Katalyst: Existing experiment is locked

Description

• An existing experiment may appear locked and cannot be edited, opened, or modified.
• This can occur when the experiment is still being processed by the Automation Server, blocked by Spectrus DB locks, actively processed by the Katalyst application, or when a plate within the experiment is reserved by another user.

Solution

• Initial recovery attempt:
  • On the User menu (profile icon), select Experiments, then Experiment Backups.
  • In the Export Manager, select the required experiment and click Load Backup.
  • Save the experiment.
  • If this does not resolve the issue, continue with the checks below.
• The experiment is being processed by the Automation Server scripts:
  • Try the operation again in a couple of minutes; processing may still be in progress.
• The record is blocked by Spectrus DB:
  • Start ESMC (<ACD>\SPECTRUSDB.SRV\ESMC.EXE) and connect under the Spectrus DB administrator account.
  • On the Server Tree pane, select Locks and review any locked records.
  • If locks were set by Automation Server scripts or cannot be cleared, contact Technical Support.
• The experiment is being processed by Katalyst:
  • On a Spectrus DB client machine, run Spectrus DB Enterprise and connect as spectrusdb_admin.
  • Open the KAT_Project record set.
  • Navigate to the record with the corresponding KAT ID.
  • In the User Data subwindow, check the value of the Status field.
  • If the status is reading, updating, viewing, or uploading, wait and retry.
  • Note: Status = completed does not guarantee the experiment is unlocked, because MongoDB locks may still be present to prevent concurrent access by multiple users.
• Plate reserved by another user:
  • In the KAT_Project record set, navigate to the experiment’s Plate node.
  • In the Record Tree, select the required plate container.
  • In the User Data subwindow, check the Active field.
  • If the value is reserved, wait several minutes and retry, as another user may be using the pre‑dispensed plate.