Checking Out a Document for Web Co-Authoring

With M-Files, many users can edit a document at the same time. You can check out a document for co-authoring with Microsoft Office for the web when the Microsoft Office for the web tools and web co-authoring have been enabled for your vault or vaults.

Note: Office for the web has limits for the maximum size of the files. For more information, refer to Microsoft documentation.

Video: How to Use Co-authoring via Microsoft Office in M-Files

Editing an Office Document in the Co-Authoring Mode

You must have an Office 365 account and editing permissions to the document that you want to edit in co-authoring mode.

To check out a document for co-authoring:

  1. Locate the object that you want to make available for co-authoring in M-Files Desktop or M-Files Web.
  2. Right-click the document and select Check Out for Co-authoring in the context menu.
    Note: Co-authoring is only available for single-file DOCX, XLSX, XLSM, and PPTX documents.
    Result:In the classic M-Files Desktop, a security warning is opened about who can view and modify the file during co-authoring. If you do not use the classic M-Files Desktop, skip to step 4.
  3. In the Security Warning dialog in the classic M-Files Desktop, click Begin Co-authoring.
    Result:The document is opened in Microsoft Office for the web.
    Tip: If you use Google Chrome and the browser cannot load the editor, check if the address bar contains an icon informing the user about a blocked redirection. If it does, click it and allow the redirection to be completed. Finally, close the browser window or tab and double-click the document in M-Files to reopen the editor.
  4. Edit the document in the browser.
    Microsoft Office automatically saves your document when you make changes to it.
  5. When you are done, close the editor tab.
  6. To end co-authoring, right-click the object in M-Files Desktop or M-Files Web and select Check In.
    The user who checks out the document for co-authoring must be the one who also checks it in. The changes made during co-authoring are attributed to the user who checked out the document for co-authoring and checked in the new version.
    You can reject the changes made in co-authoring by right-clicking the object and selecting Undo Checkout from the context menu.
The changes made by you and anyone else during co-authoring are saved to M-Files, unless you selected Undo Checkout instead of checking in the document.

Participating in Co-Authoring

When a document has been checked for co-authoring, you can participate in the authoring process:

  1. Locate the co-authored document in M-Files Desktop or M-Files Web and double-click it to open it in the co-authoring mode.
    A co-authored document is marked with a yellow icon that contains a checkmark.
    Result:A dialog about editing the document in the co-authoring or opening it in read-only mode is opened.
  2. Select Edit (Co-authoring).
    Result:The document is opened in Microsoft Office for the web.
    Tip: If you use Google Chrome and the browser cannot load the editor, check if the address bar contains an icon informing the user about a blocked redirection. If it does, click it and allow the redirection to be completed. Finally, close the browser window or tab and double-click the document in M-Files to reopen the editor.
  3. Edit the document in the browser.
    Microsoft Office automatically saves your document when you make changes to it.
  4. When you are done, close the editor tab.
The changes you made to the document are saved to M-Files when the user who started the co-authoring has ended the co-authoring and checked in the document.