Re: ...trying to sip from a firehose... by JM
JM
Thu Jun 08 12:58:02 CDT 2006
Kevin,
It's hard to truly get a feel for how SharePoint compares without using it.
You may want to consider installing it on a test machine so you can see for
yourself how different aspects work.
We also use Lotus Notes, but I don't know what you mean by "transparently"
either. In fact, I find a major pain point in Notes is the "Save
replication" error that occurs frequently when users are trying to update the
same document at the same time. To me, it is just better document management
to use the "Check Out" feature so that users aren't overwriting others'
changes.
In SharePoint, a user can open a file read-only, or open it in Edit mode.
If they have it open for Edit, and another user tries to open it for Edit,
the second user will get a message stating that and they can then open it in
read-only mode. That's better, IMHO, than trying to merge different
versions after the fact. Secondly, if a user opens a doc that is already
open for edit by someone else, they will not automatically see the new data
real-time; they'd need to get a fresh copy.
"Kevin" wrote:
> By transparently, I just mean that the other users don't (have to) know or
> care that other users are in the file. Toss a spreadsheet (or database or
> document, etc) onto a file share and the 2nd & subsequent users get locked
> out, read-only or other messages about someone else using the file - just
> trying to avoid that & let them all share the data.
>
> Now, in the Sharepoint list you mentioned - does that still 'look & feel'
> like the spreadsheet they thought they were using? If user C makes a change,
> does that update onto user A's & user B's screens in real time (or do they
> have to refresh to see changes?)?
>
> I'm trying to get very basic information to make a decision on Sharepoint or
> not and the amount & level of information actually makes that harder - there
> is just so much..
>
> Thank you for your reply and that does help - but, as you can see, it also
> brings up more questions...
>
> K
>
>
> "Engelbert" wrote:
>
> > You can convert a spreadsheet to a SharePoint list and then many people can
> > open and edit the list simultaneously as they can be amending different
> > records.
> >
> > I have no idea what you mean by "transparently" though.
> >
> > Engelbert
> >
> > "Kevin" <Kevin@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:1E8FDDD0-CDA9-484B-8DB4-A1948BEAE926@microsoft.com...
> > > Ok, there can certainly be no criticism of 'lack of information' about
> > > Sharepoint..
> > >
> > > The problem is, I have very basic questions and there is just too much
> > > information to get good, simple answers.
> > >
> > > We have an all WindowsXP/OfficeXP environment with the one (annoying)
> > > exception of Lotus Notes.
> > >
> > > Notes allows document sharing in a way I can't seem to get elsewhere. I
> > > need for a dozen or more people to be able to open & edit the same
> > > spreadsheet simultaneously and transparently. I can do this with Notes -
> > > but
> > > that isn't enough of a reason to keep it. I want to do away with Notes
> > > and I
> > > need some way for users to share files not normally shareable.
> > >
> > > We could use a ton of other features, I'm sure - but this is the
> > > immediate,
> > > demonstrable business need.
> > >
> > > Can Sharepoint do this? I don't know sharepoint, so a ton of involved
> > > explanation isn't going to help me much - just the facts, ma'am?
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance..
> > >
> > > K
> >
> >
> >