The file is locked by another application. Importing xref

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody,

I have a problem with importing Xref or dwg to archicad. It always says - The file is locked by another application.
The Dwg is used by a colleague when she closed it, I can import it. But that's not how it is supposed to work. We work on shared HDD, but if I import Xref into Autocad it normally works. I couldn't find any solution on Google. Does anyone know what to do, please?

[SeRohde]

Hi Posednak,

You said

Posednak wrote:
We work on shared HDD

it would be helpfull to know how the files are shared.
Is it a windows share (smb version) or a mac share
Or is it a cloud service for example

Without knowing this I just can guess. Files might be locked because of:

• An Antivirus is scanning for changes (make exclusions)
• Another user once opened it, but the filehandle never closed (Windows check compmgmt.msc > shared folders. Carefull when closing sessions or open files with write access. This might corrupt the file)
• Its a cloudbased sharing and the sync is on it (make sure when sync starts and is able to finish)
• Several Archicad Users/Servers are on it..

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi,

Thank you for the question and I am sorry about the issue!

If you cannot attach XREF while the DWG file is still being opened by your colleagues, this is a limitation with how Archicad read the AutoCAD file. When you open a DWG, a DWL (temporary drawing lock) file is created. Its function is explained here: https://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=3186

I believe Autodesk applications have a different way to bypass this. Unfortunately, you (or your colleagues) need to close the file before you can start attaching the DWG as XREF.

Thank you very much for your understanding! Please let me know if you have any further question!

Best regards,
Minh

[Anonymous]

mnguyen wrote:
..,.
I believe Autodesk applications have a different way to bypass this. Unfortunately, you (or your colleagues) need to close the file before you can start attaching the DWG as XREF.
....
Best regards,
Minh

There is a setting in AutoCAD that enables xREF load with copy where AutoCAD essentially copies the xRefed file to a temporary folder in your hard drive, if this setting is not enabled the behaviour is exactly the same as that of Archicad

Regards
Scott