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There are various OS X approaches to using the WebDAV service provided by Microsoft SharePoint.

Integrity of data

Answers to this question focus on integrity:

  • when a file is used by a single user
  • when a file is used by multiple users.

Whilst some parts of an answer may be generalised to WebDAV servers in general, this question focuses on SharePoint – where Microsoft's server and client restrictions cause people to seek alternatives to Microsoft Document Connection.

Some overlap with an earlier question:

Reference

Drafted in May 2012 a table:

Key points from that draft:

  • restrictions in SharePoint make Microsoft Office 2011 incompatible with file system integration
  • Microsoft Document Connection lacks file system integration.

If any reader can draw a conclusion that differs from what's tabled: I'll welcome discussion in Ask Different Chat, or add your answer below.

Some parts of that table will become answers to this question …

3 Answers 3

1

Use the web interface provided by SharePoint

Tested with the following apps:

  • LibreOffice
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • NeoOffice.

Pros

For multiple users of SharePoint, protection through the web interface seems good.

Cons

No file system integration.

0
0

Use the file system integration provided by Apple

Tested with the following apps:

  • LibreOffice
  • NeoOffice.

Pros

File system integration is highly desirable.

Open source.

Supported by Apple.

Cons

Do not expect integration with Excel, PowerPoint or Word:

Do not expect all actions in Finder to work:


I could have tested with other apps. However: since the defaults of SharePoint make file system integration impossible with Microsoft Office – and since it's reasonable to assume that organisations pushing SharePoint will also push Microsoft Office – I decided to focus on other approaches.

Understanding the role of Finder

To initiate this type of connection to a WebDAV server, there's an interface in Finder (the Go menu). However, Finder is not the integrator; Finder is simply an app.

File system integration is around the following bundle, open source for which is provided by Apple:

/System/Library/Filesystems/webdav.fs

0

Use Microsoft Document Connection

Tested with the following apps:

  • LibreOffice
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • NeoOffice.

Pros

For multiple users of SharePoint, protection through Microsoft Document Connection seems good.

Cons

No file system integration.

Does not meet the basic requirements of some end users.

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