Replication conflicts

A replication conflict occurs when two or more users edit the same document and save the changes in different replicas between replications. These rules determine how Domino saves the edit sessions:

• The document edited and saved the most times becomes the main document; other documents become Replication or Save Conflict documents.
• If all of the documents are edited and saved the same number of times, the document saved most recently becomes the main document, and the others become Replication or Save Conflict documents
• If a document is edited in one replica but it is deleted in another replica, the deletion takes precedence, unless the edited document is edited more than once or the editing occurs after the deletion.

A save conflict occurs when two or more users open and edit the same document at the same time on the same server, even if they're editing different fields. When this situation occurs, the first document saved becomes the main document. Before the second document is saved, a dialog box indicates that the user is about to save a conflict document and if the user saves the document, it becomes a Replication or Save Conflict document.

Note ACL and design changes never result in replication or save conflicts; the most recent change always prevails.

Preventing replication or save conflicts

The following techniques reduce or eliminate replication or save conflicts. The first four are techniques that a database designer uses:

• Select the Form property "Merge replication conflicts" to automatically merge conflicts into one document if no fields conflict. This applies to replication conflicts only and not to save conflicts.
• Specify a Form property for versioning so that edited documents automatically become new documents.
• Lock documents in a database.

  For more information, if you have installed IBM® Lotus® Domino® Designer Help, see Document locking. Or, visit the Lotus documentation page on IBM developerWorks to view or download Help.

• Use LotusScript® to write a custom conflict handler.

The last three are techniques that a system administrator or database manager can use:

• Assign users Author access or lower in the database ACL to prevent users from editing other users' documents.
• Keep the number of replicas to a minimum.
• If the database property "Limit entries in $Revisions fields" is set to a value greater than 0, increase the limit by specifying a greater value than the existing one or specify -1 to remove the limit.

Consolidating replication or save conflicts
Configuring a database ACL
Monitoring replication of a database
"Document locking" in the Domino and Notes Information center
Lotus Documentation on IBM developerWorks

Glossary