What are Replication and Save Conflicts in Lotus Notes

Replication/Save conflicts are a "necessary evil" in a distributed environment like Lotus Notes. A replication conflict occurs when two or more users edit in the same document in different replicas between one replication and the next. A save conflict occurs when two or more users edit the same document in an application on a server at the same time.

To fix conflicts that do occur (if you are the person in charge of eliminating conflicts in an application), examine each conflict and decide whether you want to keep the main document or the response, depending on which is more timely and accurate. Then delete either the main document or the response as described below.

Replication Conflicts

After two or more users edit and save the same document, at the next replication Notes designates the most frequently edited and saved document as the main document. (If each has been edited and saved the same number of times, Notes designates the most recently saved document as the main document.) Notes shows the other(s) as responses to the main document with a diamond symbol in the left margin.

Deletions are a special case. If one user edits and saves a document in a replica and another user then deletes it, the deletion takes precedence. If, however, a document is edited and saved more than once, or if the document is edited and saved after the deletion, the edited document takes precedence.

Save Conflicts

When more than one user opens the same document to edit, Notes designates the document that has been saved first as the main document. When another user tries to save the same document, Notes prompts the user to save it as a Save Conflict document. If the user does, Notes shows it as a response to the main document with a diamond symbol in the left margin.

To save information from a response in the main document and delete the response

1. Open the response document that contains information you want to save.
2. Select the information you want to copy and click Edit > Copy.
3. Open the main document in Edit mode.
4. Place the cursor where you want the information and click Edit > Paste.
5. Click File > Save to save the main document.
6. Select the response document.
7. Click Edit > Delete.
8. In a non-mail application, click View > Refresh to delete the response document.

To delete the main document and make a response the main document

1. Edit the response you want to make the main document.
2. Click File > Save to save the response. It becomes a main document.
3. If there are other response documents, do the following:
   a) Select the other response documents and click Edit > Cut.
   b) Select the document you saved in step 2.
   c) Click Edit > Paste. The documents now become responses to the document you're keeping.
4. Select the document you don't want to keep.
5. Click Edit > Delete.

In a non-mail application, click View > Refresh to delete the unwanted main document from the view.