I’m having problems with an Authors field. A user is listed in the authors field, however they are unable to edit the document.
I’ve verified the following:
User has author access in the acl.
User is listed in the authors field in canonical format and the name is spelled correctly.
The field properties show that it is an authors field.
A script that attempts to change field values and save the document results in the ‘you cannot update or delete, blah blah not listed as an allowable author’. However, the document properties at the time I try to save show that the authors field contains the username in canonical format and that the field is an authors field.
I have the same problem with multiple users - it’s not just this one.
What could be going wrong? I’ve been using authors field for many many years and have never had this problem. What stupid thing am I overlooking?
Did you check the document and field property after opening the document? If yes, then I would suggest you also check the document property from a view.
Select a problem document in a view → Right Click → Document Property. Now check the field property if it is still showing as authors field.
Checking field property after opening the document is sometimes misleading.
Are there multiple entries in the authors field? If so, is the “Allow multiple values” checkbox checked for that field? In doc properties, does the field appear as a list of quoted strings containing names, or as a single quoted string containing semicolon-separated names?
He should be in the Authornames field when he opens this document. If you add him via script, or formula, and then try to save, then you will receive this error.
This will not happen when he creates a new document.
THe user is in the authors field prior to the user opening the document. I have an approve button that sets some field values and saves, but the user is already listed in the author field prior to them even opening the document.
Is there some other object embedded in the document (i.e. controlled access section, embedded view that a user might not have access to…) that might be causing this?
Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I’m still not entirely sure what went wrong, but I ended up changing my script that updates the authors field a few times. It’s working now. The weird thing is that all along the way it looked right - multiple value field, authors type, existed on the form, no other security settings on the document, acl OK, etc. I wish I knew what really happened, but it’s working now. Thanks again!