Odd filesharing issue with .xls files

[Kevlar]

OK, you genuises…here’s a tough one. It’s a very weird situation and I’ll try to explain it as best I can.

We just installed an Xserve G5 Dual 2 GHz running 10.3.6.

Our accountant has access to an “Accounting” share point on the server. Actually, the folder’s permissions are: owner:admin (R/W), group:accounting (R/W), everyone (None). She, along with the owners of the company, are members of the Accounting group.

When she logs into the Accounting share point from her workstation (a client running OS 9.2.2) she is unable to open Excel documents. She gets an error saying that the file is read only, or that the server isn’t responding. (Word documents open without any problems.) In order to open the document, she has to copy it to her desktop, then open it, save it, and copy it back to the server. (And she STILL can’t open it directly from the server.)

If one of the other owners logs in on her computer, they can open these same .xls documents from the server.

If she logs in from a different workstation, she can open these same .xls documents from the server.

If I copy the file to another share point, she can open these .xls files on the server from her workstation.

Thinking this was an issue with some configuration on her computer, and wanting to upgrade her OS anyway, I just installed Panther this morning. I did a clean install, erasing the hard drive. Guess what? The problem STILL EXISTS and is still isolated to her workstation! (And if I do a Get Info on one of the .xls documents, the permissions appear correct…it claims that she can read & write.)

I’m at a loss as to what to try next. Is it a corrupted user? Share point? Some configuration on her workstation?

Anxious to figure this one out. Any takers?

[Detrius]

Clearly, this is not related to the operating system on the computer she is using, as an erase and install did not fix the problem. Also, it’s not her user account, as she can access the files correctly from another machine. It’s not a hardware problem, as other users can access the file from her computer.

Are you using Open Directory and network home directories? This is a very important detail. If you are, then all of her preferences were retained. Therefore, the traits imply that this is a specific issue with one of the files in her ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost folder.

If you are not using network home directories… ummm… Idunno–but let us know.

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