Hello,

Once a user has logged in to OLW, is there a session timeout that will disconnect the user due to inactivity on the server? I'm thinking of a situation in which the user does not properly logoff from OLW whether they either forgot to do so when they shut down or a power failure reset their PC. If a timeout exists, what is its value and is it configurable? If this doesn't exist, a "heartbeat" function in OLW could be useful to signal the server that the logged-in user is still on-line. I saw an earlier posting (2/2008) questioning timeouts but there was no reply.

Is there a way to see whether an individual on a sharing list is on-line in OLW in real time such as is done by the common messaging services (Skype, Messenger,..)?

I collaborate with a person who lives in a remote area and is both forgetful about logging off and additionally has unreliable power and a satellite link - all potential problems.

Thanks in advance,

David

David, you shouldn't see any problems regarding timeout for any of the reasons you mentioned. Logging out of OLW really means to log out of your Windows Live ID. Like other services (Hotmail), once the browser session the user is using OLW in is closed, you are automatically logged out of your LiveID for that browser session. If you're seeing specific issues where timeout appears to be an issue, please let us know.

In regards to presence information for people you're sharing with, we don't have that functionality today, but your feedback helps us prioritize that kind of functionality for the future.

Thanks for using Office Live Workspace!

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for your reply! Now this is making more sense to me. I've checked it out - you are right. My concern was partly tied to another thread in a different post about being locked out of an application (Excel) when the user who had the file open for editing did not properly end his session. In my case I'm sharing with a remote user on a satellite link who has unreliable commercial power. A sudden power outage can, and has, ended a session leaving the application dangling as far as the server is concerned. Reconnecting after power returns gains access to the server but the file opened for editing is still locked out since the local application (i.e. Excel) did not close normally. I've also found that if I am the person whose session was killed (i.e. I was editing the file), I can simply sign out from the server after reconnecting, sign back in again, and my lockout status has been cleared. This point is probably worth documenting or making into a sticky note if my observation is accurate.

I hope presence status related to sharing can be added directly to OLW in the future.

OLW is working fine for me. Thanks again.

Dave

Thanks for the reply David, that helps out a lot. Your scenario is a know issue - a file can get locked if being edited by your Office application and you suddenly lose your connection. I wasn't aware that signing in, out, and back in would unlock the file however. I'll try recommending that solution to others that hit this issue to see if it helps them out as well. If so, we'll look into the root cause and what the appropriate steps to address the issue are.

Chris

Chris,

 I see the sign-in/sign-out dance as only a partial solution. In my case, when I'm sharing with someone who is out of the country and incommunicado when not in a town and on-line, if that distant session is interrupted I'm out of luck. This only works if the steps are done by the person whose session was interrupted. Otherwise the only method I see is to download the document from the server in read-only mode, rename it locally, upload the renamed copy, and abandon the one that is locked out.

Dave

Sorry Dave, I forgot to mention that you should be able to wait 10 mins for the file to automatically be unlocked. Have you experienced cases where waiting 10 mins after the timeout occurred but you still couldn't edit the file?

Chris,

Anything related to ten minutes is news to me. The tests I tried did not involve waiting. When you said "..where waiting 10 mins after the timeout occurred .." do you mean waiting ten minutes after the interruption or something else? What starts the 10-minute clock? Can you be more specific and I'll try it out.

Dave

Wait 10 mins after the interruption and see if someone else can edit the file after that time has passed.

Chris,

Pardon the delay but it took a bit to pull this together. For a test, I deliberately interrupted (power outage) an editing session using an Excel file. Afterward I did not connect to OLW although I did use my Live ID with Hotmail. A day later, a faraway colleague with whom I had shared the file was able to successfully open the file in editing mode. So whether it's ten minutes or ??, something seems to have reset the editing lockout. Has there been a change in the OLW server?

 David

No change has been made. As I stated before, after 10 mins the lock should be reset. Your colleague's ability to edit the file a day later confirms this. Let us know if you run into the lock after 10+ mins in the future so we know if something has changed for your experience.

Thanks again for using Office Live Workspace!