Microsoft Office
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[edit] Microsoft Office 2003 Add-ins
New to Alfresco v2.1 are Add-Ins for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2003.
[edit] Compatibility with Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista
Although the Alfresco Add-Ins have been designed with Microsoft Office 2003 in mind, they are compatible with Microsoft Office 2007, with the following caveats:
- Before installing the Add-Ins, ensure the .NET Programmability Support option has been installed for each of the Office applications you are installing the add-ins for. Normally these will be Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- The options can be found by running the Office Setup program and expanding the list of available options for each application.
- You may need your original Office 2007 install media in order to add these essential components.
[edit] An Important Note about Windows Vista
- You are likely to be running Office 2007 on Windows Vista. Unfortunately, Microsoft have rewritten the WebDAV parts of Vista which means you will experience READ ONLY access to the Alfresco Repository over WebDAV. This is a known problem with Vista and effects many applications, including Microsoft's own SharePoint Server. There is no known workaround at the time of writing, despite the ones suggested in the linked article.
- CIFS access is unaffected and works as it does with Windows XP. Therfore, you will have to use CIFS to obtain read/write access to Alfresco using Windows Vista.
[edit] Installation
Note: the following example is for the Office 3-in-1 installer which installs all three add-ins. Individual installers are provided should you only wish to add Alfresco to one of the three Office applications.
- Unzip the zip file containing the setup files. You should have:
- readme.rtf
- setup.exe
- AlfrescoOffice2003Setup.msi
- Office2003PIA/o2003pia.msi
- Ensure none of the Microsoft Office applications are running. Note you may have to also close down Outlook if you use Word as the e-mail editor.
- Run setup.exe
- You may need to have local administrative priviledges in order to install the Add-In. This is due to some system files (e.g. .NET 2.0 framework) which need updating.
- If required, the setup program will download components it needs from the Microsoft web site. The required two components are the .NET 2.0 framework located at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=37283 and the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition runtime located at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79951
- Once setup is complete and has exited, run the Office application (e.g. Word)
[edit] Configuration
| The Add-Ins use a common configuration and present the configuration screen when none is found.
You can return to the configuration screen at any time via the link at the bottom of the Add-In window. It is recommended that all configuration boxes are filled-in for the best user experience. [edit] Web Client URL(Mandatory) Enter the URL to the Alfresco Web Client. This will usually take the form: http://server:8080/alfresco/ [edit] WebDAV URL(Mandatory) This is usually the Web Client URL appended with webdav/, e.g. http://server:8080/alfresco/webdav/ The Add-In will try to auto-complete this value when you start typing. [edit] CIFS Server(Optional - unless using Windows Vista (see above)) Alfresco recommend using the CIFS interface to access your documents. As before, the Add-In will attempt to help by auto-completing this value, but check with your Alfresco administrator for the correct address. e.g. \\server_a\alfresco\or \\servera\alfresco\(v2.1 Enterprise and later) [edit] AuthenticationThe Add-In will always try to automatically log you in to Alfresco in order to present your checked-out documents, your assigned tasks, etc. If you are using the CIFS interface, authentication is automatic in most cases. However, sometimes the Add-In needs to present your Alfresco username and password in order to be correctly authenticated. It is recommeneded that you enter and save your Alfresco credentials. All values are stored in the Windows registry and your password is encrypted against casual hacking attempts. |  |
[edit] An important note about CIFS
If you intend to use the CIFS interface to save documents via the add-in, it is very important that you are authenticated automatically. Limitations in the Microsoft Office APIs mean that an error is shown instead of an authentication dialog box if the Alfresco CIFS interface rejects your connection attempt. If you are not in an enterprise environment where it might not be possible to configure automatic authentication, mapping a network drive to the Alfresco CIFS interface should accomplish the same task.
[edit] Usage
All examples given below are for the Word 2003 application. Usage with Excel and PowerPoint is very similar.
The Add-In starts when Word starts and displays automatically. You can toggle the panel on and off using the Alfresco toolbar button that will have been added to the toolbar within the Word application:
The main interface of the Add-In consists of five tabs:
- My Alfresco
- Browse Spaces
- Search
- Document Details
- Workflow
Some tabs contain expandable panels, indicated by the 
icon. Click the icon to expand the panel and again to restore it.
[edit] My Alfresco
The My Alfresco tab is split into three sections:
[edit] My Checked Out DocumentsShows all the documents and files you currently have checked out (aka Working Copies). Each file has up to three actions available:
Additionally, clicking the filename itself will either open the document in Word (.doc files) or load the content via a new web browser window. [edit] My TasksShows all tasks currently assigned to you, displayed in ascending Due Date order - overdue tasks will be at the top of the list, followed by tasks due today, and so on. Clicking a task will display the task details on the Workflow tab (see below) [edit] ActionsOther actions available here will vary depending on the current state of the Add-In. Always available will be:
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[edit] Browse Spaces
The Browse Spaces tab is also split into three sections:
[edit] Current Space NavigatorThe navigator shows the current space near the top of the panel. If you are not at the top-level Company Home space, there will also be an Below the Current Space area are the subspaces contained within the current space. Clicking these will navigate into that space and make it the current one. At the top of the subspaces panel is a
[edit] Documents and FilesDisplays a complete list of all documents and files within the current space. Each file has certain actions available depending on the file type and the status of the file:
Additionally, clicking the filename itself will either open the document in Word (.doc files) or load the content via a new web browser window. [edit] Actions
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[edit] Search
| You can search for spaces and files using the simple search panel.
The maximum number of results is chosen with the drop-down box. If more results were found in the repository than are being displayed, a message similar to Showing first 5 of 13 total items found is shown. If all results are being displayed, the message will be of the form Showing all 13 items found.
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[edit] Document Details
The Document Details tab has three main sections:
[edit] Current Document DetailsIf the document you are currently working on is recognised as being stored in the Alfresco repository, the Document Details tab will be populated.
[edit] Version HistoryIf the document has a version history, this will be shown in the middle panel.
[edit] ActionsCertain Document Actions will be available depending on the current document:
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[edit] Workflow
This panel works in two modes, depending on whether you are viewing an existing task, or starting a new workflow on an existing document. In each mode a list of tasks assigned to you appears at the top of the panel, displayed in ascending Due Date order - overdue tasks will be at the top of the list, followed by tasks due today, and so on. Clicking a task will display the task details view in the bottom panel.
[edit] Task Detail viewShows the task's Status, Priority, Start Date, Type and Complete percentage, as well as a list of resources associated with the task.
Task Actions appear under the resource list and are dependant on the type of task and current state of that task.
[edit] Start New Workflow viewWhen the
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