Databese already in use?

lyzorg · September 7, 2005, 5:55pm

I copy my DT Pro database from my Power Mac to my iBook every day so i can use DT at home and at work with the same version of the database. But when I open the Databese on my iBook, it something says something like “Database already in use” (I have a german version). It gives me the options “OK” or “Ignore”…

What does this mean? Can it harm the inegrity of my database?

Bill_DeVille · September 7, 2005, 7:00pm

Your database should be OK.

But ALWAYS make certain that DT Pro is closed before you make the copy.

jracine · October 16, 2005, 4:26am

I have the exact same problem. I do quit DT Pro before copying. Solution?

Bill_DeVille · October 16, 2005, 4:58am

Go ahead and use the database. It should be OK.

jracine · October 16, 2005, 2:06pm

Either button I click, nothing happens. The datafile does not open.

alanG · October 19, 2005, 1:42pm

I invoked the Dashboard this morning, with DEVONthink Pro not running. The Note and Search widgets came into view, and both properly informed me that no database was available.

I closed Dashboard, launched DEVONthink Pro, and was greeted by this error.

I chose the Ignore option and don’t believe any harm’s been done.

I thought the bit about the widgets might be significant.

annard · October 19, 2005, 2:06pm

No, the widgets don’t touch the database files. If they informed you that no database is available because DEVONthink Pro wasn’t running, that was entirely correct.

Did you experience a system crash or something similar? Did you open your database with another copy of DEVONthink Pro (from a networked computer)? Those are the most common things that could cause it.

alanG · October 19, 2005, 4:54pm

No crash, and the current uptime is 2 days, 23:12 and I have launched and quit DEVONthink Pro at least once each of those days (nearly 3 days), with the same database. I don’t allow file-level access to this computer by other remote computers. However, it was the first time I had opened the Dashboard since that last restart (I rarely use Dashboard). The widgets had previously been configured, prior to the last restart.

I do allow remote backup by a Veritas Netbackup server, and it would have read the file from disk between the last quit of DEVONthink Pro and the time I launched the Dashboard. But, AFAIK, that’s a read-only access and I don’t believe it ‘touches’ the file in any way (but I can confirm that, if requested).

To be clear, I’m not particularly concerned at all. I just thought it might be an interesting data point. If I knew what the trigger mechanism was (timestamp, lock, semaphore, hash, checksum, etc.) that caused the alert, I might be better able to correlate with the events in the local environment.

ajcowell · August 18, 2006, 4:14pm

I’m getting this error this morning and clicking either of the buttons does nothing. I close the database and application each day prior to having it backed up at night. Is there a way to open the database and ignoring whatever lockfile it’s looking for? I urgently need to get into my db this morning. ARG!

alanG:

annard:

Did you experience a system crash or something similar? Did you open your database with another copy of DEVONthink Pro (from a networked computer)? Those are the most common things that could cause it.

No crash, and the current uptime is 2 days, 23:12 and I have launched and quit DEVONthink Pro at least once each of those days (nearly 3 days), with the same database. I don’t allow file-level access to this computer by other remote computers. However, it was the first time I had opened the Dashboard since that last restart (I rarely use Dashboard). The widgets had previously been configured, prior to the last restart.

I do allow remote backup by a Veritas Netbackup server, and it would have read the file from disk between the last quit of DEVONthink Pro and the time I launched the Dashboard. But, AFAIK, that’s a read-only access and I don’t believe it ‘touches’ the file in any way (but I can confirm that, if requested).

To be clear, I’m not particularly concerned at all. I just thought it might be an interesting data point. If I knew what the trigger mechanism was (timestamp, lock, semaphore, hash, checksum, etc.) that caused the alert, I might be better able to correlate with the events in the local environment.

ajcowell · August 18, 2006, 4:20pm

Ah, the drive that the backup was copying to ran out of space, hence why the db was locked.

ajcowell:

I’m getting this error this morning and clicking either of the buttons does nothing. I close the database and application each day prior to having it backed up at night. Is there a way to open the database and ignoring whatever lockfile it’s looking for? I urgently need to get into my db this morning. ARG!

alanG:

annard:

Did you experience a system crash or something similar? Did you open your database with another copy of DEVONthink Pro (from a networked computer)? Those are the most common things that could cause it.

No crash, and the current uptime is 2 days, 23:12 and I have launched and quit DEVONthink Pro at least once each of those days (nearly 3 days), with the same database. I don’t allow file-level access to this computer by other remote computers. However, it was the first time I had opened the Dashboard since that last restart (I rarely use Dashboard). The widgets had previously been configured, prior to the last restart.

I do allow remote backup by a Veritas Netbackup server, and it would have read the file from disk between the last quit of DEVONthink Pro and the time I launched the Dashboard. But, AFAIK, that’s a read-only access and I don’t believe it ‘touches’ the file in any way (but I can confirm that, if requested).

To be clear, I’m not particularly concerned at all. I just thought it might be an interesting data point. If I knew what the trigger mechanism was (timestamp, lock, semaphore, hash, checksum, etc.) that caused the alert, I might be better able to correlate with the events in the local environment.