Kill file when someone has it opened

[hutchisd]

I used the "kill" function to delete a file that I replace daily on a shared network drive. The file is a read-only excel file. If I happen to replace the file while someone has it opened using the kill function, would I get an error and also what would the user who has it opened experience? I figured I'd ask here instead of doing a test with a coworker.

 

[xenou]

The file will be killed, no error message. But there would be an error if you try to kill it again (when it no longer exists). However, the user who opened it still has a read-only copy in memory on their machine -- it doesn't disappear before their eyes and I think they experience nothing at all. If they close without saving it is gone. But if they try to save the file, they will have the option of saving it with a new name (note: a user would not be able to save the file with the old name b/c Excel will not allow this).

I *believe* you could create a new file on disk after killing the old one, even with the user having a read-only copy of the original still on their machine.

 

[hutchisd]

The file will be killed, no error message. But there would be an error if you try to kill it again (when it no longer exists). However, the user who opened it still has a read-only copy in memory on their machine -- it doesn't disappear before their eyes and I think they experience nothing at all. If they close without saving it is gone. But if they try to save the file, they will have the option of saving it with a new name (note: a user would not be able to save the file with the old name b/c Excel will not allow this ... *but* a user *could* save a copy with a temporary name, and then re-save that copy with the original name, thus restoring the file).

(My co-workers are used to me experimenting on them )

It sounds like you've tested this out before...lol. Thanks for the info!