The system administrator can enable or disable record locking. If record locking is enabled, when you edit a record, it is automatically locked to prevent changes by others while you are editing it. If another user who has editing rights to that record brings up a list that includes that record, they will see a lock icon displayed next to it.

Record locks can last indefinitely, or can expire after a specified time interval. This expiration interval is determined by your system administrators.

It is possible to override a record lock, if you have been given rights to do so. Click on the record name link, and you see an warning message like the one shown below. If you wish to edit the record yourself, click the link that says Release the lock to edit the record.

Example of Overriding a Record Lock

If you override a record lock and then edit and save the record, the person who was originally editing that record will receive a warning message. If they still need to edit the record, they should examine its information carefully, since their original work may have been overwritten by your edits.

Note: When administrators disable record locking, multiple users can edit the same record simultaneously. However, only the user who first attempts to save the record can save it successfully. When the other users attempt to save, they will see a warning message that tells them that their save failed.