Integrating with Microsoft Office products

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You can modify documents, presentations, and spreadsheets that you download from a repository by using the add-in for Microsoft™ Office versions 2007 and later. You can also upload documents to the repository directly from a Microsoft Office application.

About this task

With the Microsoft Office add-in, you can modify asset artifacts that are of the following file types:
  • .doc and .docx
  • .ppt and .pptx
  • .xls and .xlsx
After you modify files, you can submit them directly from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

To set up the integration, install the Microsoft Office add-in. Then, you can open and modify files and upload the changed files to the repository.

Procedure

To install the add-in:
  1. Draft comment:
    LJW: IBM® Style recommends referring to an icon by its tool tip label, which in the case of the question mark icon is "Help". I agree that the phrase "click Help > Extensions" is likely to confuse people, though. In this case, would be helpful to add a graphic of the question mark icon so that there is no confusion. In the meantime, I’ve tried to modify the wording here to follow style guidelines and make the step clear.
    In the web client, click the Help menu, which is represented by a question mark icon (?), and then select Extensions.
  2. Click Rational Asset Manager Office Add-in, and save the file to your local drive.
  3. Open the RAM_Office_Addin.exe file.
  4. When the license terms are displayed, accept them.
  5. If messages are displayed about your firewall, permit the setup application to access your network.
  6. In the Microsoft Office Customization Installer window, click Install.
  7. If you are prompted again to permit firewall access, do so.
  8. In the window that confirms that the add-in was installed, click Close.

Results

When you download asset artifacts that are .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, or .xlsx files, you can open them in a Microsoft Office application.

What to do next

Start a Microsoft Office application and open a file that was downloaded as an asset artifact from IBM Rational® Asset Manager. The application includes an asset upload icon on the home tab.

After you change the file, if you want to submit it to the Rational Asset Manager server, click the Upload icon to upload the file. You must specify a user name and password. If you do not modify the file name, the artifact is updated. If you rename the file in the Upload window, another artifact is created.