Unable to view Xcode 4.2 help “index.html” is locked for editing

Question

When I try to search the documentation within Xcode I get the following error:

“index.html” is locked for editing and you may not be able to save your changes. Do you want to unlock it?

“index.html” is currently locked because it does not support editing.

The file “index.html” could not be unlocked.

Could not add write permission to the file because you do not own it. Try modifying the permissions of the file in the Finder or Terminal.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling without success.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Here's a solution I found on Apple's DevForums:

I went into Xcode preferences, went to the Downloads option, and selected Documentation. From there, I clicked 'Check and Install Now' and it went and downloaded the iOS 5.0 library and 10.7 library. Once those were downloaded, help seemed to be working again via the local libraries. Hope this helps get you back on track.

And yes, I've seen the same problem that you've seen. You just need to fully download the documentation.

Answer 2

Update: xCode 4.2.1 fixes this problem.

Answer 3

I worked around the issue in Snow Leopard this way:

1. Open XCode
2. Open the organizer ( Window | Organizer )
3. Select Devices | Provisioning Profiles
4. Select my phone-provided provisioning profile and click Refresh

You do this silly thing because XCode will then display a dialog asking you to sign in with your Apple ID. If I sign in /here/ instead of on the page in the documentation, it remembers I'm signed in, shows the documentation when I ask, and doesn't crash. I have to do this every time I restart XCode, though.

YMMV.