Feature Request: Implement Network File Locking

[factormax]

Implement network file-locking so that when someone on the network has a file open and another author attempts to open the same file a message would appear in XMetal telling the author the file is in use. Even better if the message contained the ID of the author that has the file open.

[Derek Read]

For simple file locking, XMetaL Author Essential, XMAX and XMetaL Author Enterprise all support WebDAV.

WebDAV is not supported if you are working with XMetaL Author Enterprise and DITA documents however, because the DITA authoring functionality is designed specifically to work with our "XMetaL Connector" layer. It functions seamlessly with any CMS that has a "connector" (ie: an "integration") with XMetaL Author Enterprise.

If WebDAV is not your thing (or not good enough, which is very likely given that the protocol is basic) then a CMS is really the way to go. XMetaL Author Enterprise integrates with many CMS systems and that is our primary focus for companies requiring file management.

If one of the many CMS systems that XMetaL integrates with don't meet your needs (I think the count is 20+ now), or are too expensive then it is possible to implement something using scripting and the many APIs supported by XMetaL Author and XMAX. A few of our clients have done this over the years but most (all?) found that such a system could not meet their needs and they now employ a CMS for managing files. Ultimately, we really recommend that a proper "CMS connector" be used (or created if one does not exist for the CMS you wish to use), especially for DITA (for the same reason listed above).

I don't think there's really anything halfway between WebDAV and a CMS (ie: better than WebDAV but without the complexity or possibly expense of a CMS).