The check in check out idea is more useful in many situations. If the timeout was wanted, then how about 2 parameters?
check_inout which says if you lock files or not, as per post number 2,
check_out_timeout which is a number of minutes after which the file is un-checked out automatically on a sweeper. If this second parameter is zero, it is never automatically checked back in.
if using check out and check in, an option to "cancel" the checkout is useful for both the person that did the checking out and for admin staff.
Merv.
