Open/handle Word documents like SharePoint

Question

Could anyone point me in the right direction when it comes to handling Word documents (.docx) on the server using asp.net.

I know I can write to and read the .docx document using the API provided.

But I would like to implement this like SharePoint does it. The user browses the web site, he is logged in, then chooses to make a new Word document in a folder, then the Word document downloads and opens locally. Then I would like the user to be able to save the document back to the server.

Alternatively, is there any good components for reading/writing Word documents in the browser. I have tried using the Telerik editor component without any luck.

Answer 1

You can integrate with the Zoho writer api http://writer.zoho.com/home?serviceurl=/index.do

Answer 2

First: About Sharepoint & Word: Sharepoint is using a protocol called WebDAV to provide this.

Afaik is WebDAV a standard protocol included with IIS (Install Windows Components). Windows can talk with WebDAV like it's some mounted drive, and therefore Word can handle .doc files that are served from there. To communicate with the WebDAV instance from ASP.NET you can use http://www.independentsoft.de/webdav/index.html.

I guess redirecting the user to the Word doc on the WebDAV server should get it working for the user, but I'm not sure about that. Never actually implemented a WebDAV solution.

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Good editor: If you have a small set of users, you should have a look at xstandard, I found that by far the coolest rich text editor available. Yet it works with Java/ActiveX, so your users should install the component at first, but it supports image drag-drop etc. I have never seen a native in-browser editor that gives me a good experience (Telerik came closest 2 years ago).