topic MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem in Alfresco Archive

MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

marc1911 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:34:21 GMT

I've succesfully installed the MS-Word 2003 plugin into my MS-Office 2003 (Dutch version). When after configuring it I try to start it, I'm getting a login dialog that seems to stuck in some kind of a code execution loop. I'm not able to enter any login name and password at that moment because the p

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:23:01 GMT

Hi,

Try setting the CIFS server path to:
\\19x.1xx.xxx.114\Alfresco\

Thanks,
Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

marc1911 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:43:10 GMT

Hi Mike,

Sorry, but your suggestion doesn't seem to help. Same problem as before. Erratric behaviour of the dialog persists.

Regards,

Marc

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:45:21 GMT

Are you able to access the CIFS drive correctly?

i.e. if you do Start/Run (or Windows-R) then \\<ip address>\Alfresco does the explorer window show the CIFS drive?

I've seen Windows balk at accessing network drives using the IP address - you could also try the correct server name, e.g. \\server_a\Alfresco

Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

pf — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:34:40 GMT

I have the same identical problem with the Add-in for Office 2003.

I installed Alfresco Community 2.1.0 on my PC with Windows XP Professional (http://localhost:8080/alfresco). It works fine when I try to login in from the web interface (IE or Firefox). Also WebDAV (http://localhost:8080/alfresco/webdav) and CIFS (\\MYPCNAME_A\alfresco) work properly. I am using the only default user (admin/admin).

Then I installed the Add-in for Office 2003. The installation process was successful; I opened Word2003 and clicked on the Alfresco plug-in.
After saving the settings the behavior is well described by marc1911 in his first post:

> I'm getting a login dialog that seems to stuck in some kind of a code
>execution loop. I'm not able to enter any login name and password at
>that moment because the plugin behaves erratic and it seems that it
>wants to enter something by itself.

I think this could be a bug …
Any suggestion or workaround would be appreciated!

Paolo

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:56:39 GMT

Hi,

Thanks - I'll look into the problem.

In the meantime, the workaround would be to save the username and password in the configuration dialog.

Thanks,
Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

marc1911 — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:40:19 GMT

Hi Mike,

That doesn't work for me I'm afraid saving my username and password beforehand. I still have the erratic behaviour.

Regards,

Marc

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

tonytony — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:40:16 GMT

Hi,

Try setting the CIFS server path to:
\\19x.1xx.xxx.114\Alfresco\

Thanks,
Mike

Another work around (that will also work over the internet) is to map a drive to the alfresco FTP server (using a program like netdrive) and use the mapped drive letter as the cifs share. (I couldn't get a direct mapping to the ftp space using ftp:192.xxx.xx.xxx/alfresco but I didn't try to hard either)

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:55:49 GMT

Another work around (that will also work over the internet) is to map a drive to the alfresco FTP server (using a program like netdrive) and use the mapped drive letter as the cifs share. (I couldn't get a direct mapping to the ftp space using ftp:192.xxx.xx.xxx/alfresco but I didn't try to hard either)

Unfortunately that won't work with the Office Add-in, as it makes calls directly to the server part of the CIFS interface in order to get an authentication ticket. This won't be supported over an FTP channel.

Webclient URL: http://19x.1xx.xxx.115:8080/alfresco/
WebDAV URL: http://19x.1xx.xxx.115:8080/alfresco/webdav/
CIFS server: \\19x.1xx.xxx.114\

I've just noticed that your IP addresses are different between the webclient/webdav URLs and the CIFS server. Is this just a typo or some kind of non-standard config you've set-up?

Did you have any luck accessing the CIFS drive by IP address?

Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mtom — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:48:16 GMT

I can confirm previous post.. there is a SEVERE bug in alfresco office integration add-in

The login page, embedded in office is ever looping..

I've found a very hard workaround…
manually disable any LAN connection, then the Add-in shows the usual IE error page
then click to the configuration link ancd BLANK the first setting: Webclient URL: http://<any>:8080/alfresco/

now save and reactivate LAN connection to the server then update the IE error page
thus, the login page shows up..

enter userame and pwd and the addin works well, until you close the office application

It is a very nasty bug after all…

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:22:53 GMT

Hi,

If you enter your Alfresco username and password into the Configuration page of the Add-In and check "Remember authentication details", does this problem get solved?

Could you answer the following questions about your config please?

- Are you using the CIFS interface?
– If so, is it by hostname or IP address?
– What authetication method are you using for CIFS?
– Can you access the CIFS folders using the Windows Start/Run… dialog and entering the same CIFS server address as in the Add-In?

- Is there a document loaded in Word when you see the problem?
– If so, is it loaded via CIFS or WebDAV?

Thanks,
Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mtom — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:26:50 GMT

MikeH,
I'm happy to see your interest on this toipic…

and there are the answers to your questions:

- I've checked and un-checked "Remember authentication details": it makes no difference at all

- I'm using the CIFS interface and it works
- I'm using it by hostname (\\shark_a\Alfresco\)
- Authentication method is the default one.. I' didnt change the alfresco 2.1 tomcat distribution: I think is the 'enterprise' method is used
- I can access the CIFS folder using the Windows Start/Run dialog and entering the same CIFS server address as in the Add-In.
- the word document is a blank new one
- not loaded from alfresco repository

I'think the issues is about the login-authentication stage

thank you

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

webpoet — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:25:52 GMT

At work i had yesterday the same problem. I canÃ‚Â´t remember what IÃ‚Â´ve done but i got it work.

Now at home iÃ‚Â´ve the problem again.

For now iÃ‚Â´ve a workaround:

in the window where you have to enter username and PW you canÃ‚Â´t write because it reloads too fast.

But if you right click on it and then goes to prosperties and klick ok, the reload stops. Then you can enter username and PW and you can login.

Monday at work i can look what iÃ‚Â´ve done to work without this workaround.

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

jwtenpas — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:40:04 GMT

Hello there,

I had the same problem. I found out that I forgot to place http: in front of my URL and webdav adres setting in the Word-plugin settings screen
After stopping the the tomcat server, the loop didn't occur anymore and I was able to correct the settings. After this the plugin was possble to login.

Hopfully this works,

Jan-Willem ten Pas

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:12:18 GMT

Hi,

Yes, an incomplete URL would cause the problem. I've created JIRA issue AWC-1524 to address field validation.

For those following this issue, this post might also be of help: http://forums.alfresco.com/viewtopic.php?p=26869#26869

Improvements have been made to the add-in to stop the recursive login dialog problem, which are currently in the 2.1 Enterprise branch. These will be merged to Community in the following weeks as we'll make a new version available.

Thanks,
Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

schneika — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:29:08 GMT

There is some trouble with Alfresco 2.1.0 Final and the Office plugins.
The loop occures (mouse flickers) and generates an Heap Buffer Overflow in McAfees VirusShield…

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:42:18 GMT

There is some trouble with Alfresco 2.1.0 Final and the Office plugins.
The loop occures (mouse flickers) and generates an Heap Buffer Overflow in McAfees VirusShield…

Not much we can do about problems in 3rd party software I'm afraid! There's nothing especially low-level or complex in the Office Add-ins, essentially they're HTML and some JavaScript calling into the various Office APIs via a C# wrapper… certainly nothing that should prompt a virus scanner to blow itself up!

Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

schneika — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:42:46 GMT

Yes of course, but the trouble is with the Office-Plugin, that flickers in an endless loop and there is no possibility to login. My configuration seams ok:

Webclient URL: http://servername:8080/alfresco/ 
WebDAV URL: http://servername:8080/alfresco/webdav/ 
CIFS server: \\servername\alfresco\ ‍‍‍

i can connect via cifs over explorer. But the login over the office-plugin fails (endless loop and mouse flickers). :?

I use V2.1.0 final from community 24.07.2007. Should i try nightly builds?
:?:

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

mikeh — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:15:30 GMT

My configuration seams ok:

Webclient URL: http://servername:8080/alfresco/ 
WebDAV URL: http://servername:8080/alfresco/webdav/ 
CIFS server: \\servername\alfresco\ ‍‍‍

Could you double-check your servername in the CIFS config ends with "_A"? Also please note my comments in this post about CIFS and Word. You might get better mileage with a mapped drive as jwtenpas did.

But the login over the office-plugin fails (endless loop and mouse flickers). :?

I use V2.1.0 final from community 24.07.2007. Should i try nightly builds?
:?:

Improvements have been made to the add-in to stop the recursive login dialog problem, which are currently in the 2.1 Enterprise branch. These will be merged to Community in the following weeks as we'll make a new version available.

Thanks,
Mike

Re: MS-Word 2003 Add-In Login Problem

schneika — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:54:45 GMT

Thanx for quick reply!
In /alfresco/file-servers.xml i dont use "$(localname)_A", instead i use the real name without _A:

<config evaluator="string-compare" condition="CIFS Server">
     <serverEnable enabled="true"/>
      <host name="servername" domain="INTRA"/>
      <comment>Alfresco VSA CIFS Server</comment>‍‍‍‍

I can access the mapped drive Q : \\servername\alfresco\ with explorer but not in the Office-Addin as Q:\