"Central File locked" message pops up when no one else is working on the model

[Steve Mintz]

I am refering to the screen which pops up when you attempt to Save to Central at the same time another user is. I believe the message is something along the lines of: "Another user is accessing the Central File. Please wait..."

I am the only engineer working on a particular building in Revit right now. Occasionally when an element or workset needs to be checked out, I'll see the message flash on my screen for a split second. I know for a fact that absolutely no one else in the office has the file open.

Any idea what is causing this to occur? Its not a big deal, but the possibility that some action is restricting access to the Central File is a little disturbing.

[Steve_Stafford]

When does IT run backup functions?

[dbaldacchino]

Is your project linked to another project? We have that happen all the time (structural and architectural both in-house working on separate but linked files).

EDIT: If the central file is linked to a project that is being access by a someone, you'll get that message.

[Steve Mintz]

Checked with IT, they're not running any backup functions.

This model is not linked to an architectural model, and I am the only person working on the model.


I logged this with tech support, and asked if dropped packets or a busy network could cause this. They gave me a non-sequiter answer.

Has anyone else experienced something similar to this?

[dbaldacchino]

Sounds like a really slow network to me. Open the central and check the Audit option, then re-save and compact the file. You need to do that maintenance regularly. See if that helps. I have seen that message pop up, but only when someone is saving to central or if our structural guys are opening their file and their Revit is trying to read our linked central.

[Steve Mintz]

Wow, thank you dbaldacchino!

I don't know if this will solve this little quirk, but I did the audit and compacted the central file. Not only did I shave off 20 MB, but the model definitely seems to respond quicker now. I never knew what the 'Audit' option did, but I'll start using it at least once a month now.

Thanks!

[jeddafish]

Periodically do a save as to make a new central file. Tech support recommended this to me and also seems to help reduce probs.
--jeff dunning

[Rols]

We had this sort of problem a couple of months ago...
We made sure everyone on the project had closed Revit, then we went to the server and checked to see what files were currently open on the network. Sure enough, the server showed that one of the team members still had the central file locked, even though they had closed out of Revit. We released the file from the server and everything was cool again.
We never quite figured out just what that user did, but we're pretty sure it was user error. It hasn't happened since, so we ruled out any hardware problems.
I hope this helps!

[dbaldacchino]

I would run an audit and compact the central on a weekly basis. If you link dwgs, have the users audit and purge every time they save and exit from the dwg. These degrade performance big time. I don't re-create my local often, I just do a save as and in the options, select the Compact File option. It keeps the file running smooth. Also, enabling OpenGL (disable overlay planes) in your Revit options really speeds up Revit.