File locking and exclusive program areas in Sage 50 Accounts
Description

The multi-user versions of Sage 50 Accounts are designed to allow multiple users to access the data files at the same time. To protect your data from corruption and ensure that everyone accessing Sage Accounts can process data safely, the program uses automatic locking facilities.

This ensures that Sage 50 Accounts generates a message informing a user that they're attempting to access an area that's already in use by another user.

The following three different types of locking are used in Sage Accounts:

  • Exclusive Program Requests
  • Exclusive Zone Requests
  • Partial Zone Requests

When a user logged into Sage Accounts performs a specific action, or enters a specific area in the program, their user name is added to a request list. This list is held in a file called QUEUE.DTA, which is stored in the data directory. Each locking request is made up of the user name, the machine name and the requested action.


If more than five people use Sage 50 Accounts at the same time you have a large dataset or your business is expanding, Sage 200 may be a better solution. Read more >>

Cause
Resolution

Exclusive Program Requests

Sage Accounts requires Exclusive Program Requests in the following areas, this means that only one Sage user can log in when these areas are accessed:

  • Archive - Creating a company archive
  • Restore
  • Clear Audit Trail
  • Clear Stock
  • Configuration
  • Consolidation
  • Control Accounts
  • Convert data
  • Deletion of Records, Invoices or Orders
  • Delete Company
  • Delete Company Archive
  • Deposit Cash
  • File, Import
  • File > Maintenance
  • Financial Year Change
  • Fixed Asset Disposal
  • Foreign Trader Setup Wizard
  • Foreign Trader Revaluation Wizard
  • Global Changes
  • Month End
  • Upgrade program
  • Write Off, Refunds and Returns Wizard
  • Year End

Exclusive Zone Requests

Sage Accounts requires Exclusive Zone Requests in the following areas, this means that only one Sage user can access these areas at any time:

  • Access Rights
  • Account Status
  • Accountants Link
  • Accruals
  • Archive Company
  • Bank Defaults
  • Batch Supplier Payments
  • Chart of Accounts
  • Company Preferences
  • Currency
  • Customer Credit Charges
  • Customer Defaults
  • Delete Stock
  • Delivery Addresses
  • Enable 3rd party integration
  • Enable Construction Industry Scheme
  • Finance Rates
  • Fixed Asset Categories
  • Internet Resources
  • Invoice and Order Defaults
  • New Account Wizards
  • Manual creation of new accounts
  • New Company
  • Nominal Journal Reversals
  • Prepayments
  • Price Lists
  • Product Categories
  • Product Defaults
  • Product Shortfall
  • Recurring items - Quotations, Invoices and credits, Sales orders and Purchase orders only
  • Sage Drive setup
  • Sales Order Recall - Sage 50 Accounts v22.1.10.394 and above
  • SOP Shortfall
  • Supplier Defaults
  • Tax Codes
  • Transactions > Edit  
  • Transactions > Delete  

Partial Zone Requests

Sage Accounts requires Partial Zone Requests in the following areas, this means that a particular account or record can only be accessed by one Sage user at any time:

  • Allocate Sales Orders
  • Amending a Sales Order
  • Amending a Purchase Order
  • Editing a Customer Record, Supplier Record or Product Record
  • Activity
  • Adjustments of Products In and Out
  • Aged options
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Check BOM
  • Cheque Printing
  • Contra Entries
  • Customer Receipts
  • Customer Payments
  • Deliver Purchase Order
  • Despatch Sales Order
  • Disputes
  • Invoicing - Editing an existing
  • e-Reconcile
  • e-Payment
  • e-Submit on Invoices, Sales Order Processing or Purchase Order Processing
  • Goods Received Notes
  • Phone
  • Place Purchase Order on order
  • POP Update
  • Printing a sales order, purchase order or invoice
  • Product Transfer
  • Remittance
  • Sales Order or Purchase Order
  • Stock Returns
  • Stock Take
  • Supplier Payments
  • Supplier Receipts
  • Transactions > Edit 
  • Transactions > Delete 
  • Update Ledgers
  • Wizards

View Program Requests

  1. Click Settings then click User Management then click Active Sessions
  2. From the User List window, click the Requests tab.
     TIP: To update either of these lists, click Refresh. 
  3. To close the User List window and return to the program desktop, click Close.

You have now checked the current program requests.


Waiting to lock files

The message 'Waiting to lock files' appears when two or more people are updating or saving to the same area.

For example, if two people are updating invoices to the Customers ledger, Sage Accounts makes the second person wait until the first person has successfully updated the data files.


User name in use

When a user exits a specific area of Sage Accounts or logs out, any locking request is automatically cleared. However, if the user has not been able to exit from Sage Accounts in the usual way, for example, due to a PC crash, the request remains in place, even though the user is no longer in the software.

In this situation, you can clear any requests by logging in to Sage Accounts with the same user name, then when prompted to remove users from the list, click Yes. This should only be carried out when there are no other users logged in, you should pay special attention to the warning messages that appear and run a check data immediately.

The Manager username can also remove users from the list.

  1. Log in as Manager.
  2. Click Settings then click User Management then click Active Sessions
  3. Click User List, select the user you want to remove and click Remove.

CAUTION: You should never simultaneously log into two different PCs using the same user name, as this may cause severe data corruption. If check data returns errors please refer to A - Z index of Check Data errors, warning and comments guide.



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