PRB: <filename> is Already Open

• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a
• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When trying to perform some action in the Visual SourceSafe Explorer you receive the following message:

   c:\src_server\src_share\data\<a-z>\<filename> is already open

CAUSE

This error can occur if another user has the file locked, or if the network has not released it's lock on the file.

RESOLUTION

The file that the error message is referring to is one of the many files stored in your Visual SourceSafe database, specifically in the DATA subdirectory. Visual SourceSafe uses its own naming scheme to track these files and their history of changes.

You can get this message if another user has this file locked. One way to fix it is:

1. Log out from Visual SourceSafe.

      ss status $/project/filename

NOTE: To get the actual filename from the Visual SourceSafe filename, use the PHYSICAL command.

For additional information about the PHYSICAL command, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q131447
   TITLE     : Use PHYSICAL Command to Find SourceSafe Database File

If problems like this persist you may need to enable SourceSafe locking.

For additional information on file locking, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q124525
   TITLE     : INFO: How SourceSafe Locks Files in the DATA Directory

STATUS