[Solved] "XXX" File Locked For Editing - Mac

[3ME]

Suddenly when I try to open an ods Calc spreadsheet that has existed on my Mac network for quite some time, I get a message telling me that my user has locked the file and only gives me an option to open a Read Only or Copy. Now if I change the name of the file, I can open it fine. So what has happened to the original file with the orig name and how can I fix it on a Mac? I see similar situations on here in a search but all apply to Windows.

[Villeroy]

When the program loads a document, a so called lock file is created. The lock file will be deleted when the program closes the file properly. Only one (network-)user can have write access to a document.
If there is nobody else who has this file loaded, your office may have crashed or the system may have shut down before the office could terminate properly so the lock file is still there. Close the file and delete the corresponding lock file.

Spreadsheet and its lock file

LockFile.png (9.21 KiB) Viewed 16189 times

[3ME]

Can you please tell me where I can find the lock file on a Mac?

[Villeroy]

It is a file in the same directory as the document file. Possibly you have to change some option to unhide any hidden files.

[3ME]

Worked like a charm!... now that I understand what's going on and what to do. Thank you very much Villeroy!

For future Mac users, here are the instructs...

Open Terminal found in Finder > Applications > Utilities
In Terminal, paste the following: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
Press return
Hold ‘alt’ on your keyboard, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.
In finder, go to the folder where the problem doc exists.
Delete: .~lock.(Doc Name).ods#
To hide hidden files again, paste the following in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO
Press return
Hold ‘alt’ on your keyboard, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

[RoryOF]

Usually, a left over lock file is indicative of either a program/operating system crash, or too speedy a close down of the computer after exiting OpenOffice.