Working in Shared Mode
You can work with project data in Shared mode. In this mode, it is possible for two or more users to access the data concurrently.
To handle this situation, Open Plan uses an optimistic concurrency control approach that is based on the assumption that the probability of two users updating the same data item at the same time is relatively small.
If multiple users are updating the same set of records, it is possible that the information for a record has already been updated by another user. For example, assume you are updating project data using a dialog box. If you attempt to edit data that has already been changed by another user, Open Plan displays a message to that effect and asks if you want to view the updated information for the item before continuing. If you click Yes, Open Plan displays the new information for the record and enables you to reenter your edit; if you click No, Open Plan returns you to the current view without saving any changes.
Because changes are saved to the file as you make them, the Save command is not available in Shared mode. However, you can always use the Save As command to save the file under a different name.
In Shared mode, user-entered data (for example, activity information or costs) is stored, but data calculated by Open Plan (for example, dates generated by time analysis or resource scheduling) is not stored. As a result, you must open the project in Exclusive mode to save the results of a calculation.
In addition to calculated information, Open Plan does not allow you to save changes to information stored at the project level in Shared mode. Thus, you cannot change the ancillary files assigned to a project information.
Shared Mode Locking
While in Shared Mode, you can apply a temporary exclusive lock on a project to perform processes like Time Analysis, Resource Scheduling, Risk Analysis, Cost Calculations, and Progress Calculations. For more information, see Apply a Temporary Exclusive Lock on a Project.
Schedule Driver Analysis
You can run Schedule Driver Analysis in Shared mode. When you run in Shared mode, the results of the path analysis are not stored; they are available while the project is still open.
You cannot use Schedule Driver via OLE automation while in Shared mode.