Microsoft Office

Groove Sign-in

There are times when, in order to be productive and get work done, you need access to the data stored in SharePoint without access to the SharePoint server itself. Examples are: the classic “on the plane” scenario, working from home without corporate network access, and collaboration by working remotely on documents stored in a central SharePoint server when network latency is high. The productivity of people working in these situations can be dramatically improved if data can be taken offline, modified locally, and then synchronized back when network connectivity is available. Office has a great program named Groove that can be used to synchronize documents with a SharePoint server. In this post, we’ll go through the 4 steps necessary to get started with Groove and use it with SharePoint document libraries.

Step1: Start Groove
Groove is distributed with Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise. After you finish installing Office Enterprise 2007, Groove is available on the Start Menu in the Microsoft Office group. Start Groove by clicking its link (Microsoft Office Groove 2007).

Step 2: Create a New Groove Account
If you already have a Groove account set up, you can skip to step 3.

A Groove account allows you to synchronize documents in a SharePoint workspace between Groove clients even when they do not have connectivity to the SharePoint server. This is useful when you have an offline collaboration session. A Groove account is required for Groove to operate.

Usually your company will have Enterprise Groove Server installed. In this case, when you start Groove, it will retrieve your account configuration from your network domain and prompt you for your password. Keeping the account configuration in Enterprise Groove Server is convenient because it keeps track of all the Groove workspaces you are using, so it’s easier for you to use them from different computers.

To see the rest of the explanation, click the above blue link.

Office Live Workspace

Microsoft Presspass has a great interview with Michael Schultz, Microsoft Office Live Director of Marketing.

There are millions and millions of people around the world using Microsoft Office to help manage their lives. They use the Office products to help schedule carpools, grocery shopping, design party invitations, write reports, just to name a few of the many helpful ideas Microsoft Office helps.

This week, Presspass (of the Microsoft network) spoke to Michael Shultz at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Schultz talked about how using traditional desktop software in conjunction with services such as the upcoming Office Web applications (lightweight, Web-based versions of Office applications expected to be released as part of the next version of Office) could change how consumers work and play, as well as about how parents, students, and home-based businesses can use Office 2007 to make life easier.

In part, here’s what Shultz and Presspass had to say:

Office 2007 can synchronize with Office Web Online to help search for ideas, products and reports. This can help students with school products, businesses with employees online and many other applications. Office Web applications, such as one being developed for Microsoft Office OneNote (becomea MOONie–MicrosOft OneNote!).

Office 2007 can help with tracking your exercise. Says Schulz: “After each daily run, you can post your time to a personal fitness workspace in Office Live Workspace and compare it to previous times. If you share that workspace with your teammates, they’ll get an e-mail every time you update the workspace and will be able to see how you’re doing, and whether they need to step it up.”

Use one of the many online options to share your information: from Office Online, Web based applications, Groove, Infopath, Outlook, for starters. The options are limitless on how you choose to share your information.

Families, businesses, schools and friends can keep in touch instantly with all the available technology Microsoft Office has to offer.

Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 includes a variety of form template samples. You can use any one of these sample templates as the basis for a Groove InfoPath Forms tool. You can add your own customization, or use them without making any design or layout changes. You can also create a new form template in InfoPath starting with a blank form, customizing it in InfoPath, and then importing the newly-created template into Microsoft Office Groove 2007.

Preparing InfoPath Templates to Use in Groove
To use any sample or new form template in Groove, you must complete several form template customization tasks.

Create a new InfoPath form template or select a template to customize.

(Optional) Insert and lay out controls, if necessary. In some cases, you might be able to use an existing InfoPath template as is. You can see detailed information on designing form templates in InfoPath in Microsoft InfoPath Help.

Promote fields in the InfoPath form template design so that they can be recognized in the Groove InfoPath Forms tool.

Set Form Submit options to “Submit to hosting environment”.

Set Form Security options to “Restricted”.

Save the InfoPath template as an .xsn file.

Typically, you create and lay out most design objects (forms and the fields that display on forms) in InfoPath. Then, import the solution into the Groove Forms Tool designer. Once imported, you can update the form design in InfoPath and then re-import the form in Groove. Once in Groove, you can add other Groove tool features such as customized views

Open an InfoPath Form in InfoPath Designer
You create form templates in design mode, which is the InfoPath design environment. A form template is a file that uses an .xsn file name extension. The .xsn file defines the data structure, appearance, and behavior of finished forms which are .XML files.

A form template defines several items, including the following:

The controls, labels, and instructional text that appear on the form.

The way that controls behave when users interact with them.

Whether the form has additional views.

How and where the data in a form is stored.

The fonts, colors, and other design elements that are used in the form.

Whether users can customize the form.

After you complete the design of a form template, you make it available to users by publishing it as an .xsn file.

To start working with an InfoPath form in InfoPath Designer:

Open InfoPath.

From the Getting Started screen, select Design a Form Template…

From the InfoPath Design a Form Template screen, select an existing form template or decide to design a new form template.

Additional Recommendations for Configuring the InfoPath 2007 Template
The following are features and functions that are available in InfoPath 2007 templates but are not supported in the Groove InfoPath Forms tool when you import the InfoPath template into Groove 2007.

Secondary user interface features, such as a task pane, menu, menu area, or toolbar integration, are not supported in the Groove InfoPath tool. If an InfoPath forms tool contains these features, a warning message will display when the form is imported.

The InfoPath template must include one or more promoted fields. The Groove InfoPath tool designer only recognizes promoted fields for use in the InfoPath tool design. Additionally, the selected promoted fields must be field types that are supported in the Groove InfoPath Forms tool. For example, the Groove InfoPath tool does not recognize Time fields, even if promoted.

Custom validation settings in InfoPath form fields are not honored in InfoPath form templates imported into Groove. See the Microsoft InfoPath help for more information on adding or removing validation settings.

Select and Promote Fields
As you prepare your InfoPath Forms template, consider which form fields you will want to make available in the Groove InfoPath tool. Select fields to display on forms, to reference in views, and to make available for use in view filters and searches. In making this determination, it is also important that you should consider which field types can be used use in Groove.

To promote fields, do the following in InfoPath 2007:

Open the form template in the designer.

On the Tools menu, select Form Options.

In the Form Options dialog box, click Property Promotion.

Click Add and then select a field to promote.

Repeat until you have selected all fields you want to promote.

Click OK.

Read more by clicking above.

To engage in a detailed exchange of ideas with other members of a workspace, it’s best to use a Groove Discussion Tool. A typical discussion includes a main topic with one or more responses, and responses to responses. Unlike a chat, which displays a running stream of responses in a flat view, a discussion lets you see the entire “thread” of a conversation in a hierarchical structure.

A hierarchical discussion is most appropriate for any content for which it’s important to maintain an historical record, and to present the exchange of ideas in a format that makes it easy for all readers to understand who said what.

Using rich-text features in the text chat editor

Unlike a message or a chat, a hierarchical discussion rarely contains time-sensitive content. Rather, a discussion provides an opportunity for a group of workspace members to introduce an idea, and then build and develop it over time.

Using rich-text features in the text chat editor
The text chat editor supports rich text features, such as text formatting, hyperlinks, and graphic images. These features are available only while you’re typing in the text-entry field. You cannot edit a chat entry once it appears in the chat display window. Right-click in the chat text-entry field to see formatting options or select options in the toolbar.

Using ink chat features
Right-click in the text-entry field to see menu options for switching between basic text mode and ink mode. Ink mode lets you draw chat entries by dragging with the mouse, and provides options for styling and editing these entries.

Note Changing the chat editing mode automatically deletes any content you currently have in the chat text-entry field.

The right click menu (and toolbar options in a Chat window or Chat workspace) correspond to the current editing mode. If you have Text mode selected, you see the standard editing options you see in all rich-text tools in Groove. If you have Ink mode selected, you see the following editing options:

Pen. Draw with the pen in the text-entry field.
Erase. Erase a drawn object (or part of a drawn object) by dragging.
Zap. Erase an entire drawn object at once by dragging.
Lasso. Select and edit a drawn object. To select the object, drag a circle around the object. You can then move or resize the drawn object just as you would in a Sketchpad tool. You can also change the color and thickness of the drawn object by selecting from the Select Color and Ink Thickness tools.
Select Color. Select a new color for a selected drawn object or for subsequent drawn objects.
Ink Thickness. Select a different thickness for a selected drawn object or for subsequent drawn objects.

Chatting takes place in Groove within the context of a workspace. Workspace members open a chat window to exchange quick chat entries.

Although workspace members could chat about any topic, chat entries tend to relate to activities in the workspace. Typically, chat entries do not include content that members care about keeping. Rather, the content is administrative, perhaps directing members to start an activity, go to a location, or open a file. Chat is the quickest and most immediate of all the Groove communication options, and is therefore effective for sharing time-sensitive information, at least within the context of a workspace. A chat can also be carried out effectively among a group of workspace members.

If a chat contains content that members want to keep, this content is better entered in a Discussion tool, where it can be referenced later. Note, however, that although a chat transcript can be copied to the clipboard, no method exists for converting it to Discussion tool entries.

About audio-chatting in Groove
Workspace members who have the requisite audio equipment installed on their computers can use Groove audio-chatting features. Audio-chatting is the most immediate form of communicating in Groove, and allows a workspace member to broadcast to all other “in-workspace” members. It also allows a group of workspace members to broadcast simultaneously, in conference. Note, however, that the ability to use audio-chatting features may vary depending on connection speeds and bandwidth, especially with the conference feature.

Groove provides a number of different ways to share ideas and carry out conversations. Specifically, you can chat, exchange instant messages, or carry out detailed discussions in a response hierarchy. Each method has its proper time and place, depending on the purpose and goals of the conversation.

About messaging in Groove

You can send a message to any Groove contact. Your messages can include audio recordings, file attachments, and Web address (URL) references. If Groove recognizes contacts listed in your contact list as also being Messenger contacts, you can start Messenger activities with these contacts from Groove.

Messaging is best when you need to share or exchange simple ideas quickly, such as a reminder, or a question that should yield a quick, simple answer. Messages tend to address a variety of unrelated topics, whereas topics in hierarchical discussion typically relate to the specific workspace context. Unlike a chat or hierarchical discussion, you can share messages with any Groove contact; that is, message recipients do not need to be members of any particular workspace.

Typically, a message yields a quick reply, because it gets the recipient’s attention, and can be dealt with quickly. Also, messages are commonly shared either between just two people, or between one person and a group. For example, one might send a message to a group asking if they plan to attend an optional meeting. However, using messages to carry out a conversation becomes unwieldy and is not recommended.

Note, however, that a message might not yield an immediate response if the recipient is not present. This differs from a chat, as explained below, in which all participants are typically present at the same time. Thus, if your message is time-sensitive, it is important to check the recipient’s online status.

Finally, although the Message History provides an historical record of all messages sent and received, this facility does not offer an easy way to review a thread of multiple exchanges.

Office Groove 2007 is a collaboration software program that helps teams work together dynamically and effectively, even if team members work for different organizations, work remotely, or work offline.

Working in Groove workspaces saves time, increases productivity, and strengthens the quality of team deliverables. Office Groove 2007 is just one example of how the 2007 Microsoft Office system helps teams and organizations collaborate more effectively.

Work together dynamically
Keep your team, tools, files, and information in one place.

Create a Groove workspace right on your computer with two clicks.
Invite your colleagues, partners, and customers without worrying about networks or servers.
Add tools to support your team’s evolving needs: file-sharing, discussions, meetings, business forms, and more.

Stay productive anywhere, online or offline
Update team information in the office, at a customer site, on the road, and from home.

All Groove workspaces, tools, and information are stored right on your computer.
Work productively anywhere you’ve got your laptop, whether you’re connected to a network or not.
Automatic synchronization keeps you and your team members up to date.

Streamline content creation
Share, revise, and publish files all from a single workspace.

Exchange document changes with your team members easily and efficiently.
Use integrated alerts and contextual communication tools to shorten review cycles.
Publish completed documents to SharePoint document libraries with one click for workflow, storage, and retrieval.

Out-of-the-box integration with other Microsoft Programs
Tap into Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, and Microsoft Office Communicator to enhance team collaboration.

Synchronize an Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 document library with Office Groove 2007. Collaborate on files in Office Groove 2007 and publish to Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 when you’re done.
Import your InfoPath forms into Office Groove 2007. Collect and track structured data in your team workspace, and export or synchronize results with enterprise systems.
Make a phone call or start an instant messaging session from a Groove workspace using the 2005 or 2007 versions of Office Communicator.

How do you Groove?

Check out Living Without Meat”.