Unable to open write protected files

[MiWe]

This morning I upgraded to version 2.2.

Since then, I cannot open any write-protected files from a NAS or an optical medium such as Blu Ray.
A message appears that the file in question is possibly being used by someone else. I can only close this message. Happens with Photo, Designer and Publisher.

This problem did not exist with version 2.1.1.
Can anyone confirm this?

Windows 10 Pro, Version 22H2.

 

[GarryP]

Starting with V2.2, the Affinity applications try to create a ~lock~ file (same file name but with “~lock~” added as a suffix) in the folder containing the document.
(They do this for technical reasons which someone else will be able to explain better than I can.)

If the document is on a drive which is read-only, or it’s in a folder which is read-only, or it’s on media which is inherently read-only (e.g. CD/DVD/BluRay), then this will not be possible and is probably why you are getting the error message (with, in this case, slightly confusing wording).

You should still be able to open read-only files but only if the software can create the ~lock~ file in the same folder as the document.

A possible ‘workaround’ would be to copy the document to a read/write folder on a local drive but you might have trouble if you have linked resources.

[carl123]

1 hour ago, MiWe said:

Since then, I cannot open any write-protected files from a NAS

The Affinity apps only need to write a ~lock~ file to the same folder that the document resides in

If you can write protect the files but not the folder itself then you should be able to open them from your NAS

Obviously, you could not overwrite them (as they are write protected) but you would be able to do a Save as... to another location

 

PS I think this new ~lock~ file function needs a tweak as someone might keep, say, Affinity template documents on a medium that is read only and the added step of having to copy them to a different location when needing to access them, should not be necessary.

 

[MiWe]

OK, I see ... So I have to copy each file from a read-only medium to a place where this ~lock~ file can be created.

Sorry, a no go. All files are stored on a read-only NAS. These files often serve as the basis for new projects. Always making a copy first to be able to edit them is just too cumbersome and time-consuming.

Is there a way to get the software to write this ~lock~ file to, say, a temporary location?

[GarryP]

16 minutes ago, MiWe said:

Is there a way to get the software to write this ~lock~ file to, say, a temporary location?

I think that would go against (at least some of) the reasoning behind creating the ~lock~ file.

As far as I’m aware, and I could easily be wrong, the ~lock~ file exists (at least in part) to tell the applications, which may be running on different machines, that the original version of the file is in use and cannot be opened elsewhere.

If the ~lock~ file were to be created somewhere other than the same folder then the applications on the other machine(s) would not necessarily know where it was and therefore couldn’t use it to see if the file was in use.

It might be better (but I haven’t thought this through properly) if the applications, when encountering a file that cannot be opened with write access (or if it’s already locked), to tell the user that saving isn’t possible but give the option to open the file anyway (with the Save function temporarily disabled).

[MiWe]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

It might be better (but I haven’t thought this through properly) if the applications, when encountering a file that cannot be opened with write access (or if it’s already locked), to tell the user that saving isn’t possible but give the option to open the file anyway (with the Save function temporarily disabled).

Yes, you're right …

[PaulEC]

At the end of the day Affinity software is not intended to be a PDF reader. If these files are write protected I'm assuming that you only want to view them, so why not just use a dedicated PDF reader?

[MiWe]

3 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

At the end of the day Affinity software is not intended to be a PDF reader. If these files are write protected I'm assuming that you only want to view them, so why not just use a dedicated PDF reader?

Nobody mentioned PDF. Wrong topic ?

[PaulEC]

Just now, MiWe said:

Nobody mentioned PDF. Wrong topic ?

Sorry, I just assumed PDF when you mentioned write protected! My apologies. 

[Ezbaze]

This looks like a poor/unfinished implementation of a lock-file.

 

This is what MS Word does when you open a file in a read-only folder:

 

You can then allow editing ( which will create a temporary file ), and it will act as a never saved document that you can edit and then save.