Locking documents - and unlocking

[aclassen]

I have some difficulties to understand exactly how locking/unlocking is working and related with user sessions, and have questions from users about that.
First, my understanding of the standard behavior:

• A user using edit from my pc locks exclusively. Other users cannot edit that document until it is unlocked
• A first user using OnlyOffice online creates a lock on the document, and that lock remains until all collaborative editors (including those who entered Onlyoffice after the first user) have left the document. The lock blocks editing of metadata or a refresh of the preview, but users CAN edit the same document if they also enter OnlyOffice. Under no circumstances should a user with appropriate rights in the space be blocked from joining the OnlyOffice editing in that status.

Questions:

• Under what circumstances can the lock be removed (by a space administrator?) And what does that even mean for the editing process?
• What happens if the user does not close the edit mode - is there an idle timeout? If the session ends (and the session should end automatically after as specific time), what about the locks?
• Oh, and where do we set the idle session timeout? It seems very long.

Context: there have been users complaining that they cannot edit a document before waiting until the next day, as some people seem not to close the document properly. I need to understand if/when this could happen or if there is a misunderstanding, or an issue with configuration (session timeout)

[jlemangarin]

Hello @aclassen,

Under what circumstances can the lock be removed (by a space administrator?) And what does that even mean for the editing process?

A space administrator or the owner of the document can unlock it at any time for many reasons (if someone forgot to close the document for exemple). Even if the document is unlocked, a contributor is still able to push a new version to GoFAST because these are two separated functionnalities.

What happens if the user does not close the edit mode - is there an idle timeout? If the session ends (and the session should end automatically after as specific time), what about the locks?

For the Office lock, the DMS will wait Office to send an 'UNLOCK' request to the server. For the OnlyOffice lock, the document will unlock and update if nobody has answered for ~5 sec.

Oh, and where do we set the idle session timeout? It seems very long.

I'm not sure if this is configurable, I think it's not but I will check.

Don't hesitate to get back to me if you have any question.

Have a nice day !

Best,

[aclassen]

@jlemangarin
Even if the document is unlocked, a contributor is still able to push a new version to GoFAST because these are two separated functionnalities.

I had thought that when the document is unlocked for sure a contributor can push a new version? By drag and drop of a new version for example? Which he/she cannot do when the document is locked?

Or did you just want to say that there can be updates without locking at all?

[jlemangarin]

@aclassen Yes sorry it wasn't clear, I meant even if the document is unlocked but opened in Office if the user press CTRL+S the document will be saved to GoFAST (actually some versions of MS Office detects if the lock is still on and asks the user to save it locally)