We have not yet deployed SharePoint 2007, and just have Windows SharePoint Services set up as a pilot. Recently, we added a small document library so that users could collaborate on a file, over the WAN – which is faster that trying to open or copy the file over the network.
However, we ran into an issue. When anyone opens the document in the document library, it opens as read-only, regardless of permissions. The only way to update it is to save the file locally and then upload it (after which it only opens as read-only). As it turns out, this is a Microsoft bug (KB 870853) having to do with Office 2003 (we are on Windows XP with Office 2003 and IE 7).
Found recommendations for fixing this bug include:
- Editing the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Internet\OpenDocumentsReadWriteWhileBrowsing = 1)
- Changing the Check Out Settings (Go into the Sharepoint > Shared Document > Settings > Document Lirbry Settings > versioning Settings > Require Check Out from Yes to NO)
- Changing the file options (My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > File Types > Select .xls > Advanced > De-select ‘Browse in same window)
- Opening the file a different way (Edit with…)
For our situation, none of these will work, as they either require changes to the user’s PC’s, or a learning curve (however slight) which we’d like to avoid. We need SharePoint to be thought of as easy – we don’t want to spoil its image before we’ve even deployed it.
So, for now, we will have to wait until we deploy SharePoint 2007 before we can use document libraries efficiently.
TechJen 