Overwriting a File Geodatabase while in use

[AliSedigh]

I am trying to update a file geodatabase on a server. The FGDB is provided to us as a whole and we just host it on our server. The provider send us a new FGDB every month having an identical structure (i.e. FGDB name, feature names, etc.) and what getting updated from time to time is the number of records in feature classes.

We do not want the users to loss their map document connections every month. Considering that the structure is identical in each release, I want to replace the old version with the new FGDB every month. I did try it but there was a lock on the FGDB. Apparently, I could not edit the FGDB as other users might still have it open. Is there anyway to overwrite or edit a FGDB regardless of the lock?

Tnx,

[VinceAngelo]

No, you need to schedule an outage to make that sort of change.

It's best practice to not access FGBDs over a network link, so you could publish
the common FGDB in a read-only folder, and let users copy it locally to the
same location as the previous month.  This way the users would be sure to
to have Desktop closed before copying.

- V

[JoeBorgione]

I want to replace the old version with the new...

Any chance you can get the data provider to set up an SDE database (even a personal sde) ?  Then you could use a one-way replication and sync your local FGDB(s) at some interval.  That's the sort of scenario that I have gone with and it works well for me. 

Replacing an entire FGDB for a few edits seems like a whole lot of overhead; you're already experiencing some headaches...

[AliSedigh]

It was suggested by one of our colleagues to use the Truncate Table (Data Management) Tool to delete all the records in feature classes and then replace it with new records. Apparently this way you can change the data even if it is locked.

Do you guys think it is doable?

[VinceAngelo]

You cannot change a FGDB table if it is locked for read access by another process,
not with Truncate Table or any other operation, so I would not rate that "doable."

- V