5 Microsoft Office Integration

This chapter describes how Desktop client integrates Oracle WebCenter Content into Microsoft Office applications.

This section covers these topics:

• How does Desktop client integrate Oracle WebCenter Content into Microsoft Office applications?

• How do I open and view an existing document?

• How can I reopen a recently opened document?

• How do I check out a document that is in Read-Only (View) mode?

• How do I open a different revision of a document?

• How do I refresh a document?

• How do I create a new document and check it in to a content server?

• How do I check in a managed document while editing it?

• How do I check in a managed document when closing it?

• How do I turn an unmanaged document into a managed document?

• How do I turn a managed Microsoft Office document into an unmanaged document?

• How can I insert links, files, and images into Microsoft Office documents?

• How can I compare two revisions of the same Word document?

• How can I compare a Word document with another document?

• How do I approve or submit Microsoft Office documents in workflows?

5.1 How does Desktop client integrate Oracle WebCenter Content into Microsoft Office applications?

The Desktop client software enables you to interact with content servers and the files on them directly from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can perform a number of content management tasks, including opening Microsoft Office documents from a content server ("check out"), saving documents to a server ("check in"), searching for documents on a server, comparing document revisions on a server, and inserting files on a server or links to these files into the current document.

Note:

Not all these features may be available in all Microsoft Office applications and for all content servers (depending on their server type and version).

5.1.1 Integration into Microsoft Office

The Desktop client software integrates Oracle WebCenter Content into Microsoft Office applications in the following ways:

• It adds a ribbon called WebCenter Content to the Microsoft Office application interfaces.

• In versions of Microsoft Office that include a File tab, Desktop adds Oracle WebCenter Content options as follows:

  • In Microsoft Office 2010, Desktop adds WebCenter Content Options directly to the File tab.

  • In Microsoft Office 2013, Desktop adds Oracle WebCenter Content options to the Open and Save As pages, as well as to a new WebCenter Content page. These pages are available from the File tab.

5.1.2 The WebCenter Content Ribbon

Figure 5-1 WebCenter Content ribbon in Microsoft Word 2007

Description of "Figure 5-1 WebCenter Content ribbon in Microsoft Word 2007"

The WebCenter Content ribbon includes the following groups and options (the options are explained in The WebCenter Content Options):

• Open:

  • Open

  • Recent Content Items

  • Revisions

• Manage:

  • Check Out

  • Refresh

  • Unmanage

• Check In:

  • Check In

  • Check In With Metadata

• Save As New:

  • Save As New

• Compare: (available only in Microsoft Word)

  • With Revision

  • With Content Item

• Insert:

  • Insert

• WebCenter:

  • Options:

    • Edit Server List

  • Help Contents

  • About

5.1.3 File Tab Options

In versions of Microsoft Office that include a File tab, Desktop adds WebCenter Content options, either directly to the tab or to pages accessible from the tab. The options are explained in The WebCenter Content Options.

Microsoft Office 2010

The following options are added to the File tab:

• WebCenter Save As New

• WebCenter Open

• WebCenter Content:

  • WebCenter Content Open

  • WebCenter Content Check Out

  • WebCenter Content Save [As New]

  • WebCenter Content Check In

  • Check In With Metadata

Microsoft Office 2013

The following options are added to pages accessible from the File tab:

• On the Open page:

  • WebCenter Content - WebCenter Content Open

• On the Save As page:

  • WebCenter Content - WebCenter Content Save [As New]

• On the WebCenter Content page:

  • WebCenter Content Open

  • WebCenter Content Check Out

  • WebCenter Content Save [As New]

  • WebCenter Content Check In

  • Check In With Metadata

5.1.4 The WebCenter Content Options

In Microsoft Office applications, the Desktop client software adds the following options to the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon, or to the File tab and its pages, as available:

• Open: This option opens a dialog where you can locate a file on a content server and open it in the current Microsoft Office application. The file is checked out of the content server. For more information, see How do I open and view an existing document?.

• Recent Content Items: This option opens a menu that lists a number of content items on Oracle WebCenter Content Server instances that were most recently opened in the Microsoft Office application. You can conveniently reopen a document by selecting it in the list. For more information, see How can I reopen a recently opened document?.

• Revisions: This option opens a dialog where you can choose a particular revision of the managed file to be opened in the current Office application. For more information, see How do I open a different revision of a document?.

• Check Out: This option checks the currently open read-only Office document out of the content server, so you can make changes and check it back in to the server as a new revision when you are done. For more information, see How do I check out a document that is in Read-Only (View) mode?.

• Refresh: This option updates the currently open managed Office document to the latest revision on Oracle WebCenter Content Server. For more information, see How do I refresh a document?.

• Unmanage: This option removes the managed status of the current Office document and turns it into an unmanaged document, which means you can no longer check it in to the content server as a revision of the existing document. For more information, see How do I turn a managed Microsoft Office document into an unmanaged document?.

• Check In: This option checks the current Office document back in to the content server as a new revision using its existing metadata. (This option is available only if the current document is already managed by a content server.)

• Check In With Metadata: This option opens a dialog where you can modify the metadata of the current Office document before checking it in to the content server as a new revision. (This option is available only if the current document is already managed by a content server.)

• Save As New: This option opens a dialog where you can check the current Office document in to a content server as a new content item. For more information, see How do I create a new document and check it in to a content server?.

• [Compare] With Revision: This option enables you to compare the current Word document with a different revision of the same document on the content server. If you choose this option, a dialog is opened where you can select the document revision that you want to compare the current Word document with. (This option is available only if the current Word document is a managed content item.) For more information on the document comparison feature, see How can I compare two revisions of the same Word document?.

• [Compare] With Content Item: This option enables you to compare the current Word document with a different document on the content server. If you choose this option, a dialog is opened where you can locate a file on the content server to compare to the document currently open in Microsoft Word. For more information on the document comparison feature, see How can I compare two revisions of the same Word document?.

• Insert: This option opens a dialog where you can select one or more files on an Oracle WebCenter Content Server instance for insertion into the current Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document (at the current cursor position). You can insert links to files on a server, the contents of files, or images. For more information, see How can I insert links, files, and images into Microsoft Office documents?.

• Edit Server List: This option opens a dialog where you can add, view, and delete server connections. For more information, see Working with Content Server Connections.

• Help Contents: This option launches the Desktop online help in your standard web browser.

• About: This option opens a dialog that provides version information about the Desktop client software.

5.2 How do I open and view an existing document?

You do not use the Microsoft Office application's standard file-open features to open or view a managed document. Instead, you use the special WebCenter Content Open option:

1. In the Microsoft Office application (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel), open the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon, then choose Open, or choose WebCenter Content Open from the File tab or Open page, as available.
2. In the Select Content dialog, select the Edit or View option, depending on which edit mode you want for the document:

   Edit: The document is checked out of the server and opens in full edit mode. You can make changes to the document as required and when you save the document you can check it back in to the server as a new revision of the existing content item. While the document is checked out, it is locked on the content server, and no other user can check out the file until you either check it back in or cancel its checked-out status ("undo the check-out").

   View: The document is not checked out of the server and it opens in read-only mode. You can make changes to the document, but you will have to save it as a new file (with a new file name) and check it in to the server as a new content item. If a document opens in view mode, you will see "(Read-Only)" following the file name in the application title bar.

3. Browse to, or search for, the Microsoft Office document on the server that you want to open, select it, then click OK.

Tips

• Make sure that you select a file that is compatible with the current Microsoft Office application (for example, a word-processing document for Microsoft Word).

• If the document is already in your local cache (typically because you checked it out and edited it earlier, but did not yet check it back in to the server), it opens from there; otherwise, the latest released revision on the content server opens.

• You can also open or view a managed Microsoft Office document from its context menu or the File menu in Windows Explorer.

5.3 How can I reopen a recently opened document?

You reopen a managed Microsoft Office document you worked on earlier by opening the most recently used list and selecting the file you want to open.

The most recently used list is in the Recent Content Items drop-down menu in the WebCenter ribbon.

Tips

• If the document was last opened in read-only mode ('view'), you are asked whether you want to open it in read-only mode again or if you want it opened in full edit mode ('open').

• If you hover the mouse cursor over a list item [in Office 2007 -2013], you see the content ID of the file as well as the server it resides on.

• Managed documents do not appear in the Documents list on the Windows Start menu.

5.4 How do I check out a document that is in Read-Only (View) mode?

You check out a managed document from within a Microsoft Office application by using the Check Out option in the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon, or by using the WebCenter Content Check Out option from the File tab or WebCenter Content page, as available.

What happens depends on the state of the managed document that is currently open in the Microsoft Office application:

• If the document currently open is the latest revision on the server and it is not already checked out

  The document is checked out of the server and its read-only status is revoked. You can now edit the document as required and check it back in to the server as a new revision of the existing content item.

• If the document currently open is not the latest revision on the server

  You are presented with two options: (1) download, check out, and edit the latest revision from the content server, or (2) continue to edit the current, outdated copy on your local computer. This situation could, for example, have arisen if you were emailed a managed Word document and someone has checked a new revision of that document in to the content server by the time you are ready to check in your document. You can edit the document as required and check it back in to the server as a new revision of the existing content item.

• If the current document is not the latest revision and there is already a modified version of the document in your local cache

  You are presented with two options: (1) close the current document and edit the previously modified copy in your local cache instead, or (2) edit the current copy and discard all previous modifications (as stored in the locally cached copy). This situation could, for example, have arisen if you checked out a document and made changes, saved and closed the document without checking it in, and then viewed any revision of the document from the server.

Tips

• If you do not check out the document, you can still make changes to it, but you cannot check it back in to the server as a new revision of the existing content item. Instead, you can check it in as a new content item using the Save As New option.

• A managed document that is open in a Microsoft Office application might not have been checked out of the content server in the following situations:

  • You opened it from a content folder in view mode. This downloads a copy of the managed document from the server to your local cache, but does not check it out.

  • You open it from your local file system (for example, saved as an email attachment). Desktop detects it is a managed document, but does not check it out.

• After you check out a read-only document, the "(Read-Only)" indicator in the application title bar disappears. In addition, the information bar changes to reflect the new document state.

• You cannot check out a read-only document if it is in a file format that does not support embedded Microsoft Office properties (such as RTF, XML, or plain text).

• The Check Out option is not available if you cannot check out the current read-only document.

5.5 How do I open a different revision of a document?

When you open a managed Microsoft Office document that has multiple revisions, you can choose to open a different document revision instead of the current one.

You open a different revision by opening the managed document, choosing Revisions from the WebCenter Content ribbon, selecting the document revision you want to open and clicking OK.

The currently open document is replaced with the selected document revision, in read-only mode.

Tips

• Opening a different revision may be useful if you opened a document that may have newer revisions on the server; for example, because it was emailed to you as an attachment some time ago and newer revisions may have been checked in after that. There may also be situations where you may want to open an older document revision than the one you opened in the Microsoft Office application.

• If you want to edit the document and save it as a new revision of the existing content item on the server, you must check it out first by selecting the Check Out option in the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon. Otherwise you can only check it in as a new content item.

• You can avoid the situation of obsolete document attachments by emailing links to content items rather than the files themselves. This works only if the file recipient has access to the content server that stores the attached file.

5.6 How do I refresh a document?

When you open a managed document, you can refresh it to show the latest revision from the content server.

You refresh the current managed document by opening the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon and choosing Refresh.

The latest revision of the current managed document is then downloaded from the server and opens in the Microsoft Office application (replacing the old revision). You can then edit the document as required and check it back in to the content server as a new revision of the existing content item.

Tips

• Refreshing a document may be useful if you opened a document that may have newer revisions on the server; for example, because it was emailed to you as an attachment some time ago and newer revisions may have been checked in after that.

• You can avoid the situation of obsolete document attachments by emailing links to content items rather than the files themselves. This works only if the file recipient has access to the content server that stores the attached file.

5.7 How do I create a new document and check it in to a content server?

If you create a new document in a Microsoft Office application, you can check it in to a content server. This uploads and submits the file to the server and makes it available to other users from there in accordance with their assigned access privileges.

You check in a newly created document by choosing Save As New from the WebCenter Content ribbon, or by using the WebCenter Content Save [As New] option from the File tab or Save As page, as available. This opens the Save dialog, which lets you check in the document either by using a check-in form or by selecting a folder on a server where the document should be saved.

Tips

• The file name that you specify for the checked in document will also be the content item title (minus the file extension).

• By default, the file is closed in the Microsoft Office application after it is checked in to a content server. Select the Reopen after check-in check box if you want the document to be reopened automatically after it is checked in. (The file is not only reopened but is also checked out of the content server again.) This is useful if you want to continue to work on the document after check-in.

5.8 How do I check in a managed document while editing it?

You can check in a managed document at any point during editing by choosing Check In from the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon, or WebCenter Content Check In from the File menu or WebCenter Content page, as available. You may be asked to provide a comment in a Check-In Comment dialog. If you have any unsaved changes in your document, these are saved before the check-in.

For WebCenter Content 11g server, using the Check In feature automatically uploads the document to the content server and creates a new revision of the content item.

For Oracle Content Database servers and WebDAV servers, using the Check In feature automatically uploads the document to the content server and overwrites the existing file.

The Check In option is not available for read-only managed documents, since you must check these in as new content items (Save As New).

Tips

• If you want to carry on editing the document after it has been checked in, you must select the Reopen after check-in option on the Check In Comment dialog.

• Simply saving the document (for example, by pressing Ctrl+S) will update it in the Desktop cache on your computer, but will not check it in.

• New revisions inherit all metadata from the previous revision. If you want to modify the metadata before checking the managed document in to the server, choose Check In With Metadata (from the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon, or from the File tab or WebCenter Content page) to open a check-in dialog. After the check-in, the document is closed automatically.

• You can check files in to a server only if you checked out that file yourself, or if you have administrator privileges for that server.

5.9 How do I check in a managed document when closing it?

You will usually be able to check in a document as you close it or exit its application. This is when a special document close dialog is shown, giving options for saving changes, checking in, editing metadata, and undoing the check-out. (Alternatively, your computer may have been configured to not show the special dialog, in which case managed documents will be closed in the same way as unmanaged documents.)

If you choose to check in a document without editing its metadata, the metadata from the previous revision is reused.

Documents that are saved but not checked in are stored in a special cache on your local computer.

After a document has been checked in to the server or saved to the local cache, it is closed in the Microsoft Office application.

If you save a document but do not check it in at the same time, other users on the server cannot check out the file until you check it back in or undo the check-out.

If you choose the Undo Check-Out option (which is only available if you have made no changes, or if you have made changes but you are choosing not to save them), the checked-out status of the content item is cancelled on the server, which means that other users on the server can check out the file.

If the special close dialog is not being used on your computer, you will simply be prompted to save any unsaved changes before the document is closed. If there are no unsaved changes, the document will simply close. In either case, the document is stored in a special cache on your local computer and is not automatically checked back in to the content server. Other users cannot check out the document until you check it back in or undo the check-out.

Tips

• Use the application's built-in Save As feature if you want to save the file in a different location than the local cache (that is, as an unmanaged file on your own computer).

5.10 How do I turn an unmanaged document into a managed document?

If you have an existing, unmanaged Microsoft Office document on your local computer, you can check it in to a content server and make it available to the users on that server according to their assigned access privileges.

You turn an unmanaged document into a managed document from within a Microsoft Office application by selecting the WebCenter Content ribbon and choosing Save As New, or by choosing WebCenter Content Save [As New] from the File tab or Save As page, as available. This opens the Save dialog, which lets you check in the document either by using a check-in form or by selecting a folder on a server where the document should be saved.

Tips

• The file name that you specify for the checked in document will also be the content item title (minus the file extension).

• By default, the file is closed in the Microsoft Office application after it is checked in to a content server. Select the Reopen after check-in check box if you want the document to be reopened automatically after it is checked in. (The file is not only reopened but is also checked out of the content server again.) This is useful if you want to continue to work on the document after check-in.

5.11 How do I turn a managed Microsoft Office document into an unmanaged document?

After you have opened a managed Microsoft Office document, you can 'unmanage' that document; that is, remove the document properties that associate it with a particular content server. This effectively turns the document into a brand-new, unsaved document that you cannot check back in to the server as a new revision of the original document. You can, of course, check it in to the server as a new content item (using the Save As New option), or you can save it as a local file. The original content item remains available on the content server.

To turn the current managed document into a new, unmanaged document, open the WebCenter Content menu or ribbon and then choose Unmanage and click OK in the dialog reminding you of the consequences of this action.

5.12 How can I insert links, files, and images into Microsoft Office documents?

Desktop ties in to the built-in object insertion features of Microsoft Office applications by enabling you to insert items from Oracle WebCenter Content Server instances into Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. You can insert links to files on a server, the actual contents of files from a server, or images from a server. The items are always inserted at the current cursor position in the Microsoft Office document. The Microsoft Office document into which you insert managed content or links to managed content do not have to be managed documents themselves.

To insert links, files, and images on an Oracle WebCenter Content Server instance into the current Microsoft Office document:

1. Move the cursor to the position in the Microsoft Office document where you want to insert one or more links.
2. On the WebCenter Content ribbon, choose Insert in the Insert group.
3. On the Insert Content Item dialog, open the panel for the type of insertion you want to make: link, file, or image. (Your selection will be remembered for the next time you make an insertion, but you can change it.)
4. Click Browse to open the Select Content dialog, where you can locate and select the file that you want to link to or insert, or the image that you want to insert.

   You can select multiple files at the same time. When searching for files, select the check box for each item in the search results list that you want to include. When browsing to files in content folders, hold the Shift key for consecutive selections and Ctrl for non-consecutive selections. Click OK when you are done.

   After you have selected the file or files you want to link to or insert, the Content Item field in the Insert Content Item dialog shows their content IDs. If you selected multiple files, the Content Item field shows the content ID of the first selected file, and you can use the drop-down list to go to a different file.

5. Complete the fields on the selected panel of the Insert Content Item dialog. See the online help for an explanation of the fields.
6. Click OK to insert the link, file, or image into the Microsoft Office document.

5.13 How can I compare two revisions of the same Word document?

If the current managed Word document resides on an Oracle WebCenter Content Server instance and it is not a read-only copy, you can compare it with a different revision of the same document.

With the managed document open in Microsoft Word, choose With Revision from the Compare group of the WebCenter Content ribbon. If the option to choose a different revision is not available, then the current document is either not managed by a content server or it is currently in read-only mode.

From the Select Revision dialog, select the revision that you want to compare the current document with, then click OK.

Microsoft Word's built-in comparison features are now used to compare the current document with the revision that you selected, and the changes are shown in a new document. Exactly how the changes are represented depends on the version and configuration of your Microsoft Word application, but insertions and deletions are typically shown in different colors and formatting for easy identification.

Tips

• The top of the Select Revision dialog shows which revision is currently open in Microsoft Word, along with some information about the content item (title, server, content ID, author, and the like). At the bottom is a list of all existing revisions of the content item, along with their title, author, release date, and comments. If you would like to see more information about any particular revision, select that revision in the list and choose Content Information... to open that revision's content information page on the server.

• If you hover your mouse cursor over a marked change in the document, a screen tip is displayed providing content management information about that file, as shown in Figure 5-2. The following information is provided: the content ID, file size, and, if the file is currently checked out, the user name of the person who checked it out.

Figure 5-2 screen Tip Showing Information About File Change

5.14 How can I compare a Word document with another document?

You can compare the current Word document (managed or unmanaged) with a different document on the content server.

With the document open in Microsoft Word, choose With Content Item from the Compare group of the WebCenter Content ribbon.

Using the Select Content dialog, select a Word document on a content server, then close the dialog.

Microsoft Word's built-in comparison features are now used to compare the current document with the file that you selected, and the changes are shown in a new document. Exactly how the changes are represented depends on the configuration of your Microsoft Word application, but insertions and deletions are typically shown in different colors and formatting for easy identification.

Tips

• If you want to compare the current managed Word document with a document on your local computer (not stored on a content server), simply use Word's built-in compare feature to select the file.

5.15 How do I approve or submit Microsoft Office documents in workflows?

The Microsoft Office integration in the WebCenter Content user interface provides additional check boxes for workflow approval or submission on the dialog you see when you close a document or exit the application.

Workflows can be set up to require electronic signatures during the approval or submission of documents. Electronically signed documents are more secure because the server is able to tell them apart from other versions of those documents, and will not allow unauthorized versions through the workflow steps. You sign a document electronically by entering your login credentials, as explained in the procedures below.

Check In and Approve the Document

If the workflow step was set up to allow editing of the document, you can make changes and then approve it while checking it in as a new revision.

With the document open in its Microsoft Office application, and after you have reviewed and edited the document as required, choose either Check In or Check In With Metadata from the WebCenter Content ribbon.

If available, select the Check in and approve check box on the Check-in Content dialog. This check box will not be available if the document requires an electronic signature for workflow processing. In this case, locate the document in Windows Explorer and use its context menu to sign and approve the document.

Complete the other areas of the Check-in Content dialog as required, then click OK.

Submit the Document for Review

If the workflow step does not allow editing, you can review the Microsoft Office document without making any changes, then submit it for review.

With the document open in its Microsoft Office application, and after you have reviewed the document as required, choose either Check In or Check In With Metadata from the WebCenter Content ribbon.

If available, select the Submit document for workflow review check box on the Check-in Content dialog. This check box will not be available if the document requires an electronic signature for workflow processing. In this case, locate the document in Windows Explorer and use its context menu to sign and approve the document.

Complete the other areas of the Check-in Content dialog as required, then click OK.

Tips

• If you exit the application or close the document without first checking it in, you can use the Close Document dialog to check in and approve it, or submit it for review. To do this, select the Check in and approve check box or the Submit document for workflow review check box on the Close Document dialog, when it appears.