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Use Case Overview

August 25, 2026 06:49 AM
1 min read

Aras Office Productivity Connector supports a set of common use cases for creating and saving Office documents using Aras Innovator. This section illustrates the typical flow of those use cases. The symbols used in the diagrams are shown here.

Note
The “Aras Document” represents any type of item that is used to manage Office files in Aras Innovator.

Create a New Document using a Template

This use case allows the use of a template file stored in Aras as the basis for a new document. The following capabilities are supported by this use case:

  • Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • A template file provides a starting point for document creation.
  • A File Name and Aras Document Number are automatically generated based on a company’s process.
  • Optionally, an existing Aras Item, such as a Part or Project, can be selected to link to. If selected, this linked item can also help drive the File Name and Document Number.

Create a New Document with no Template

This use case is like the one described in the previous section, except that no template is used, so there is no content in the initial file. This use case supports the following capabilities:

  • Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • File Name and Aras Document Number are automatically generated based on a company’s process.
  • Optionally, an existing Aras Item, such as a Part or Project, can be selected to link to. This linked item can also help drive the File Name and Document Number if selected.

Save an Existing Office File

This use case is different from the previous two since here the file has already been created locally before being saved to Aras. It is not possible to use a template because the file already exists. The following capabilities are supported by this use case:

  • Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • An Aras Document Number is automatically generated based on a company’s process.
  • The file may be renamed based on a company’s process.
  • Optionally, an existing Aras item, such as a Part or Project, may be selected to link to. This linked item can also help drive the File Name and Document Number if selected.

Collaborate on SharePoint Files

This use case allows you to manage documents within Aras and collaborate on updates inside SharePoint. This use case supports the following capabilities:

  • Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • An Aras file can be attached to a specific file in SharePoint.
  • Collaboration on the document is done inside the SharePoint library, where users can make updates.
  • A PDF of the SharePoint file is created in Aras.