Alfresco / Windows Explorer Integration

Keeping it simple – ECM online and offline in the Windows Explorer

Alfresco's Enterprise Content Management solution provides an intuitive user in­ter­face, where access to various applications (e.g., mail-client, office applications etc.) are just a click away with Westernacher's integrated Alfresco modules.

But for most daily use basic Document Management functions do the trick: In­te­gra­tion into a file system, check-in/check-out of documents, and access to a doc­u­ment's metadata. Westernacher's Alfresco / Windows Explorer Integration is spe­cif­ic­ally tailored for these tasks.

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The Alfresco / Windows Explorer integration makes Document Management as easy as working with file systems:

• File/Folder mapping. Within the module installation process, part of Alfresco's repository gets mapped either with a shared drive or with a Window's file system folder.
• Simple synchronization. Repository and local document copies get syn­chro­nized with one click of the mouse. Any conflicts between central and decentral changes are au­to­ma­tic­ally discovered and resolved.
• Complete preservation of user permission concept. Individually granted permissions in Alfresco's repository are completely preserved. Only users with the required permissions have access to a client’s documents and data.
• Check-In/Check-Out. Documents already checked out by one user are not permitted to be checked out by another user, guaranteeing version security.
• Offline editing. Permanent online access to your Alfresco system is not avail­able to all employees. Westernacher's Alfresco/Explorer integration provides offline document editing functionalities. As soon as the user is connected to your company's network, documents can be checked-in and synchronized automatically.
• Meta data access. The Offline Explorer module provides access not only to documents of the Alfresco repository, but to all related document metadata. This functionality is the main difference between Westernacher's Alfresco / Windows Explorer integration and other well-known file system emulations, such as CIFS or WebDAV.
• Performance. The module communicates with the central Alfresco re­pos­i­to­ry via light-weight REST-interfaces which prevents performance critical over­head of protocols such as CIFS or WebDAV.