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Sharepoint as a template app

We have a site that is supposed to (as part of our process) generate a document (like a Word docx document) derived from data in our application combined with a template document. This document can be edited at runtime by the user after it has been created. We know we are looking at a CMS system (since users will need to edit / create new templates), but I was wondering if Sharepoint could make a better use (since we don't need a lot of overhead over a traditional CMS). Can any sharepoint experts get involved and give me some pointers on where to look.

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I am working on a similar problem - generating dictionary documents from information stored in a SharePoint site. The real magic here comes from the use of Content Controls in Office 2007 - since the new version of Office is based on Office Open XML, generating documents from data is almost trivial.

Enabling documents for editing after creation is a simple configuration change that can be done either programmatically or in the document template itself. In fact, I think the platform's true value will shine when you can see how easy you can manage your organizations' business processes in SharePoint.

Getting content from deep within a segment of your company through various approval steps for a public internet site is simply addictive when set up correctly.

Here are some good blog posts about creating OOXML documents on the server

Note that customers do not need to run Office 2007 to open these documents, you can either follow the conversion process or install the free compatibility packs for Office XP, 2000 and 2003



When it comes to SharePoint as a CMS, I think it's a pretty compelling proposition. There are of course some configuration and implementation issues, but I think this will be the case with any enterprise CMS package. One important consideration is the amount of traffic your CMS'd site will see. I don't think SharePoint is ready to scale to Google traffic, but it will certainly be good enough for a typical corporate Internet presence.

Below is a list of some of the open sites running MOSS

Once you get past the initial configuration hurdle, it becomes very easy to resolve CMS tasks in your organization, as it works so well on both sides of the firewall.

I think this is a great product and amazed at its flexibility and scalability.

JT

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Infopath is the form technology that the Sharepoint people recommend to you. Most of the Infopath forms functionality requires a complete installation of MOSS and associated license fees. I think you can get what you want here with just WSS.

If DOCX files as a form template are a hard and fast requirement of your application, you can:

  • Automate Word (physically isolate this), this is not officially supported by MS
  • Explore with OpenXML (assuming all customers are using Word 2007).


If you end up needing to create PDFs or Word 2003 DOC files as output, you are stuck with Word automatic mode, and otherwise # 2 is the most server-friendly solution.

Anyway, I think you can use the SP Document Library to store DOCX files and your users can share and edit source controlled templates here. You can programmatically access these files in your specific application code and perform out-of-range data merges.

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Here is a component that generates a document based on a custom template. Documents are created from a sharepoint list ... so data is moved from list item to document on the fly: http://store.sharemuch.com/products/generate-word-documents-from-sharepoint-list

Hope it helps,

Yaroslav Pentsersky Blog: www.sharemuch.com

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Sharepoint is not going to relieve you of the weight and baggage of a traditional CMS. If anything, it will increase your luggage compared to many CMS tools.

So, in short - don't look at Sharepoint - look elsewhere!

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