Groove SharePoint tool - setting it up within Vista

[RobinS]

I am unable to link a Groove workspace to a SharePoint Documents website,
from my Vista desktop. The Help documentation all assume XP - and it's
different in Vista! Just a couple of references elsewhere to this problem
(eg
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/30782740/groove-2007-sharepoint-to.aspx) - but no conclusion that worked for me.

Has anyone managed to configure the Groove 2007 Sharepoint Tool from Vista?

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

1. In the new SharePoint Files tool, click Setup, and then on the left click
My SharePoint Sites.
2. If the site you want to sync to Groove is not displayed, type the
top-level URL of the site in the Address field at the bottom of the window,
and then press the Enter key. The window will now display all the available
Document Libraries on that site.
3. Select one and click the Select button.

You're right about the documentation, and the white paper, while accurate,
doesn't include much detail. I'll let documentation know and also write this
up in more detail and put it in the Groove support blog, so it can at least
be found with a search.

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

I looked into this further, and the online documentation at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/HA102242481033.aspx is accurate for
Windows Vista, so that has apparently been updated. (I think it could still
use more detail.)

 

[RobinS]

Thank you Frances, but I am still no further forward on this one. I tried
doing as you (and the new guidance) suggested - indeed, I tried that
originally. I insert a valid SharePoint url, carefully omitting suffixes
like 'default.aspx'. What I then get is an error message telling me 'Please
select a document library, or a folder within a document library.'
If I try to copy the url that links to the document library, which is in the
form:
http://<servername>/sites/<sitename>/Project%20Documents/Forms/ (ie
stripping out the 'AllItems.aspx' suffix), I get a different objection:
'Unable to configure synchronisation. Reason: The folder 'Project
Documents/Forms' cannot be located on the <servername> server. It may have
been deleted or moved.' Which it has certainly not. Nor is it empty - it
has ten documents in it.
Please don't give up on me! I do want to get this sorted, as the value of a
mixed economy of Groove and SharePoint would be hugely useful to us right now.
Robin.

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

I've been testing with truncating at the site level, so in your example, try
entering:
http://<servername>/sites/<sitename>/
and then pressing Enter.
After that, select a library from the list displayed, and then click Select.

If that fails, check to make sure that you have the required permissions on
the site (Owner with the "Contribute" option enabled) and that you can view
it in Windows Explorer (not just Internet Explorer). See my recent blog post
at
http://blogs.technet.com/weeklygroo...the-sharepoint-files-tool-in-groove-2007.aspx.

Let me know how it goes!

 

[RobinS]

Thank you Frances, let me give you an update:
- I did use the method described in your article to see the document library
in Windows Explorer. In order to do this, I used
'\\<servername>\sites\<sitename>\Project Documents\Forms' - in particular
changing 'project%20Documents' to 'Project Documents'. So this worked fine.

I then tried using the same address in the Groove SharePoint tool, but got
the following message:
'The web application at http://<servername>/ could not be found. Verify
that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing
content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping
to the intended application.'
I dont know what is meant by this message, and I have checked that the
address I used is EXACTLY the one used successfully to get Windows Explorer
to see it. So I feel a step closer - but not there yet! Do you have any
further ideas Frances?

Robin.

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

I suggest dropping the 'Project Documents\Forms' part of this URL. I have
received the same error when I entered too much of the URL in the "Select a
document library or folder" dialog box, even when I could display that same
path in Windows Explorer. Start from the site URL:

http://<servername>/sites/<sitename>

 

[RobinS]

Tried that, no difference - it still fails to recognise a web application.

I wondered: could it be that the SharePoint is running on Windows Server
2008? Reading your 'Weekly Groove' article, you referred to problems with
WebDAV and Basic Authentication. We have not configured AD on our
SharePoint server, just using local 'Computer Users' to register our users.

But I dont see how any of this is stopping the Groove tool from recognising
the web application!! Most frustrating. To repeat where I've got to: I can
consistently access the SharePoint site in Windows Explorer (thanks to an
earlier post of yours), but I am stopped thru Groove failing to recognise the
web application.

Any further clues, Frances? I have to say, I'm getting close to declaring
the Groove SharePoint tool as unfit for its avowed purpose. I'm using all
current versions of all Microsoft products, all religiously updated with
current fixes - and it's just not there.

I suggest dropping the 'Project Documents\Forms' part of this URL. I have
received the same error when I entered too much of the URL in the "Select a
document library or folder" dialog box, even when I could display that same
path in Windows Explorer. Start from the site URL:

http://<servername>/sites/<sitename>

--
Frances Selkirk [MSFT]
http://blogs.technet.com/weeklygroove/
----
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.

Thank you Frances, let me give you an update:
- I did use the method described in your article to see the document library
in Windows Explorer. In order to do this, I used
'\\<servername>\sites\<sitename>\Project Documents\Forms' - in particular
changing 'project%20Documents' to 'Project Documents'. So this worked fine.

I then tried using the same address in the Groove SharePoint tool, but got
the following message:
'The web application at http://<servername>/ could not be found. Verify
that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing
content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping
to the intended application.'
I dont know what is meant by this message, and I have checked that the
address I used is EXACTLY the one used successfully to get Windows Explorer
to see it. So I feel a step closer - but not there yet! Do you have any
further ideas Frances?

Robin.

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

If it was a WebDAV issue with the authentication type, the Windows Explorer
test would fail, so that's not it.

As I understand it, you are currently following these steps:

Entering http://<servername>/sites/<sitename> in the Address field
Pressing the enter key
Highlighting 'Project Documents'
Clicking the Select button

Is that right?

I will look into this more today. (I was out yesterday.)

 

[RobinS]

Ive tried both:
a) as you described in your response today, using
http://<servername>/sites/<Sitename>

and b) using the same reference as works in Windows Explorer, using
\\<servername>\sites\<sitename>.

With a) I am unable to get it to recognise a Document folder, while with b)
it wont recognise a web application.

If you wish to make this issue more private, do feel free to email me:
(e-mail address removed) and we can continue this by email or phone. I
appreciate your help.

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

Hi Robin,

As it turns out, I'm unable to do any testing today. You can open a support
case at https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?&c1=505&gprid=11630.
That will provide the best response time, since we cover newgroups when we
have time available.