Accessing a Word file from Mac and Windows at the same time

[kstore]

I'm trying to integrate my Mac into our Windows only environment at
work. The latest problem I've ran into is that if I open a Word file on
my Mac and somebody else tries to open it on Windows while it's open on
my Mac they get error messages that the file can't be opened and may be
corrupt. The automatic backup also gives the same error when I have it
open. If two people open the same file on Windows the second person of
course get the sensible message that the file is locked and the
opportunity to open it in read only mode etc. Is there any way to get
this same behaviour when using a Mac?

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

You need to speak to your network administrator about that: it's nothing to
do with Word.

Word calls the operating system to handle files for it. The operating
system in turn talks to the network and the network talks to the file
server.

Somewhere down that chain, something is forgetting to tell the server that
the file is in use.

Cheers

I'm trying to integrate my Mac into our Windows only environment at
work. The latest problem I've ran into is that if I open a Word file on
my Mac and somebody else tries to open it on Windows while it's open on
my Mac they get error messages that the file can't be opened and may be
corrupt. The automatic backup also gives the same error when I have it
open. If two people open the same file on Windows the second person of
course get the sensible message that the file is locked and the
opportunity to open it in read only mode etc. Is there any way to get
this same behaviour when using a Mac?

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Jim Gordon]

Hi Kstore,

Unfortunately, that is correct. Mac OSX and Windows don't talk to each
other sufficiently well to properly keep track of whether or not a file
is already open. This applies to ALL files regardless of what program
you are using (with one notable exception).

It is good that you noticed. Since it is possible for two people to
unknowingly have the same document open at the same time it is easy for
documents to become corrupted.

There is good news, however. A company called Thursby has a product
called DAVE that completely solves this problem.
http://www.thursby.com/

For system admins who have several Macs in a Windows environment they
make ADMIT Mac.

Install one of these products and your problem will go away.

The notable exception is that Microsoft Excel workbooks that have
Workbook Sharing enabled do work correctly with both Mac and Windows
users working on the same workbook at the same time. Excel is the only
program that I know of that can accomplish this neat trick.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP