Which applications are supported by File Locking?

A list of applications that File Locking has been confirmed to work with.

Applications use handles to open files. An application can open a file, read the file into memory, and then release the handle to the file. With this type of application when a save is performed it will then establish another handle and write to the file but that original open handle is gone during the time the file is "open". An application can also open the file and maintain the handle which tells the operating system and other applications that the file is indeed open. File Locking detects files which have a handle open and then performs locking on the other paths in the Real-Time Monitor. If an application does not maintain this handle in the file system then File Locking  has no way of determining that the file is open and no lock will be performed.

It’s possible for the same file type to be opened in a way which results in a lock being performed with File Locking under one application and not another. For example, if you open a .txt file in Notepad that .txt file will not be locked. This is due to the fact that Notepad does not establish and maintain the required handle in the file system when it opens the file. On the other hand, if you open that same .txt file in Microsoft Word a lock will be established because Word properly established and maintains the open handle in the file system.

This list contains applications which Software Pursuits has tested File Locking with and have determined that locking will occur. This list is not comprehensive as there are far too many applications available on the market to provide a complete list. We will continue to update this list as we test additional applications and as we receive feedback from customers. If an application appears on this list and supports multiple file types, all file types opened with that application should result in locks being established.

Supported Applications

  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Microsoft Visio
  • Microsoft Access
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe PageMaker
  • QuarkXPress
  • OpenOffice.org Writer
  • OpenOffice.org Calc
  • OpenOffice.org Draw
  • OpenOffice.org Impress
  • OpenOffice.org Math
  • OpenOffice.org Base

Unsupported Applications

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Abobe Acrobat
  • Macromedia Dreamweaver
  • Notepad