About CoWord
  1. Why some toolbar buttons and menu items of Word disabled when CoWord is running?
  2. Is it possible to run CoWord as a restricted user (or limited user)?
  3. Other users' editing operations keep pushing my caret downwards. Can this problem be solved?
  4. Can I hide other users' mouse cursors (telepointers)?
  5. What techniques are used to develop CoWord ?
  6. How can I develop my own real-time collaborative system like CoWord?
Trouble Shooting 
  1. Why Word toolbars and menus are not restored when I use Word in a single-user mode after running CoWord?
  2. Why I got an error "Create PowerPoint Instance Failed" when I started CoPowerPoint?
  3. Why I got an error message "Loading CoWord COM Add-In Failed" while start CoWord?
  4. What should I do if clicking the Word toolbar buttons does not generate any effect?
  5. I have set up the CoOffice Server in my computer, but I cannot connect to it from other computers.

 

About CoWord

1.      Why some toolbar buttons and menu items of Word disabled when CoWord is running?

The current CoWord version converts a representative collection of Word single-user functionalities into collaborative versions. Toolbar buttons and menu items related to unsupported functions are disabled when CoWord is running. They will be enabled when you use single-user (normal) Word. With the evolvement of CoWord, the disabled buttons will be enabled gradually in following versions.
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2.      Is it possible to run CoWord as a restricted user (or limited user)?

Yes. CoWord requires being installed by a power user or administrator, but it can be executed by a restricted or limited user.
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3.      Other users' editing operations keep pushing my caret downwards. Can this problem be solved?

This problem occurs in the Print Layout view. You can switch to other views (e.g. Normal, Web Layout or Outline views) to avoid this problem. You can select the view types from the View menu.
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4.      Can I hide other users' mouse cursors (telepointers)?

To hide telepointers, please follow the following steps:
1) Click the CoWord Options button in the CoWord toolbar.
2) In the Telepointer and Radar View category in the CoWord Options dialog, uncheck the Display Telepointers checkbox.

Then telepointers of other users will be hidden.
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5.      What technologies were used to develop CoWord?

The are two core technologies in CoWord:
1) Operational Transformation (OT). OT is used to support concurrency control and consistency maintenance in the unconstrained collaboration environment.
2) Transparent Adaptation (TA). TA is used to adapt the data and operation mode of the single-user application (i.e. Word) to that of the underlying OT.
Many other collaboration-specific technologies are also applied in CoWord, including interaction control and workspace awareness etc.
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6.      How can I develop my own real-time collaborative system like CoWord?

You can download the GCE library which encapsulates the state-of-the-art OT algorithm. Then you can follow the TA approach develop your own system. Details about the TA approach is available in our publications. If you encounter problems, please contact us.
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Trouble Shooting

1.      Why Word toolbars and menus are not restored when I use Word in a single-user mode after running CoWord?

CoWord restores Word toolbars and menus when it quits. If CoWord crashes (it may rarely happen), CoWord does not have the chance the do the restoration. When this problem occurs, please try the following:
a. Use CoWord to open a document, and close this document; or
b. Use the System Recovery tool provide in the CoOffice Tools; or
c. Click the Cleanup Word toolbar button or menu item in the Document Repository Browser (CoDRB.exe).
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2.      Why I got an error "Create PowerPoint Instance Failed" when I started CoPowerPoint?

The current CoPowerPoint version only supports PowerPoint 2000. We plan to release a new version that supports the latest PowerPoint version.
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3.      Why I got an error message "Loading CoWord COM Add-In Failed" while start CoWord?

The reason of this problem is that Word has disabled the COM Add-In component of CoWord. To re-enable it, please start MS Word, open the About Word window from menu Help/About Word, and click the Disabled Items button. If you see "AdaptedWordAPI.dll" in the disabled list, please enable it.
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4.      What should I do if clicking the Word toolbar buttons does not generate any effect?

In this case, please do the following:
1)  Close CoWord.
2)  Open Windows Task Manager, and terminate WINWORD.exe, or restart your computer.
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5.      I have set up the CoOffice Server in my computer, but I cannot connect to it from other computers.

The most likely reason is the firewall. CoOffice uses 3 TCP ports, which are 21, 10021 and 10023. You need to open these 3 ports in your firewall system. If your computer is in a VPN, you may also have this problem. In this case, please download the CoDRB.exe for VPN to replace your installed CoDRB.exe.
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