[Qgis-user] Opening the same shapefile in QGIS and ArcGIS at the same time is impossible - bug or feature?

[Frode Hansen]

Tried to post here earlier on, trying again:

A couple of users here are trying out Qgis as an alternativ to ArcGIS. 
When working on maps and using shapefiles, QGis seems to lock up these 
files so that ArcGIS cannot access them. I.e. if User 1 adds 
G:\Lakes.shp into his Qgis session, User 2 on ArcGIS cannot add the 
file in his session as long as User 1 is still using it. However, if 
User2 adds the shapefile into his ArcGIS first, User 1 on QGIS CAN add 
the shapefile into his work.

I can see how this could be a feature to prevent corrupting files, 
possibly in cases of parallell edits, but , as can be seen,  ArcMap does 
not enforce this limitation. Also, we have been using the aforementioned 
method of having shapefiles (not-supposed-to-be-edited) on our server 
for years without bad incidents.

With regards,
Frode Hansen