Master Documents using Share Point Portal Server

[Claudia]

Hello,

I need to work with Master Documents because many authors are working on
many chapters and in the end we need to create a big manual.

All files are stored on a Share Point Portal Server, this means:
- all .doc-files
- all graphics (because it hast to be printed in a CMYK-separated way, we
use .bmp)

There are different manuals, so we have a complexe structure of master and
sub-documents:

The complexest manual in the end has the following structure:
master document:
master 1
- sub 1_1
- sub 1_2
master 2
- sub 2_1
- sub 2_2
....

and to make it even more complicated, all documents (including the sub's)
contain links to graphics which are stored on the SharePoint but in an
extra strucutre (so it's not a sub-folder from the place where the .doc's
are stored, it's member of another webpart)

At the moment my job is to test if this can work - from my feeling I would
say it is rather impossible -at least when we have about 30 (sub-)master
documents each containing 2 sub-docuemnts and each sub-master containing
about 30 bitmaps.

My question:
- is it possible to work with master documents when everything is stored on
a SharePoint Portal Server?
- would it be better to store the graphics in a subfolder?
- is it a problem to have sub-documents containing other sub-documents?

We're on the way to change all Word-Documents to this structure and I really
would like to know if this can work or if we'd better find another
solution. I just have no good idea what the other solution could be (the
only thing I would to immediately is to store the graphics in a sub-folder,
but our SharePoint-administrator doesn't like subfolders)

Thanks in advance for every answer

 

[Jonathan West]

Hello,

I need to work with Master Documents because many authors are working on
many chapters and in the end we need to create a big manual.

That is not a reason to work with Master Documents. There are very good
reasons *not* to work with master documents.

Why Master Documents corrupt
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm

How to recover a Master Document
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm

All files are stored on a Share Point Portal Server, this means:
- all .doc-files
- all graphics (because it hast to be printed in a CMYK-separated way, we
use .bmp)

Ouch! BIG files! When you insert the graphics, make sure that only the link
is stored and not also the graphic.

There are different manuals, so we have a complexe structure of master and
sub-documents:

The complexest manual in the end has the following structure:
master document:
master 1
- sub 1_1
- sub 1_2
master 2
- sub 2_1
- sub 2_2
...

and to make it even more complicated, all documents (including the sub's)
contain links to graphics which are stored on the SharePoint but in an
extra strucutre (so it's not a sub-folder from the place where the .doc's
are stored, it's member of another webpart)

This may be a problem. Word doesn't understand linking to anything other
than a file on a straightforward file system. Therefore, it may be that Word
just won't be able to link to graphics stored in sharepoint. Those graphics
are going to have to come out and be placed somewhere accessible.

Also, if you want to link rather then embed the graphics, they are also
going to have to be accessible when you print.

At the moment my job is to test if this can work - from my feeling I would
say it is rather impossible -at least when we have about 30 (sub-)master
documents each containing 2 sub-docuemnts and each sub-master containing
about 30 bitmaps.

This looks pretty impossible as you are descibing it.

My question:
- is it possible to work with master documents when everything is stored
on
a SharePoint Portal Server?

I would recommend against using Master Documents at all - for the reasons in
the links provided above

- would it be better to store the graphics in a subfolder?

I would recommend you always work on the document on a local drive (i.e. not
direct from Sharepoint) and put all the chapters in the same folder.
Graphics can either be in the same folder, or stored in a fixed location
(perhaps on a network drive)

- is it a problem to have sub-documents containing other sub-documents?

If you use Master documents, yes. But you don't need to if your main aim is
to be able to produce a consolidated Table of Contents and Index. Take a
look here

Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=148

We're on the way to change all Word-Documents to this structure and I
really
would like to know if this can work or if we'd better find another
solution. I just have no good idea what the other solution could be (the
only thing I would to immediately is to store the graphics in a
sub-folder,
but our SharePoint-administrator doesn't like subfolders)

There are two quite separate issues here.

1. How to organise the chapters of your manual

2. How to check them in and out of Sharepoint

The advice I have given is mainly concerned with #1, because I know about
Word and not much about Sharepoint. You might like to ask about sharepoint
aspects in one of the Sharepoint groups. But I think you need to work some
more on how you are going to organise the documents in Word first.

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hi all

Jonathan West wrote:
[..]

Ouch! BIG files! When you insert the graphics, make sure that only the
link is stored and not also the graphic.

maybe, under the circumstances, inserting the actual files might work
better. Or inserting a placeholder and providing code to substitute the
real graphic in at "run-time" (read: when compiling the whole document
into one).


[..]
[..]

I would recommend against using Master Documents at all - for the
reasons in the links provided above

Agreed. And since the SPS will take care of one of the main needs of
using Master/Subdocuments in the first place (by enabling concurrent
editing of individual parts), there's even less need for adding that
extra layer (of trouble).

..2cents
Robert