Article ID: 927018 - Last Review: April 3, 2008 - Revision: 2.1

Sharing violation error message if you use WDS 2.6.5 to index a network share and if you open a file on the network share from a Windows XP-based computer: This file is read-only

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SYMPTOMS

When you open a file that resides on a network share, you may receive a sharing violation error message that resembles the following:

This file is read-only. (\\...\filename...)

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

You used Windows Desktop Search (WDS) version 2.6.5 to index a "My Documents" folder that has been redirected to the network share. You did this from a Microsoft Windows XP-based client computer.
You used a second Windows XP-based computer to open a file that resides on the network share.

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CAUSE

This issue occurs if the file that you open has been indexed by WDS and if the WindowsSearchFilter.exe filtering process used "SHARE ACCESS = READ" permissions to open the file.

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MORE INFORMATION

This issue typically occurs in the following scenario:

A user is logged on to two client computers. For example, the user is logged on to computer 1 and to computer 2.
The user runs WDS on client computer 1 to index the “My documents” folder that is stored on the server.
From computer 2, the user opens a file that is stored in the “My Documents” folder on the server. For example, the user opens a Microsoft Word document.

In this scenario, the user may receive a sharing violation (SHARING_VIOLATION) error message.

When many programs and tools open and close a file several times, WDS is notified about the possible changes that have been made to the file. WDS starts to index the file. If you try to open the file, you receive a sharing violation error message because WDS opens files that are stored on the network share by using "SHARE ACCESS = READ" permissions.

In this scenario, the network monitor trace may resemble the following:

385       Client A requests an open of file TESTWDS.TXT with Access = Read and Share Access = Read
393       Client B requests an open of file TESTWDS.TXT with Access = Read and Write and Share Access = Read 
394       Server allows client A to open the file and grants a Batch Oplock
398       Server sends an Oplock Break request to client A bumping the Oplock down to level 2
399       Client A replies to the Server that the Oplock is now at level 2
400       Server denies client B’s open request with a STATUS_SHARING_VIOLATION

WDS opens files that reside on a network by using "SHARE ACCESS = READ" permissions instead of by using "SHARE ACCESS = READ/WRITE" permissions or "SHARE ACCESS = READ/WRITE/DELETE" permissions. This behavior prevents the file from changing while WDS is reading the file. If the file is changed while WDS is reading the file, the IFilters interface could crash.

With its current architecture, WDS cannot use filter oplocks on remote volumes. WDS does not receive an oplock break because the oplock break is handled at the Redirector (RDR) level and is not propagated to the calling program. Currently, WDS cannot block access to a file that is located in a remote location if the data is sent to the remote server. This is expected behavior.

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