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Synchronizing to SharePoint in SharePoint Workspace 2010

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SharePoint sync is the new focus of the product, and here in Support, we get a lot of questions about how it works. What kinds of data can be synchronized? How much data? What SharePoint versions are supported? Does the product still use Groove servers? In this article, I review some of the common points of confusion.

Your options

SharePoint Workspace 2010 has two ways to synchronize content with SharePoint sites:

  • A SharePoint workspace can take many types of site content offline, but only from Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or SharePoint Foundation 2010. When the SharePoint Online servers are upgraded to 2010 technology, you will also be able to use a SharePoint workspace for SharePoint Online sites.
  • A SharePoint Files tool in a Groove workspace (formerly called a "Standard workspace") will synch to either a 2007 or 2010 server, but can only take a single document library offline. To use the SharePoint Files tool, you must choose the option to create a 2007-version Groove workspace. The SharePoint Files tool is unchanged since Office Groove 2007.

Note: When reading the help or other product documentation, remember that "a SharePoint workspace" is only one of the workspace types included in "SharePoint Workspace". If you are not aware of the difference, some information may appear contradictory.

So which should you use? If possible, use a SharePoint workspace. SharePoint workspaces work with SharePoint 2010 technology to gain better integration than the old SharePoint Files tool can. They use the same storage and transport services as most other Office 2010 applications that can work with files stored on a SharePoint site. (The odd one is this case is OneNote, which has its own mechanism for storing file data synchronized with SharePoint.) These services provide load-balancing and transport optimization, making synchronization more efficient than in the SharePoint Files tool. In most cases, you will have a better experience with a SharePoint workspace.

There are really only two situations in which you might want to use the old SharePoint Files tool:

  • If you need to share SharePoint files with someone who does not have access to the SharePoint site.
  • If you need to synchronize files with a document library on a 2007 SharePoint Server.

Content types

A SharePoint workspace can sync almost anything that it can store in a Documents tool or a Lists tool. These means most SharePoint lists and libraries are supported, although some heavily customized lists may have problems.

The following content types cannot currently be synchronized by a SharePoint workspace:

  • Calendar/Events lists
  • Wikis
  • Blog sites
  • Portal sites
  • Form libraries
  • Slide libraries
  • Surveys
  • Site directories
  • OneNote notebooks stored in document libraries (because OneNote uses its own storage method)
  • IRM-protected document libraries (individually protected files are okay, within constraints)
  • Anything other than lists and libraries

Anything else should work, although there are some special requirements for external lists.

To prevent confusion and aid in accessibility, lists and libraries that SharePoint Workspace cannot synchronize (or that you choose not to synchronize) are still listed in the workspace. In the default view, they are displayed under the heading Available on Server. When you highlight an entry for unsynchronized content, the SharePoint workspace provides a link to open the list or library in a browser. If the content type is supported, you will also have an option to connect the entry to the list or library.

Getting started

You can create a SharePoint workspace from the Launchbar, but it's often easier to do it from the SharePoint site itself. When you are viewing the site in the browser, open the Site Actions menu, and choose Sync to SharePoint Workspace. You can use Configure to adjust the content downloaded, or just leave it at the default.

Troubleshooting workspace creation

If you don't see Sync to SharePoint Workspace in the Site Actions menu, then either the SharePoint server is not at 2010, or the SharePoint administrator has disabled Workspaces. In the latter case, you may also find that you don't have options such as "Edit in Word" for a Word document.

If you see Sync to SharePoint Workspace, but when you try to use it, SharePoint Workspace reports that it can't contact the server (the one you are viewing in your browser!), then the SharePoint administrator has probably disabled FSSHTTP (File Synchronization via SOAP over HTTP), which SharePoint Workspace requires to synchronize file data. Other Office applications that use Workspaces use this protocol as well, but will usually fall back to Web-DAV if FSSHTTP is not available. SharePoint workspaces require FSSHTTP to support a rich client experience for SharePoint.

Warnings about the number of synchronized items

SharePoint Workspaces, like several other office applications, uses the Office Document Cache (ODC) to store files taken offline from SharePoint. When the Office Document Cache (not a particular workspace) exceeds 500 files, SharePoint Workspace will warn you about the cache size at startup. When the cache exceeds 1800 files, or when a particular operation - whether that is taking a new site offline or fetching a single new file - would take you over the 1800 file limit, SharePoint Workspace will display a warning and switch to downloading headers only for any new content taken offline.

Finding files stored in SharePoint workspaces

Note that although SharePoint Workspace uses the ODC, files in SharePoint workspaces are not visible in the Upload Center. However, files in SharePoint workspaces and 2010 Groove workspaces are easier to find than ever before!

By searching:

You can use Windows Search -- either from Windows or within SharePoint Workspace -- to search the following content:

  • Files stored in the Documents tool (including SharePoint workspace document libraries)
  • Items in the Lists tool (including SharePoint workspace lists, the 2010 Discussion tool, and other Lists-based tools)
  • Items in the Calendar tool
  • Entries in the Notepad tool
  • Messages in the Message History

By browsing:

If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can access files in the Documents tool (including SharePoint workspace document libraries) via the Workspaces folder in your personal folder.

Note that 2007 Groove workspaces are not accessible using these methods, so if you have a workspace created with a previous version of Groove, or you set the Workspace Version option to 2007 when creating a new Groove workspace, content in that workspace will not show up in a Windows search, and the workspace will not be listed in your Workspaces folder.

Groove servers

So does SharePoint Workspace 2010 use Groove servers? That depends on what product features you use. Groove servers are not used by SharePoint workspaces. Beyond that, the subject probably deserves its own post.

That's all for today! Is there some SharePoint Workspace feature or change you'd like to see covered here? Leave a comment to let me know.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    HI Bill, SharePoint Online is currently based on 2007 servers, which do not support "Sync to SharePoint Workspace".  Some organizations are trying out a beta version of SharePoint Online which is based on SharePoint Server 2010. For users in that beta, "Sync to SharePoint Workspace" is available.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Anusha, If you have Versioning set for a library, file edits saved back to that library will be saved as versions, whether they come from SharePoint Workspace, another Office application, such as Word, or an in-browser edit. However, if you edit a file multiple times from SharePoint Workspace while offline, only the last version will be saved as a version on the server when you come online.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The application already does this. Data is synched automatically when you open the workspace, and in the background approximately every ten minutes for an open workspace and every twenty minutes for a closed one. These intervals will extend if the server reports heavy load, or if needed to stagger synchronization intervals on the local computer. If you have a workspace that is not synchronizing automatically, you may be having an authentication failure. A manual sync will prompt for authentication if needed, but a background sync will not. Mouse over the SharePoint Workspace icon in the notification area to see if you have notifications that start wtih "Credentials are required." For more information on one scenario in which this happens, see support.microsoft.com/.../2231936.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Very good content, congratulations.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Terri, I think SharePoint Workspace is a red herring, in this case. I have been working with the product since before beta, and have never encountered or heard of such an error being triggered by removing it. Most likely there was a configuration change, either local or remote, that occured at the same time -- possibly stemming from the same project that required you to test SharePoint Workspace. You should look at Office configuration or SharePoint configuration, depending on where the files you are opening reside. If the prompt occurs when you are opening local files, there was probably a change to the configuration of Office core application. Check the resources that are accessed when you start the application -- for example, the location of your Custom Dictionary (Options/Proofing), Autorecover file location (Options/Save), or the file locations in Optoins/Advanced/General. One of these may have been set to a network location. One quick test to narrow down the possibilities is to start the application in Safe Mode. (support.microsoft.com/.../919196 will help you do this for Excel.) If the prompt occurs when you are opening files from the SharePoint server, there were probably configuration changes to support the test or at the end of it. This type of issue can occur on a SharePoint due to pconfiguration issues with inherited permissions, authentication types, or the gateway, if present. If this does not help, I suggest you open a Microsoft support case for SharePoint, or for Office Core.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hi Angela, Is it possible the library could be being backed up and restored by a nightly process? That seems a little weird, but it's the only thing I can think of. The backup part isn't a problem, but when a SharePoint library is restored, it gets a new identifier, so the identifier the workspace is linked to would no longer exist. (I'm assuming that you mean that the library is still on the sharepoint site, but no longer available in the workspace.)

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hi Tracy, I don't know of any way to do this. That doesn't necessarily mean there isn't one, but SharePoint isn't  intended as a backup mechanism. It does so much other processing on files that it would be a resource-intensive way to maintain a dynamic backup. I think it would be preferable to use backup software and a network share.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    RameshUSA, No, there is currently no programmatic access to data in the the SharePoint workspace. It's becoming a frequent request, though.

  • Anonymous
    August 25, 2010
    We're seeing problems with having new doclibs created after the connection is made showing up in the sharepoint workspace client. is there any way to force update on this? right now the only thing that works is to delete the workspace and reconnect..

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2010
    Sync to Sharepoint Workspaces doesn't show up in my Sharepoint Online (BPOS) Sharepoint site. Various blog posts seem to indicate that Sharepoint Workspaces should work with Sharepoint Online, so I expected to see that choice. Any idea why it is not there?

  • Anonymous
    December 28, 2010
    i have sharepoint 2010 and i see "Sync to SharePoint Workspace" disabled even its enabled from Site Settings...???? Please reply asap

  • Anonymous
    January 31, 2011
    Is there anyway, i can programmatically access a sharepoint 2010 workspace through C# code? Thanks, Ramesh

  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2011
    My service provider has only sharepoint 2.0. I can upload word .docs to server.but the 'edit with microsoft word' option opens word but it is empty. No document at all.

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2011
    Seems like custom views don't show up in workspace 2010

  • Anonymous
    April 07, 2011
    We have a problem syncing the Personal Documents library on the MySite back to SharePoint Workspace 2010.  It syncs fine, but the next day the library disappears and is not available.  Any ideas of what might be wrong?

  • Anonymous
    April 11, 2011
    Thanks Yes the library is still on the Sharepoint Site but no longer in workspace.  We aren't doing any overnight restores and this only affects Personal Documents, not any others in the MySite.  Which is very strange.

  • Anonymous
    April 21, 2011
    Hi, One of the goals we have for SharePoint 2010 is to work as a backup for our computers (running Windows XP) My Documents folder. I’ve used the article at the following link, and while it shows how to add a folder as a workspace, the content doesn’t appear to be duplicated in SharePoint. office.microsoft.com/.../creating-a-shared-folder-HA010283261.aspx Is there a way to use SharePoint Workspace to do this? Thank you

  • Anonymous
    April 26, 2011
    Hi Frances, Thank you very much for taking the time to provide this detailed explanation! Can you tell me if you know of a way to synchronize data between a user’s My Documents folder, and SP 2010? I have used SharePoint workspace to manually add the contents of the user’s My Documents folder, and to have SP workspace then replicate this to the user’s assigned site in SP 2010. This works as a one time event. The problem is that after this has been done once, should the user add something to their My Documents folder, there is no automated way that I know of to replicate this to the SP 2010 site. Do you know of any automated way to synchronize data between a user’s My Documents folder and SP 2010? Thanks again! Tracy

  • Anonymous
    April 26, 2011
    Thank you, Frances! In our case it would be ideal. We have a number of offices with a few employees at each, and SharePoint provides a means to maintain a centralized set of data for the enterprise. Using SharePoint would be far less work and expense for this task than setting up individual backups, or establishing VPN connections to the offices. It is surprising that this ability isn’t integrated into SP Workspace as it is capable of adding a local directory as a shared resource, and also capable of being used as an interface to store documents in SharePoint. It’s as if someone didn’t put 2+2 together. Anywho, again, thank you very much for your help! Regards Tracy

  • Anonymous
    March 29, 2012
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2012
    I'd like to schedule syncro in the local Workspace to avoid the end user forgetting to sync data. Is it possible?

  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2012
    Problem: I have a link for a Project file on a personal sharepoint site.  The file is edited through that site constantly.  I need to take that file and have it showing (with dynamic updates) on the company sharepoint site.  I would like to do this with anyone having to click a link to see the file on the company sharepoint site.  Can this be done?  

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2012
    Hi, Does SharePoint WorkSpace provide versioning of files? SharePoint 2010 automatically creates and manages multiple versions upon saving files each time. Is that kind of versioning feature supported in the WorkSpace too?