2.3: Opening an Existing Collection

This section tells you how to open existing collections using the Open Collection prompt.

Contents

Simple Instructions: How to open a collection Advanced Instructions: Locked collections

Simple Instructions:

To open an existing collection, choose "Open" from the "File" menu to get the Open Collection prompt. A list of your Greenstone collections appears. Select one to see its description, and click "Open" to load it. If you seek a collection that resides outside Greenstone's "collect" folder, click "Browse" for a file system browsing dialog.

Advanced Instructions:

In case more than one Greenstone Librarian Interface program is running concurrently, the relevant directories are "locked" to prevent interference. On opening a collection, a small temporary lock file is created in its folder. Before opening a collection, the Librarian Interface checks to ensure that no lock file already exists. You can tell whether a collection is locked by the colour of its icon: green for a normal collection, red for a locked one. However, when the Librarian Interface is exited prematurely the lock file is sometimes left in place. When you open such a collection, the Librarian asks if you want to "steal" control of it. Never steal a collection that someone else is currently working on.