
    
    The tests have been carried out using an IOS user RUBBLE and a TL user
    FLINTSTONE.  Both have Read, Create, Edit, Refile/Delete access to the
    regular shared drawer [MANAGER]TEST.
    
1.	If the document is less than (or equal to) 17 lines long then the 
    	TL user (FLINTSTONE) can View it while the IOS user (RUBBLE) is 
    	reading it.  I think that this is expected behaviour.  
    
    	But, if the document is MORE than 17 lines long then the TL user 
    	(FLINTSTONE) cannot View it while the IOS user (RUBBLE) is reading
    	it.  In this case, the TL user gets an error message allong the
    	lines of "Document is not available... locked for exclusive use by 
    	another..." UNTIL the IOS user (RUBBLE) has exited the document 
    	OR has pressed RETURN to move on to the second screen of the document.

	If the TL user (FLINTSTONE) is reading or HAS read the document first 
    	before the IOS user (RUBBLE) starts reading it, then TL user can 
    	subsequently read the document ok.  If the TL user then closes and 
    	reopens the folder, they cannot read the document while the IOS user 
    	is still reading it.

	My theory is that an IOS READ has the document locked until the first 
	RETURN is hit at which point the rest of the document is cached and the 
	lock is released.  For short documents (<=17 lines) the whole document 
	is cached in one go and the lock is released immediately.

	If the TL user gets to the document first (via the FCS) it caches the 
	whole document until the folder is closed (is it the FCS that is doing 
	this)?

2.	If a document is being edited by the IOS user (RUBBLE) at the time 
    	that the TL user (FLINTSTONE) opens the Folder the document is NOT 
    	listed.  I presume that this is because it is "implicitly" reserved.  
    	If however a document has been "explicitly" reserved by an IOS user 
    	(RSV option) it is displayed with a padlock symbol next to it.

	If, however, a document listed in TL is then subsequently edited by 
    	the IOS user (RUBBLE) and the TL user (FLINTSTONE) attempts to do 
    	anything with it (Copy, Move, Convert, View) they are told 
	it is reserved by user XXXX, do they want to View it?  This is fair 
	enough but the View will ONLY work if the document has already been 
    	viewed from TL since the folder was opened.  I suspect that this is 
    	because the document is cached but I'm not sure if it is Teamlinks or 
    	the FCS doing it.
                                    
    Can anyone shed any light on these "strange inconsistencies"
    (customer's words not mine!)
    
    Thanks, Andy