Can Sharepoint know what applications you have installed?

Question

When I am accessing a WSS3.0 site from a certain PC I use the actions view on a list and can see options like export to excel, open in access, create a visio diagram.

If I do the same thing from another machine (using the same log in credentials) one or more of these options isn't there.

Is Sharepoint clever enough to know which applications I have installed and only offers me the relevant menu options?

Is it possible to disable this feature so that when I write my user manual the screen shots show every available option?

Or... is it something else...?

Answer 1

I took the plunge and uninstalled Visio and sure enough the menu option disappeared; when I re-installed it came back. 2 Morals to this story: 1st, make sure that when doing your user manual screen shots you have a machine that has every application installed that you want to link to sharepoint. 2nd, if you are presenting your solution to the execs in the boardroom, make sure the presentation PC has the apps you need as well...!!

Answer 2

A number of client-integration behaviors are governed by ActiveX controls contained in the version of owssupp.dll that is registered as current in the registry. This file should be in your Program Files\Microsoft Office\12 or Program Files\Microsoft Office\14 directory.

The fact that it can be in both is why you can search and find lots of references to issues with mixed versions of Office installed on the same computer, and also why you will likely not see most of the drop-down menus you refer to using non-IE browsers.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure there are still some OCX controls being used that interact with the local Office Apps. I know there is a dll difference between Office 2003 and 2007, though I would have to search for the name.

Depending on what is installed, and also which browser you use the options will change. For example if you look at the same list or library on the same computer with IE versus Chrome you will see a difference since Chrome can't interact with the control.

There is also security trimming going on, so this menu is highly dynamic. Your best bet is to log in with an account permissioned like your average user on a machine configured like your average user.

Answer 4

As Mike mentions, this sort of interaction with the Office client is performed via OCX controls (ActiveX).

The best way to solve it is to perform a Repair of your Office 2007 client's setup program. If that doesn't fix the problem, make sure that "Windows SharePoint Services support" is an installed component within Office Setup. You should also check that if any Office 2003 programs are installed on the machine, they do not have the "Windows SharePoint Services support" option ticked for them.

Answer 5

Office includes small COM controls that can be instantiated by javascript running in the page. These are required for the SP integrations with the client-side Office applications. With them, you can edit a document, without them you can at most download it. Technically, referring to them as OCX controls is inaccurate.