If you click Expand Subdocuments, the Lock icons disappear, except in the following cases: When you first open a master document, displaying subdocuments as hyperlinks, all subdocuments are locked, no matter who authored them.
The padlock icon appears whenever a subdocument is locked. You can tell that a subdocument is locked when a small padlock icon appears beneath the subdocument icon (see Figure 19.10).
If you did not author a subdocument, you may find that it is locked when you try to open it. Remember that if you give other users priority over yourself, you won't be able to edit their submissions until they finish working and close the files. To make sure that your colleagues have priority in accessing the documents for which they're responsible, you can enter their names in the Properties dialog box of each subdocument. How does the name of the author get there in the first place? It comes from the information you gave Word when you installed it (or changes you've made since in the User Information tab of the Tools, Options dialog box).
Word determines who the author is by looking in the Author field of the File, Propert ies dialog box.
