Nextcloud 12.0.3
Sync-Client 2.3.3.1
All Clients: Windows 7
I have a strange behavior of MS Word/Office/Visio when opening files that are already opend by another User.
Situation A (working as intended):
test.doc file located on a network drive x:
User A opens test.doc with MS Word 2010
a hidden lock-file (owner file) is createt named ~$test.doc
User B can open that lock-file in Nodepad++ and read User A’s username
User B opens test.doc and get a message, that the file is already in use by User A
Situation B (not working):
test.doc file is located in a folder which gets synced by the Nextcloud Sync-Client
Sync-Clinet is configured to sync hidden files
snyc-exclude.lst is altered to sync MS Office lock-files (owner-files)
User A opens test.doc file with MS Word 2010
a hidden lock-file (owner file) is createt named ~$test.doc
the lock-file gets synced over to User B’s Nextcloud Sync-Folder
User B can open that lock-file in Nodepad++ and read User A’s username
User B opens test.doc, NO “already in use” message is shown
Both users can edit and save the document
I really don’t understand why Word recognises the lock-file in situation A and ignores the file in situation B.
I must use the nextcloud sync-client and i also need to make sure, that file locking works. Collabora is no option.
Does anyone have a hint or solution for this problem, or can explain why office behaves like that?
well…i kind of “fixed” it myself.
I wrote a wrapper in .NET that checks for office lock-files. This tool is now the standard application for Word/Excel/Visio files.
enable sync for hidden files in nextcloud sync client
remove the “~$” line out of the sync-exclude.lst (in nextcloud install flder)
Then the office hidden lock-files get synced. It takes about 5-15 seconds to get this file synce between all users
Write a wrapper that checks for those hidden files. The naming is pretty messed up by microsoft and is like follows:
Word:
file12.docx (length <=6 characters): lock file name is: ~$file12.docx
file123.docx (length = 7 characters): lock file name is: ~$ile123.docx (first char gets stripped off)
file123456.docx (length >=8 characters): lock file name is: ~$le123456 (first two chars get stripped off)
naming for .docx and .doc are identical…
Excel:
file12345678.xlsx: lock file name is ~$file1234567 (identical for all filename length)
Old .xls lock-files do not work. they are stored in windows temp folder under cryptic name!
Visio:
file12345678.vsd: lock file name is ~$$file12345678.~vsd (double $ and ~ in suffix)