Project Server 2010: How to Troubleshoot Read-Only Mode in Microsoft Project Client

English:

Before you can edit the Microsoft Project 2010 file stored in Enterprise Project Server 2010, you must perform check-out process. This process ensures that you have exclusive access to the file during modification. The exclusive access ends when you save and check-in the file into server.

Local Cache

To improve user’s experience and presumably due to technical limitation, Microsoft Project 2010 client creates local cache and synchronize the content back to the server periodically. The local cache is responsible to keep copy of the document during modification process, it also increase client’s application performance and reduce chatting between server and client during the process. Any operation will go through local cache copy before it is synchronized to the server.

The Read-Only Problem in Client’s Application

Problem may arise when the user forcibly close Microsoft Project Professional 2010 client during background synchronization. For example, when the user is closing Ms Project Professional 2010 windows. It will show a dialog box with options to Save, Check-In or Cancel. If Save and Check-In is selected, then the application will refresh the cache status and starts the synchronization process to the server. It will continuously update the cache status during the process. Depending on file size, health of the server or client – this process can take time longer than the expected. When the synchronization is still in progress and the user forcibly close the application, there is possibility that local cache file status is un-synch with the server. When it happens you will encounter following symptoms :

1. Project file in Enterprise Project Server 2010 is not checked-out

   

2. You can edit the file directly in Enterprise Project Server 2010 using Office Web Apps

3. You can not edit the file using Microsoft Project Professional 2010. It opens in Read-Only mode in client application.

   

Steps to Remove Local Cache

To resolve this issue, you must delete local cache project file in your computer. You can follow these steps to remove local cache in your computer.

1. Open Ms Project Professional 2010 client, and log-in to the Enterprise Project Server 2010

2. Click File –> Options. In the Project Options window, select Save and then click button Clean Up Cache.

   

3. In the Clean Up Cache windows, you can start to find the cached file in “Project not checked out to you” or “Project checked out to you”.

   

4. Select the cached file project that has the problem, and then click Remove From Cache.

5. Now you can try to re-open the problematic project file.