18 Using WebDAV Clients with Oracle Portal

In any enterprise, documents are frequently spread across many different data sources. To make the information accessible and easy to find, the ideal solution is to save the data in one central content repository, such as the one provided by Oracle Portal. But how do you move and publish distributed content into your portal? For simple, distributed, low-volume file transfer, you can map the Portal schema in the Oracle Metadata Repository as a Web Folder (Figure 18-1).

Figure 18-1 Pages and Content in WebDAV and Oracle Portal

Description of "Figure 18-1 Pages and Content in WebDAV and Oracle Portal"

Oracle Portal supports the use of a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol (WebDAV). Using a WebDAV client, such as Web Folders, you can manage your portal content re-creating your computer's file system. Drag and drop files between your desktop and your portal page groups. Move content between page groups. Move content between source repositories and the Portal schema in the MDS Repository. For example, you can mount both the Oracle Files repository and the Portal schema in the MDS Repository repository through a Web folder, and exchange files. Perform in-place opening, editing, and saving of portal content using WebDAV-compliant desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office 2000.

Using WebDAV clients with Oracle Portal takes full advantage of the portal's content management capabilities. It enables users to manage content through their file systems while respecting the content structure and access rules specified for the portal.

For example, you can access the Portal schema in the MDS Repository through a WebDAV client, such as Oracle Drive. Connect as a particular user. And create a Zip archive starting from the page group's root page. This operation respects the access rules established for the portal—only the logged-in user's content is copied to the archive. And it respects the portal structure by maintaining the WebDAV folder hierarchy of the targeted page group.

This chapter provides guidance on which WebDAV client to use in different situations and describes how you can access Oracle Portal through some of them. It suggests things to consider when performing supported tasks, such as viewing, copying, moving, and deleting content, and supported functions, such as item versioning. It includes the following main sections:

• Section 18.1, "When to Use Which WebDAV Client with Oracle Portal"

• Section 18.2, "Setting Up Oracle Portal for WebDAV"

• Section 18.3, "Setting Up Your WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.4, "General Rules for Using a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.5, "Using Oracle Drive as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.6, "Using Web Folders as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.7, "Using Cadaver as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.8, "Using Sitecopy as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.9, "Using Dreamweaver as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.10, "Using Microsoft Office as a WebDAV Client"

• Section 18.11, "Example: Using Web Folders to Add Content to a Portal Page"

• Section 18.12, "Example: Using Microsoft Office 2000 to Edit Portal Page Content"

• Section 18.13, "Example: Using Dreamweaver to Edit Portal Page Content"

• Section 18.14, "Troubleshooting WebDAV Issues"

Issues relating to WebDAV and translation are discussed in Chapter 19, "Translating Portal Content".

Intended Audience

The content of this chapter is intended for users who are logged on as an authenticated user with the page privilege Manage Content. If a particular task requires a different privilege, the required privilege is listed before the task steps.