Open remote document and save back to remote server

views:

answers:

+1 Q:

Open remote document and save back to remote server

I have programmed a web app for my office that runs on the server. All of our documents are on the server as well. I would like to be able to have the user browse a folder on the server through my web app, open it in an editor (online or desktop), be able to edit it and save it back to the server, in the location where it was opened from.

I've been looking into Google Docs, but that doesn't have the ability to embed the editor outside of the google docs site.

I have also been looking into MS Office web apps but that required a lot of prerequisites and it's pretty pricey ($370 per license, which mean I'd have to spend around $10k just to be able to have my employees open, edit and save docs through my web app).

Is there any possibility of opening a remote file in word and being able to click "save" and have it save it back to that remote location? Or is there any other solutions to this problem? I'm sure many have come across this issue and there are lots of ways to approach it.

Sharepoint offers this functionality but I have a feeling it is way too expensive. Microsoft offers http://www.officelive.com/en-us/ which might be an affordable solution for what you are trying to accomplish.

Mike Cheel 2010-10-07 17:33:28

This sounded promising in the beginning but it's a set 25Gb and there is no official API that I could use to integrate with my app.

Evan4623 2010-10-07 18:29:17

I would think for the business version of the live drive you would be able to get more than 25GB if needed. Also, looking further the business version requires sharepoint foundation (which if you did have it might enable you to accomlish what you want). Is having a web based editor a must? Why not just provide links? Or if what you are trying to accomplish is simple enough, perhaps use a web form and the word object model on the server to do what you are trying to do.

Mike Cheel 2010-10-07 18:37:20

An online editor is not a must. I just want the user to browse the files on the server, which I can already do. But then I want them to be able to open the file on the server and save it back to the server, instead of downloading, editing, saving, then uploading back to the server.

Evan4623 2010-10-07 18:56:42

You might consider Windows Sharepoint Services which I *believe* is still an official add on for Win2K3 and higher and is free. It contains document libraries which can help maintain the documents. The users would still need to have Word and \ or Excel installed to edit those types of documents.

Mike Cheel 2010-10-07 19:26:54

You would need to have your server implement the WebDAV protocol. This is fairly well defined but does take a lot of work to get right.

Mike 2010-10-07 18:04:14

WebDAV is enabled on the server, and I am already using it to integrate my web app with the exchange server (for creating emails, appointments, contacts etc.). How does one use webdav to open local files from a website??

Evan4623 2010-10-07 18:24:41

WebDAV is well worth looking at; it has the advantage of integration into the Word File Open/Save dialogs. You can use the various versions of WebDAV built into Windows or which come with Office (note: these are not the same), or you can use a 3rd party provider if the deficiencies of the Microsoft implementations aren't tolerable for you.

You could also consider the Sharepoint Protocol, which is manifested in Word's document workspace feature. You don't necessarily need to run Sharepoint on the server; Alfresco for example has a "just enough" implementation of the protocol.

Finally, there is CMIS; but AFAIK there isn't a CMIS client for Office.

plutext 2010-10-08 22:09:42

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

Open remote document and save back to remote server

related questions