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#1
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Sharing workbook over (S)FTP?
We would like to have a workbook stored in our ISPs
server (accessable using FTP & SFTP). Is there a way to access the workbook so that either locking or shared workbook editing would work? I experimented with opening the file directly over FTP from Excel file dialog and sharing the folder over SFTP using SFTPDrive. However neither one of those methods supported file locking thus if several people edit the workbook simultaneously some changes will get lost. Do you have any ideas how to solve this issue? |
#2
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Sharing workbook over (S)FTP?
In , Pasi
spake thusly: We would like to have a workbook stored in our ISPs server (accessable using FTP & SFTP). Is there a way to access the workbook so that either locking or shared workbook editing would work? This would not be something you could control in Excel. You would have to have a server-side control of some sort. For example, the server could run a gate such that only one copy could be downloaded until the gate is released. I can't think of any turnkey solution, off-hand. Maybe a script on the server that re-points a link to a locked copy of the workbook once someone has downloaded the unlocked vrsion. But whatever, the solution can't be from Excel, that I can see. -dman- |
#3
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Sharing workbook over (S)FTP?
Pasi wrote:
We would like to have a workbook stored in our ISPs server (accessable using FTP & SFTP). Is there a way to access the workbook so that either locking or shared workbook editing would work? No. FTP and SFTP are file transfer protocols. They open the file only for the duration of the transfer. Think of it as copy-and-paste. The function you want might be supported by NFS. But I do not know if MS Windows supports NFS. MS Windows does have network file sharing (NTFS?). I believe that would be your solution if all computers involved (including your ISP's computers) use MS Windows. That is not likely for the ISP's computers. And I do not believe that MS Windows network file sharing is compatible with NFS. Besides, no reputable ISP would permit network file sharing (NFS or otherwise) from computers outside the ISP network. It is a serious security risk. Do you have any ideas how to solve this issue? Since you presumably have no control over the ISP's computers, I suspect the answer is: there is no solution. You could set up a cooperative mechanism, for example by using another file to record when the workbook is in use. There is a race condition -- two people updating the log file simultaneously. But hopefully the situation is rare enough. I do not know anything about web page programming to know if there might be solution that way. I can imagine a possible solution -- but it is completely "blue sky". Perhaps you could program a web page so that you "check out" and "check in" a copy of the file. The check-out/in feature would perform two functions: first, it would accomplish the file transfer from and to the server; second, it would maintain the log file (see above) and prevent the transfer if the file is already checked out. One caveat: I do not know if you can ensure that the web page is the __only__ to copy the file in and out. I wonder if someone could subvert the "locking" mechanism by simply using FTP. |
#4
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Sharing workbook over (S)FTP?
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#5
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Sharing workbook over (S)FTP?
Jeff Mancuso wrote:
FTP and SFTP are file transfer protocols. They open the file only for the duration of the transfer. Think of it as copy-and-paste. This isn't actually true. FTP is just a file transfer protocol, strictly. SFTP isn't a secure version of that archaic protocol, but is in fact, a totally different protocol that does support file handles. Allowing an application to interact with an actual open instance of a file handle on the remote server. Well, I suppose it depends on which SFTP the OP is talking about. I was thinking of Simple FTP (RFC 913). It is simply a UDP version of FTP. That is a little over-simplified; it is a very different protocol. But the point it, it is indeed just a file transfer protocol. You are talking about Secure FTP (still just an Internet Draft). Shame on the IETF for permitting the same acronym! I confess that I am not familiar with the Secure FTP protocol. Searching briefly, one online description does suggest that you might be right. And by the way, FTP is no more "archaic" than TCP is. Yes, the protocols are old. So is the automobile and airplane. But you depend on it on a daily basis, if you use the internet a great deal. Simple FTP, on the other hand, is truly archaic. It is (was?) used while booting diskless workstations. UDP was a simpler protocol to implement for embedded systems than TCP. That was in the days when memory chips were built in "K" increments. (Oh the "joy" in wire-wrapping 8 1Kx1 chips :-.) I doubt that Simple FTP is used at all anymore; which is why the IETF might have permitted the acronym to be used for Secure FTP. My bad! |
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