9.9 Viewing Open Files for an NCP Server Connection, and Closing All Open Files

Before clearing a connection and closing all of its open files, you might want to get an idea of the types of files that the user or operation might be accessing. For example, you might want more information about the connection if the connection has been open a long time, or it has a large volume of traffic associated with it.

  1. In Novell Remote Manager, click Manage NCP Services > Manage Connections to open the Connections Manager page.

  2. Scroll down to view the connections in the Connection Listing report.

  3. Optionally sort the list by clicking the Sort icon Sort Icon in the column heading of interest.

  4. Click the Name link for a specific connection to view its details.

  5. Scroll down to view the Open Files section for a list of files currently opened by the selected connection.

    The application that is used to open a file determines whether the file is held open and locked for access to other users. Some applications open the file and copy the information to a working file, and overwrite the original when you save changes. These open files do not appear in the Open Files list. Other applications create a temporary file for changes and lock the original file for write access to other users. These open files appear in the Open Files list. The temporary file is listed in a file system view, but does not appear as an open file. When you clear the connection, the open files in the list are closed, and the application should automatically close and delete the temporary files.

    For example, Microsoft Word creates a system file that begins with ~$, such as ~$myfile8.doc. OpenOffice and LibreOffice create a hidden file that begins with .~lock, such as .~lock.myfile10.odt. You can view the temporary files by selecting Manage Shares, then navigating the NCP volume or NSS volume to the folder where the open file is stored.

  6. (Optional) If the connection is opened by a user, you can send a brief message before clearing the connection. Type the message in the Send Message field, then click Send.

    Broadcast messages work only for users that are using a Novell Client that supports broadcast messages, and the broadcast message option is enabled.

  7. (Optional) Clear the connection and close all open files by clicking Clear Connection link at the top of the report.