Error message - filename.fld is locked for editing by 'another use

[lkd567]

I get this message occasionally when merging certain Word documents. It
seems to be on the same documents each time but occurs intermittently.

I have tried unlocking and deleting tmp files from directories. Any other
ideas appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?bGtkNTY3?=,

In some ten years, I can't recall having ever seen such an error, referencing
a file with the ending *.fld. You don't give us much information either, as
to what the occurrences might have in common:
- version of Word
- document type
- data source type
- anything else

I get this message occasionally when merging certain Word documents. It
seems to be on the same documents each time but occurs intermittently.

I have tried unlocking and deleting tmp files from directories. Any other
ideas appreciated.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[lkd567]

The full error message got cut off. It reads 'filename.fld is locked for
editing by another user'.

Further information as requested - the Word version is Word XP, operating
system XP.
Document type is a .doc file, we are merging within another program that
automates document production. The data source is a tab delimited word
document. The fld file is a list of fields used to insert the correct fields
in the source document.

The error doesn't occur on every merge and only seems to occur on certain
documents.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?bGtkNTY3?=,

OK, I'm still not certain I know everything I need to know, but...

Does the filename.fld file contain the FIELD NAMES? IOW, in mailmerge-speak,
this is a header file for the data source?

With the introduction of OLE DB in Word 2002 (Office XP), MS neglected a lot of
testing with former technologies, and things no longer work exactly as they did.
Using header files for data sources is one of the things that got a bit "iffy".
Could it be that this is happening when two people are trying to merge at the
same time?

The full error message got cut off. It reads 'filename.fld is locked for
editing by another user'.

Further information as requested - the Word version is Word XP, operating
system XP.
Document type is a .doc file, we are merging within another program that
automates document production. The data source is a tab delimited word
document. The fld file is a list of fields used to insert the correct fields
in the source document.

The error doesn't occur on every merge and only seems to occur on certain
documents.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail