to webDAV or not to webDAV

[@ndyB]

Hi there all,

Bit new to most of this so I'm after a little guidance.

Looking at using Contribute to let our clients have a little more in the way
on content control over their web sites.
I've been using Dreamweaver for a number of years now and have been
uploading sites using ether ftp or mapping onto shared resources on the net.

When I suggested using Contribute to my IT dept they had an issue with
letting clients have ftp access for a number of reasons, so I thought I
would take a look at webDAV as being an option. I assume I'm right in
thinking that webDAV is built into IIS (we are using version 5 at the
moment), and its just a case of allowing write and browser access right in
IIS, because that's all I needed to do.

Anyway, after a bit of playing about started to feel that webDAV can be a
little on the flaky side, because it seems you do something slightly wrong
and it locks the file you are using.

I'm also accessing the site using Dreamweaver via a LAN connection (mapped
network resource), not at the same time as Contribute I may add.

But I'm getting 2 problems. Contribute will sometimes exclusively lock the
file, only to be removed by a "DAV explorer", or Dreamweaver will lock it by
placing a .LCK file on the server despite checking the file back in. The
Dreamweaver bit might be a red herring, but its the Contribute side of
things that concerns me, because I've got to roll this out to clients.

Is webDAV unreliable?
Is there more to setting up webDAV then just setting the access rights in
IIS?
Should I not connect to the site using a combination of webDAV and LAN?
Would ftp be a better option despite what my IT people think?

Damn, so many questions...!!!!

Any help you could offer would be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers,

@ndyB

[timminehan]

I have just upgraded to C3 and recieved a useful manual. On page 178 is says...

"To use Contribute with a WebDAV-enabled site, you must use a WebDAV server
that supports exclusive write locks. Exclusive write locks guarantee that only
the lock owner (the person who opened the file...) can overwrite the file..."

It continues that "some WebDAV server support shared write locks...
Contribute does not support these."

"...When you create a WebDav connection you must not mix connection types
(such as FTP with WebDAVor local area network with WebDAV)..."

The manual also suggests that Secure FTP is far better than plain FTP (poor
security and not as efficient) if your server supports this.

hope this helps.

[@ndyB]

Hi there,

Thanks for the info.
Think I will have a look into Secure FTP as being an option because I don't
think this route is going to work.

Cheers,

@ndyB

"timminehan" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:d4g0ei$rvv$1@forums.macromedia.com...

>I have just upgraded to C3 and recieved a useful manual. On page 178 is
>says...
>
> "To use Contribute with a WebDAV-enabled site, you must use a WebDAV
> server
> that supports exclusive write locks. Exclusive write locks guarantee that
> only
> the lock owner (the person who opened the file...) can overwrite the
> file..."
>
> It continues that "some WebDAV server support shared write locks...
> Contribute does not support these."
>
> "...When you create a WebDav connection you must not mix connection types
> (such as FTP with WebDAVor local area network with WebDAV)..."
>
> The manual also suggests that Secure FTP is far better than plain FTP
> (poor
> security and not as efficient) if your server supports this.
>
> hope this helps.
>