Save Problems - "Save could not be completed."

[ohiomoto]

I'm trying to update a couple of projects that I haven't used in a while and I'm no longer able to save any changes.

I get the following message:

Save Problems
Save could not be completed
Reason: Could not write file: C\Documents and Settings\.....\Main.groovy(Access is denied)

This is happening with all of my older (more than a month or two) projects, but not the projects I have used recently. I'm using STS 2.6 (upgraded from 2.5) on Windows XP.

Any ideas, known update or SVN issues?

Thanks in advance.

[Kris De Volder]

Not sure, but if I were you I take a close look at the exact path that it 'Could not write' and then take a close look at the that file and/or its parent directory in the file system.

Does the file/dir still exist? Is it writeable?

Could be that since you last used the project you have been moving/renaming stuff around on your file system and Eclipse has gotten confused about where the files are now.
Just a guess.

[ohiomoto]

"Does the file/dir still exist? Is it writeable? "

Yes, I can open the file in text editor, make changes, save them and STS will pick up the changes, but still won't let me make them.

[Kris De Volder]

Well... you got me stumped! That doesn't make any sense (unless perhaps you are running STS as a different user than your text editor?).

Let's try to get more info on your problem somehow. Have you checked the error log, maybe there's something in there that could shed some light on this.

You can access the error log by opening the "Error log View". Goto menu "Window >> Show View >> Other >> Error Log". If there are errors in there that may be related paste them in here.
(Tip: clear the log first and then try to save a file, see if any new error got added when you tried that).

Also, maybe compare one of the files you can save with one of those you can't. In the OS, check ownership and file permissions, do you see any differences between them?

If we can't figure out what is going on here, I hate to suggest this, but perhaps you can try to create a new workspace and then import the projects into the new workspace with the "copy" option in the import wizard enabled. (Use File >> Import >> Existing Projects" and make sure to tick the "copy" checkbox.) See if copying the projects/files into a new workspace fixes the problem (whatever it may be).

[ohiomoto]

Thanks Kris. The permissions look correct, nothing shows up in the error log and copying the projects into a new workspace had no affect. I've gone as far as rebooting the system.

[Kris De Volder]

This is very odd, and I'm sure, very frustrating for you.
I really have no idea what is going on here or what you could try to do next.

You could try reinstalling STS, maybe it got damaged somehow.

Another thing, you could try, if you are able/willing to share one of your problem projects with me, is zipping up the project into a zip file. Then, if after trying to import the project from the zip, you still can't edit it, send the zip to me (kdvolder@vmware.com). I'll try and see if the problem happens for me as well. If it does, I may be able to figure out what's going on with the Eclipse debugger.

[ohiomoto]

I'll take a look at it again on Monday when I get back to the office. Thanks for the help.

[Kris De Volder]

So... I was able to produce a behavior like you describe in a test workspace of mine. I got this exact error message popup that you had...
The way got this is by changing the ownership of the file to some other user and making it read-only. It seems that you would get this
error message when you have a permissions problem.

Now... I know this doesn't prove that you have a permission problem. It could very well be some bug or other thing that triggers the message
inadvertently...

But having no other great ideas...maybe double check again.

If its a permissions problem, it could be affected by how you start STS, maybe try starting it from the commandline, and make sure that the user starting it is the same one that owns the files you are trying to modify.

I suspect zipping up and sending your files to me will not help much, I'm guessing that it all will just work for me... and I still won't be able to help figure out what's wrong at your end.

Kris