Using WebDAV with Microsoft Office
Safe4 provides an ideal means of managing editable files, and for exchanging them with other parties in a highly secure fashion. Whilst Safe4 has been designed primarily as a very secure system of record, it also allows for a level of collaboration in the case of files that go through a lifecycle.
Creation of MS Office files
New files can be created in a WebDAV folder by right-clicking with a mouse, and selecting the option “New …” This will list a number of authoring applications that are capable of creating new files on the computer in question. In many cases this will list MS Office applications such as Word or Excel. The desired file type should be chosen, which will then be shown as an unnamed file. Enter a name for the file and press the return key.
This will have the effect of creating an empty file with the chosen name. It will also update the Safe4 audit trail to show a series of actions that represent what the MS Office application is doing behind the scenes – Uploading, Downloading and Renaming the file. At this stage it is still an empty file with no content.
Editing MS Office files
If the file is selected in the WebDAV folder and opened, it can then be edited. After the editing is completed, use the “Save” function (NOT “Save As …”). This will briefly display a Windows message confirming that the file is being saved. It may then be closed.
If the file is then shown in the Safe4 web interface, it will display the icon to reflect that a new version has been created. The file history option can be used to track the revision record of the file. All the previous versions of the file will be visible, and all can be opened using the Safe4 web interface in the normal way.
Please note that Windows will only display the current version of the file. The Safe4 web interface must be used to gain access to earlier versions.
Saving MS Office files
As described above, the “Save” function can be used to save a file which has been edited directly from within Safe4 . Additionally, the “Save as …” function can be used to save files which were not originally held within Safe4 directly into Safe4 by navigating to the required mapped drive and folder.
Files which are opened from a Safe4 WebDAV folder can be saved to any other drive that is available to the user.
Safe4 permissions and access controls when editing MS Office files
As described above, the Safe4 WebDAV extensions completely respect the controls applied by Safe4 through the web interface. Thus users who have read-only permissions will not be able to perform editing functions when using WebDAV, whether or not the files are in an editable format.
