When processing actions within a Q-Automatic menu the system will place file or record locks as required by the actions within the Q-menu.Existing options on the start of the Q-menu allow you to place exclusive file locks but you couldn’t apply locks to specific records.
With the recent additions to Sales/Purchase Order Documents in previous updates and the options added in this update for Bill of Materials Documents and Stock / Assembly maintenance there can be a requirement to apply / release record locks as part of the Q-menu.
For example, one use of a Q-menu chain from a Sales Order document might be to trigger an update to a separate WMS system to send pick instructions and to save back to the order the quantity sent for picking. Generally, once a user has ‘printed’ the pick instruction the locks the user has against the order are released. If another user then accesses the order before the continuing chain for updating the WMS they could block/prevent the updates required.
Options have been added to keep the lock in place when calling the Q-menu from SOP/POP documents but and additional options have been implemented that can be added into the Q-menu to release the locks as needed.
Option Type Enter J as the option type to allow for file/record locking
Parameter 1 Enter the database file number within the Profiler Application list to place the lock against.
Parameter 2 Entered in the format X/Y/NNN.
X is the lock action ‘L’ to place a lock, ‘U’ to unlock.
Y is the lock type ‘F’ to apply a file lock, ‘R’ to apply a record lock.
NNN is the data item number on the constant file that contains the index record to lock (where applying record locks)
Article ID: 2449
Created On: Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Last Updated On: Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Online URL: https://kb.datafile.co.uk/article/automatic-q-menus-lock-unlock-actions-2449.html