Some time ago we published an article concerning Baseline ™ integration with MS Office Suite. Now, for our users, we would like to make a brief outline of the functionality of one of the system components. Its functionality is to view Office files directly in the browser without having to save files to a hard disk and to open using a dedicated program.
The component that is responsible for this functionality is Aspose GroupDocs Viewer. This component is a member of the products family dedicated for web applications created in technologies like .NET or PHP. The component itself is very easy to integrate and to use. Its features and support provided by the developer made it possible to quickly adapt the component to be compatible with Baseline™ software both as far as its functionality is concerned and in terms of how it looks.
It would be pointless to carry out a full integration with the Office Suite files if web browsers had not adequately supported file reading. What is more, the technology used does not make it necessary for the user to install additional plug-ins or paid software that are compatible with your browser. More than 50 different formats supported by GroupDocs Viewer is converted into HTML5, and, as everybody knows, this format is now a universal standard among all available browsers and web platforms. Popular formats supported by this component include MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Project, but also formats relating to designing, i.e. AutoCAD or MS Visio. At this point it should be emphasized that once converted, the file is saved in the cache memory so that it may be immediately redisplayed.
How does all this work together in the Baseline™ environment?
Baseline ™ system users most probably know that at the moment PDF format attachments may be previewed in a very simple and friendly manner. If you want to preview the document attachment, what you must do is just to expand the built-in preview window on the right hand side of the details panel. Alternatively, the quick view function can be used in an external window. To do so, the preview icon is on the list of elements should be used. Whereas so far both methods were excellent in managing with PDF and bitmap formats, all other popular formats were not displayed in the browser window and the users were forced to download the file and to preview it using some of the software installed.
Recently, Baseline ™ system users no longer need to rely solely on the software installed. All popular attachment formats are now open in the internal, built-in file browser by default. Moreover, to review and approve files, buying very expensive licenses of software installed on your computer is no longer necessary.
The Aspose Component has one more essential characteristic that fits perfectly well into the Baseline ™ philosophy, i.e. it allows you to set individual access rights to files so that other users can neither save nor print the full content of the document. This approach is very important for companies that want to provide particular protection for the information they process and to thereby eliminate the risk of leakage of valuable information outside the organisation.
Team Baseline
