General Administration Topics

This section contains several topics pertinent to configuring Aras Innovator for the best use of the Aras Office Productivity Connector.

The Aras Office Productivity Connector is designed to work with any ItemType as the base Item. Still, certain configuration steps must be followed to prepare this ItemType for use by the Connector. All this configuration is already included for the standard Document ItemType within Aras Innovator. To configure the Aras Office Productivity Connector to work with an ItemType other than Document, following the Document ItemType as an example is recommended. Configuration of an ItemType for the Aras Office Productivity Connector includes the following topics:

• Properties Necessary for Aras Office Connector

• On any Relationship between the Base ItemType and File (For example, Document File).

• On any Relationship between a Valid Linked ItemType and the Base ItemType (For example, Part Document).

• Classification

Document Types can make use of ItemType classification if desired. Classification values defined on the ItemType will be available when defining Document Types. This requires configuring the Class Structure of the Document ItemType. Existing on-site Document Classes can be used, or new ones specifically for use with the Aras Office Productivity Connector can be added.

Office files previously stored manually in Aras Innovator can be easily managed going forward using the Aras Office Connector with minimal configuration. The necessary steps are:

1. Ensure all properties listed in the ItemType Configuration section are included on the ItemTypes and Relationships.
2. The Authoring Tool property of each existing document must be set equal to the corresponding Office application. For example, if the Document contains an Excel .xlsx file, then the Authoring Tool must be set to Microsoft Excel. This is necessary for the Open command to find valid Documents. If assistance is needed in setting this value for existing Documents in the system, please contact Aras Support.
3. Configure the necessary Document Types in Office Connector Settings that correspond to the ItemTypes and Classifications currently used in the system to manage Office files. Refer to the Document Types section for details.

A Template Document in Aras is a regular Document with the Template checkbox checked. It contains an Office file that can be used as the basis of any new file created from the template. The Office file used for the template should be in a regular file format (like .docx, .xlsx, or .pptx). There are two methods for creating Template Documents: manually in the Aras web client or by marking a Document created by the Aras Office Connector as a template. Either method requires some work in the Aras web client, as it is not possible to create a template completely using the Aras Office Productivity Connector.

1. Create the template file in the Office application and save it locally.
   1. Log into the Aras web client.
   2. Create a new Document (or similar item defined as an Office Document Type).
   3. Set the following properties:
      • Number
      • Type
      • Authoring Tool
      • Template checkbox ON
   4. Attach the template file to the Files tab.
   5. Save and close the Document.

1. Create a Document using the connector. Use either of these two approaches:
   • Click New and New Aras Document to create a new file, create the file contents, and then click Save and Saveto Aras.
   • Create the file contents locally, then click Save and Saveto Aras.
   1. Log in to the Aras web client.
   2. Search for the Document that was just created and open the form.
   3. Set the Template checkbox ON.
   4. Remove any viewable file if it exists.
   5. Save and close the Document.

At this point, the template is ready to be used by the Aras Office Productivity Connector. Regardless of the method used, the result is a Document that has the following key properties set:

These properties are used for the following purposes:

• Document Number: The main identifier for the template. It will appear in the Aras ribbon.
• Type: Sets the Document Type for which the template is intended. The template will only be listed when that Document Type is selected in the New Aras Document dialog.
• Authoring Tool: Controls the Office application for which the template will be used. The template will only appear in the New Aras Document dialog when in that application.
• Template: Marks this Document as a template.
• File: The file used when the user creates a New Aras Document using this template.

Using Template File Containers is an advanced approach to template management that allows the sharing of a common template file across multiple Template Documents. In the standard approach to template management described previously, if the same template file is to be used in multiple Template Documents, it must be copied like this:

Multiple Template Documents can share template files using Template File Containers. The existing approach can still be used, as shown in Template B3.

To use Template File Containers, a new Item Property must be created with the Name template_file_container, and Data Source equal to your Document ItemType. Here is an example showing the Property defined for the standard Document ItemType:

To create a Template File Container, simply create a Document and attach the template file to it. Then, create Template Documents and set the Template File Container value to point to the Container Item. This can be done as many times as desired.

Note that the Template File Container does not need to be a Template Document, as shown in the previous example, although either way is valid. This is controlled by whether the Template flag is set on the Template File Container. The Template File Container does not need to be of the same ItemType or Classification as the Template itself, which provides flexibility for reusing Template Files. However, the container ItemType and Classification do need to match some valid Aras Office Productivity Connector Document Type.

The following are a few topics about Template Documents that apply to administrators only:

• The template capability in the Aras Office Productivity Connector is designed to be used by anyone in the organization. It is not inherently an administrator-only function. However, as an administrator you can control the ability for users to create templates by restricting their ability to set the is_template Property ON. This Property is how Aras Productivity Connector determines which Documents are Templates. Access to this Property can be restricted in several ways, such as removing it from the Form, setting it to disabled on the Form, or defining a client-side Method to control the ability to set the checkbox.
• Users can be prevented from modifying Template Documents using standard Aras Permissions and Life Cycle States. For example, if the Template Document is in the Released state, users will typically not be able to modify it.

For a complete description of working with properties inside Office files, refer to the Property Mapping section of the Aras Office Connector 22 – User Guide.

Files managed by the Aras Office Productivity Connector are kept in the default working folder. The default location is the Documents folder. The Aras Office Productivity Connector does not affect the ability to use the normal Office Save and Open commands. Even when managing files in Aras, the files can still be saved and opened locally.

The Aras Office Productivity Connector’s automatic PDF generation capability is designed to work with Aras Visual Collaboration, enabling all organization users to view and mark up document content easily. Please refer to the Aras Innovator 22 – Visual Collaboration Administrator Guide for details on configuring Aras Visual Collaboration.

The SharePoint integration within the Aras Office Productivity Connector allows your organization to manage documents within Aras and collaborate on updates inside SharePoint. To configure the SharePoint integration:

1. From the TOC, expand Productivity Suite and Integration Framework, then select Integrations.
   1. Open the SharePoint Integration for editing.
   2. In the Integration Information section, specify the SharePoint Certificate.

3. In the Integration Configurations section, specify the appropriate property values for the organization under the Properties Tab and the appropriate secrets under the Secrets Tab.

• client_id:Azure AD Application (client) Id.
• client_secret:Azure AD Application Client Secret.
• tenant_id:Azure AD Application Directory (tenant) Id.
• document_library:The name of the Document Library within SharePoint where Documents will be stored.
• host:The main URL for the SharePoint site.
• scheme:The protocol for connecting to your SharePoint site.
• authority:The authentication authority for accessing SharePoint, such as AzurePublic or other designated authentication authorities.
• site_path:The specific path to the SharePoint site within the SharePoint environment. The site path is usually formatted as sites/[SiteName] and directs the SharePoint integration to the correct sub-site within the SharePoint domain.
• spPassword: Password set while creating a self-signed certificate.