Unable to check out this file it may be in use by someone else

[io.annist]

Hi everybody,

I suspect that this is a trivial error, but we have been struggling with it for over a month. A remote editor was editing an InCopy document we had sent them, and one day, they started getting this error.

"Unable to check out this file it may be in use by someone else"

I am attaching a snap of the InCopy > Window > Assignments window.

The editor also commented "When I right-click on a crossed paragraph, there are 4 possibilities : go to content; make it appear in the explorer; open the assembly; user. I tried all of them, it seems it does not go far. After clicking on 'go to content', there is the same message ( "impossible to extract the file, it is maybe used by someone else") when I tried to edit the text. I tried to change the user, but nothing worked."

Any ideas?

[BobLevine]

What kind of workflow are you using? How is this remote editor getting to the content?

[io.annist]

In InDesign, Edit -> InCopy -> Export -> All Stories

We then sent the icml file and content folder to the writer. The writer was able to edit the icml file just fine for a couple of weeks. Then, one day, the writer reported the error above and that she is no longer able to edit the InCopy file. So, the writer has a local copy of the InCopy file (no servers or network).

Please note the writer sent me the icml and content files (archived) so I could test them locally. I have no problem editing the file in my machine.

I have been trying to troubleshoot this with tips I've found online but no luck.

[BobLevine]

That is a pretty bad workflow.

Try this instead:

Create and share a dropbox folder. Package the InDesign document there.

Then export all of the InCopy content to a new folder within that Dropbox folder.

At this point everyone will have access to the files and the remote worker should be able to work seamlessly with you.

[io.annist]

You are right. It was a one-time job, so I didn't want to bother setting up syncing.

However, you've given me an idea! I will import the InCopy changes inside InDesign, and I will export a new InCopy file to send to the writer. The point is to not lose the work done and for the writer to stop getting the error on their machine.

Just as a side comment... If we cannot resolve permission type errors with a local file that was only sent once (no back and forth), I can only imagine what hell it would be if we were using file-sharing or network drives!

Thanks for the tip! Will be back to share progress.

[BobLevine]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying but my advice stands.

Setting up a dropbox folder takes a minute or so.