InfoPath Dev

InfoPath cannot save the following form: *frustratedmanc's form*. The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

I'll start at the beginning, I work as a nice low level analyst in a small specialised helpdesk department of a multinational company.  Happily I while away my days making spreadsheets and updating access databases.  Then one day one of the other analysts decided that our users might save some time if they had an InfoPath form to fill out instead of a manual one.  He taught himself InfoPath and wrote this form and rolled it out to a couple of hundred users who all liked it and the world was all good.  He then left the business.

Then I was put in charge of this form, knowing nothing of InfoPath and told to learn and fast, so I did and have reversed engineered the form and made changes as and when they were required.

Unfortunately my bosses have been making a power play in the business and hovering up more and more helpdesk work using our systems and so now the little InfoPath form is being used by about 20,000 users and now I can no longer make any changes to it as the aforementioned error happens.  Does anyone have the faintest idea why?  Is it just being over used?

 I *heart* this post so much.

So, a little more info, please - what are you doing when you get this message? Trying to open the XSN (the form template itself) in design mode?

Sorry.  I get this message every time I try and save the form, I can go in to it in design mode, make any number of changes, run in it preview mode to make sure that my changes are all tickety boo and working as they should but then when I click to save the file I get this error message.  I've had it in Infopath 2003 and 2007 which my behind the time employer has just switched to, only 6 years late.

 Where do you open it from? Local file system? SharePoint? If you make a copy of the file, then right click the copy and select design, are you able to save? Same issue? What about "Save As"?

Sorry I'm not being helpful am I.

I can save the file elsewhere with "save as" but the file path is linked on an intranet system for the many many users to access it and so any changes that I make in a new file do not circulate out to the users and I am prevented from overwriting the previous file with the same error message within InfoPath and with a cannot perform action error when using explorer.

So - maybe instead of asking more questions, I'll explain why I'm confused. Usually I work on an InfoPath form saved locally, then I publish the form for users to fill it out - generally I publish to a Network location everyone can access or I publish to SharePoint. It sounds instead like you are opening the form from the published location in design mode and trying to overwrite it.... I really don't have any idea why you are getting this error, but you may want to try publishing your form (that you've designed and saved locally) to the location where the form is currently being used. Or to a test location - so you can verify it opens correctly, etc.

Ahhh right so I should save locally and publish in a shared area?  I have the file saved in a shared location and the link goes directly to the the file itself.  I'll have to get my head around the publishing which in truth has drawn on or two puzzled faces from me (so I'm told).

Many thanks Hilary, you're a star!