Locking and Unlocking Items

Before changing the contents of a file or editing item properties, you should exclusively lock the file or item. This action informs other team members that you intend to make changes. Files, change requests, requirements, tasks, and topics can all be locked.

Exclusively locking an item prevents others from creating new revisions of it before the lock has been released. You can lock and unlock any type of item as a separate operation. In addition, you can lock and unlock files as part of the check-in and check-out processes.

If an item is exclusively locked by someone else, you can review its properties but cannot change them. Normally the words Read Only and the name of the user who has locked the item will appear on the title bar.

In this topic:

Locking an Item Using the Toolbar

To lock an item using the toolbar, do the following:

1. Select one or more items in the upper pane.
2. Click the Lock button on the toolbar.

   The selected items become exclusively locked, and you are listed as the user who has locked them.

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Locking an Item Using the Menu

To lock an item using the menu, do the following:.

1. Select a folder from the folder tree or in the upper pane on the Folder tab.
2. You can select an item on any of the component tabs in the upper pane except the Audit tab.

3. Right-click an item and choose Lock/Unlock.

   This opens the Set My Lock Status dialog box.

4. Select a lock status option:

   Unlocked	Removes your exclusive or non-exclusive lock on the selected items.
   Exclusive	Prevents others from creating new revision of this item (until you release the lock or another person breaks your lock).
   Non-exclusive	Indicates that you are working on the item and may possibly make changes (not recommended for items other than files).

5. Optionally, check Break Existing Lock to break another team member's lock on the item.

   If e-mail is enabled, StarTeam will send an e-mail message to the team member whose lock has been broken to inform him or her of this fact.

   Note: You must be granted the appropriate privileges to be able to break another person's locks.

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