File Management

[Steve Cole]

I am currently trying to clean up some of my directories and delete old files from my computer. Im having a problem with a few Ironcad .icd files. I had an assembly drawing, an .icd file associated to an .ics file. Using Windows Explorer I deleted the .ics. When I tried to delete the .icd file however, Windows would not allow me to do so and displayed the following message, Cannot delete (File Name): There has been a sharing violation. The source file may be in use."

I assume that the source file is the associated .ics file which is not in use, (Ironcad is not even open) and in fact is non-existent since I deleted it.

Can anyone shed some light on this problem?

 

 

 

[Guest cdeveaux]

Well, I can't shed much light on it as to why it happens, but I have reported this in the past. We use Windows 2000 SP3 or 4. Are you on a network? It seem to happen more (though not exclusively) with files opened over a network.

 

What seems to happen is that a "thread" gets left behind in memory linked to the file in question, even after the file itself is closed. Sometimes even closing IronCAD itself does not terminate the thread. Occasionally even rebooting does not clear it out.

 

The workaround we have used (this is not for anyone who doesn't like tinkering with the system) is to use Process Explorer by Sysinternals ("http://www.sysinternals.com/") to terminate the offending thread manually. Great care must be taken to terminate ONLY the thread giving you a problem. Keep in mind that you are essentially manipulating thing in memory directly! So terminating the wrong thread, (for example, a thread for a file you are actually working on) can cause your system to have problems. Needless to say, this is definitely NOT for the casual user.

 

Any comments from IronCAD people on whether you guys have ever been able to reproduce this?

 

Chris D.