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It's famous problem with the locks on SAS datasets. I think that it will be great to "make the SAS Software great again" and final deal with that issue. Often the options in EG (Tools>Options>Data >) doesn't help and the only solution is to kill the process by Administrator. 

 

My proposal is to consider the solution that allows releasing the locks by the user who is dataset creator from the Enterprise GUI level.

10 Comments
ballardw
Super User

If I could vote down on a suggestion I would.

 

If any user can break a lock that another user has then chaos will likely result in many forms.

 

I would suggest if your organization has this problem often to diagnose why and address the program/user/business model that is causing this.

__KiSi__
Obsidian | Level 7

@ballardw thanks for the suggestion

but the intention is to release the lock to the dataset that was created by the same user.

 

paulkaefer
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

@__KiSi__: if you're specifically talking about the EG issue, will it solve your problem to view and close the open dataset(s) in question using Tools >> View Open Datasets?

__KiSi__
Obsidian | Level 7

@paulkaefer in many cases locked dataset wasn't visible via Tools >> View Open Datasets. I know that it's possible for instance to kill the process in order to release the lock but it must be done by admin, not a business user who is working on the preparation of the report.

paulkaefer
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

@__KiSi__: if you don't have the dataset open in any processes, yet a lock remains, this sounds like a bug that should be reported to tech support. See here to open a track.

__KiSi__
Obsidian | Level 7

@paulkaefer good point but it was reported fo tech support.

paulkaefer
Lapis Lazuli | Level 10

@__KiSi__: did tech support respond? what did they say?

__KiSi__
Obsidian | Level 7

@paulkaefer the same as I wrote before: to kill that session in order to release the lock.

Casey_SAS
SAS Employee
Status changed to: Under Consideration

We are looking for a better solution to the "lock is not available" message that you'll currently get in these situations. It will not involve breaking locks on datasets as the risks of allowing this would create far more problems that it might solve. One of the thoughts is to generate a more descriptive message, displaying the information about the lock - would that be an improvement from your perspective if you knew additional infromation about the lock?

__KiSi__
Obsidian | Level 7

@Casey_SASyes, the more descriptive information about the lock rather than generic "lock is not available" will be good idea. A lot of non-technical people are working with EG on daily basis. IMHO it will be good to inform them not only about the problem but also a potential solution (for instance contact your SAS Administrator). As we know this error (the lock on dataset) can prevent data step before overriding etc. but for these people can be blocker.