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locked dreamweaver files

Apr 7, 2009 5:53 PM

How do I unlock files I made on pc and copied to my mac? When I open the file it says I can only read it. I can't find any way to unlock the files to edit the page.

8539 Views 21 Replies Latest reply: BrucePotter, Jul 27, 2012 12:57 PM

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1. the real blu,

Apr 7, 2009 11:19 PM in reply to gailscheller

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as a guess- did you burn the pc files to a cd then copy them to the mac? Or use a thumbrive?

two possibles- use the Finder to go to the root folder, and "get info" and change the files from read only.

Or, in the dreamweaver Files Panel, right-click on the root local site folder, and look for a choice to "unlock"

way to prevent this in future when using sneaker-net to move files between boxes- use an archive utility to Zip or .rar the files up into a single archive file. Burn that archive file to the disc. Then unpack the single file on the other box. The files will not be locked as read only.

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2. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 12:44 AM in reply to the real blu

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I have the same problem and need help!

This is my configuration:
I have a site, which has its local files on the hard drive of my Mac. I usually work on Dreamweaver sitting at my Mac.
Yesterday, I needed to work from my Windows laptop, so I fired up my Windows copy of Dreamweaver and used Manage Sites to point to the local copy of the site on the Mac's hard drive - across my network.
All went well and the files worked fine.

I do not have checkin/checkout enabled on either machine as I do not have multiple users - just me and two machines.

So, all went well on the PC and the files saved.
Now, I am back at my Mac and I can see the files - they are updated, but I want to do further work on them. I try to open them in Dreamweaver and I get the following error:
index.html is a locked file and can be viewed but not changed. What do you want to do with this file?

I can still edit the files from the PC - but not the Mac. I have tried setting Manage Sites on the PC to point elsewhere in the hope that it would unlock its hold on my Mac but this didn't work.

There are no lock symbols within the Files palette on either machine.
I have checked the directory using Finder and Get Info shows that the files are NOT locked.
Every file in the site is producing the above error message - not just the files I edited.
The main folder also does not show that it is locked.
There are no files with a lck extension on them.

Please send suggestions!
Tamsin

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3. David_Powers,

Apr 17, 2009 3:04 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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Usually what happens when you copy files from one computer to another is that the permissions from the original computer don't match those on the computer you have copied to. In other words, the new computer thinks the files belong to someone else, so it won't let you change them. When you think about it, it's logical. You might know you're the same person, but the computer has no way of knowing untill you tell it.

Normally, Dreamweaver gives you the option in the dialog box to make the file editable. If you click that, the permissions are changed, and you're good to go. The alternative is to use Finder to select the files and press Cmd+I to open a Get Info panel. In the Sharing & Permissions section, change your Privilege to Read & Write.

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4. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 3:26 AM in reply to David_Powers

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Hi David

That all makes perfect sense - the only thing that confuses me is that
the files haven't actually been copied from one place to another...
They were always on the Mac and have just been edited across the
network by another machine running Dreamweaver... I can do this easily
with other applications.
Say for example I have a master Word document stored on the Mac (no
point in having 2 copies - all gets confusing). I can work on this
file either from the laptop slobbing on the couch or sitting at my
desk on the mac. In both cases I am working on the file and it doesn't
get locked.

I'll try changing the permissions - but it seems to me that this could
be a little buggy. With checkin check out enabled, I could decide if
and when I want to lock files, but without it, dreamweaver should
assume I don't care. Once the files are saved and closed by the PC, I
should then be able to open and edit them on the Mac - as they haven't
moved.

Any further thoughts?
Thanks a lot

Tamsin Slatter
www.vectorworks-training.co.uk

[Long signature removed by a moderator]

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5. David_Powers,

Apr 17, 2009 3:50 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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the files haven't actually been copied from one place to another...
They were always on the Mac and have just been edited across the
network by another machine running Dreamweaver... I can do this easily
with other applications.
I think that's the problem. Dreamweaver is a site-based application. It keeps a site cache in the user's configuration folder. Editing the same site on different machines is likely to confuse the cache. You could try turning off the cache in the site definition (click the Advanced tab in the Site Definition dialog box, and deselect Enable cache in the Local Info category).

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6. MurraySummers,

Apr 17, 2009 4:10 AM in reply to David_Powers

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My standard operational configuration is with networked Mac/PC editing files from a third networked device (in this case a Samba share on a dedicated *nix NAS box). I do not have any problems with locked files when operating this way. In addition, when I do have a site located on a PC, I also do not have problems with editing those files either from that PC or the Mac. I have never been able to get my PC to see files on the Mac (mostly because it was never really important to do so) but I suspect that given my other experiences, there is some involvement of that interface between PC/Mac and the transfer of files between them that is causing this locking issue.

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7. David_Powers,

Apr 17, 2009 5:27 AM in reply to MurraySummers

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I've certainly had problems when moving files physically from PC to Mac, but I can't test anything across the network today because my Vista machine seems to have taken a dislike to my MacBook Pro. I need to reboot both to connect, and then the connection seems to drop after a few minutes. Dontcha just love computers...

Wish I could help more on this problem, but I'm not a networking expert.

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8. gailscheller,

Apr 17, 2009 6:03 AM in reply to gailscheller

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Thanks for all the help. My best bet so far is to download the site from the server to my mac which allows me to edit the files I created on my pc. I have tried to change permissions and it shows that I did change permissions but when I try to open it I get the same thing. Files locked. So, the download from server works so that is what I will use. Thanks. These forums are great.

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9. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 9:02 AM in reply to gailscheller

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Hi

What do you mean by download from the server? Sorry to be dumb - but
my files are on the same machine they were always on. Do you mean I
should retrieve the site from the hosting server online and do all the
work again on my Mac???

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10. gailscheller,

Apr 17, 2009 6:24 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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I'm sorry I wasn't more specific. I DID mean that I downloaded the whole website from the server that is hosting the site. I just edited a page on my mac, saved it and uploaded it back to the hosting server and checked it on the Internet and it worked. I never received an error message anywhere. And no, I'm not recreating anything. Just editing the pages. I hope this helps. This seems to be working for me. And I think I have check in and out enabled on both my pc and my mac. Don't know if that makes ANY difference. I just saw a couple of references to it in other responses. I haven't changed any preferences from the default. I am not planning on editing from my pc anymore.

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11. gailscheller,

Apr 17, 2009 6:25 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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BTW, I am using a separate FTP program for downloading and uploading.

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12. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 9:02 AM in reply to gailscheller

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Hi

Thanks very much for the clarification. I will suck it all back from
the server tonight and redo all the work I did last night (sigh!)
Or perhaps you are suggesting I upload to the server FIRST, and THEN
suck it all back?? That might work...

Will try later - thanks for all suggestions!
P.S. I use Fetch for ftp - had problems with Dreamweaver internal ftp!

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13. gailscheller,

Apr 17, 2009 6:40 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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I don't understand what you mean about uploading what you did last night and then downloading it. I merely downloaded what has been on the host server for the last couple of years, made my changes and reuploaded it. However, if you recreated the website I would hate to lost all THAT work.

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14. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 12:20 PM in reply to gailscheller

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Yeah - I think I have lost all my hard work - but at least I have
learned my lesson. No more slobbing on the couch for me. Work only at
the desk at my beautiful iMac.

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15. vectorworkslady,

Apr 17, 2009 12:19 PM in reply to David_Powers

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David - this network problem is probably down to your Vista machine
wanting to be in control of the network, whilst your Mac also wants to
be the controller. I had this problem - and can't remember how to fix
it! But it was a case of changing the settings on Windows so that it
didn't keep having this argument. Now, my network stays up all the
time and I can see all the machines on it.

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16. vectorworkslady,

Apr 21, 2009 1:52 AM in reply to gailscheller

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Just to let anyone know who's interested... I have managed to resolve this problem as follows:

Open the locked files in Dreamweaver and choose the option to View
Then, I have used File, Save As and saved a copy to a completely new directory.
I did the same with any images which were locked, using Photoshop to save a new copy.
I then created a completely new site with the new freshly saved files as the content. It's taken a little while to piece it back together, but at least I didn't lose all the work I'd done.

I can't believe this locking business is popular though. It may be working as designed, but not working as desired!

Thanks to everyone for all the help.

Tamsin

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17. La_Salamandra,

Feb 16, 2010 1:46 PM in reply to vectorworkslady

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I do have this problem too.

We are a web agency and work with 3 iMac.

Let's say we have iMac1, iMac2 and iMac3.

We maintain all websites we make on iMac1 (with hourly backup on Time Capsule).

However, when iMac2 or iMac3 connect to iMac1 with dreamweaver to manage some site, iMac1 cannot open changed files anymore. They are locked.

I'm using the workaround to copy them on the desktop, delete them from the original directory, copy back on the originaldirectory from the desktop.

After this very stupid but necessary step, they are unlocked again.

Never happened such things when we used PC+Windows.

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18. mattroch,

Feb 5, 2011 8:12 AM in reply to vectorworkslady

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[edit: sorry, I should have specified. This is a direct reply to vectorworkslady's solution/tip]

This solution worked for me.

I think the error is not specifically related to File Vault as I've read in many posts, but rather somehow related to Secure FTP/server. The files I am having issue with are on such a server/setup and I don't use or have File Vault enabled.

Regardless, thanks for finally helping me get around this issue. Wasn't getting my day off to a good start.

Thanks again!

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19. c8t,

Sep 7, 2011 9:19 AM in reply to gailscheller

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I am expericing a similar problem. Same mac, two seperate user logins, I exported my site settings and imported them for the new user.
We edited the settings to include her credentials and tested ok...when accessing the local files - it says 'file locked'.
Pointing to /dreamwever/sites/sitename for local file path.
Any ideas?

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20. marveisen1,

Oct 23, 2011 10:15 PM in reply to gailscheller

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Select "get info" for the main folder of your site files (usually wwwroot) and set the permissions to read-write. Then, click on the little gear icon and select "apply to enclosed items". That will unlock all files and subfolders in the site/s.

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21. BrucePotter,

Jul 27, 2012 12:57 PM in reply to marveisen1

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Hmm -- I have had this problem with a new installation of CS6 Dreamweaver, and even though the Get Info panel shows r/w authority, it still shows locked in the local site file management panel?

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