content types – Mylearning.be

Content Types with PowerPoint template (.pot) stop working

I experienced an issue with a content type linked to a PowerPoint template (.pot). When I tried to create a new document based on the content type, PowerPoint did not start, but instead I got the following error message: “The document could not be created. The required application may not be installed properly, or the template for this document library cannot be opened.”

After some research, I found an article that pointed to Microsoft Security Update KB951944 as the culprit for this error. And indeed, after removing it, my issue was fixed. At least for the moment, because removing a security update is probably not a good idea.

I guess the problems started after installing Office 2007 Service Pack 2, so I am afraid we will be seeing this issue a lot in the near future on customer portals. I’ll update this post if I find a “decent” solution.

Content Types – end user experience

I tried to figure out on our portal how the Content Types and their corresponding templates behave, when using Office 2003 and Office 2007. There are 2 main factors that determine the behaviour when a user selects a content type from the “New” button in a document library: the file format of the template and the version of the Office client:

	File format: 2003	File format: 2007
Client: Office 2003	– client app opens with document based on template– user saves the document– user needs to select the correct content type– user needs to fill in the correct metadata	– not supported
Client: Office 2007	– client app opens new document based on template– user saves the document– user needs to select the correct content type– user needs to fill in the correct metadata via the document information panel, if metadata is required. Otherwise: NO metadata!(*)	– client app opens new document based on template– document information pannel shows metadata immediately after opening the document– user can fill in metadata in dip and save the doc in one move

(*) You can optimise this via the document information panel settings of the content type: check Always show Document Information Panel on document open and initial save for this content type.

Conclusion is that the user experience is only optimal when using Office 2007 with templates in the Office 2007 format (or what did you expect…)

Note: Interesting to know that the “Content type” is stored IN the properties of a document template file. If you use a document template file with such information as a template for an OTHER content type, things get very confusing, as MOSS will still prompt you for the metadata attached to the OLD content type!

Colligo Contributor and content type templates

Colligo Contributor 2.1 currently has difficulties synchonizing document libraries that have content types with “Linked” templates. We use this on the intranet, the templates are stored in a separate library on a separate site, and every content type has a reference to the library.

This is the response of Colligo tech support:

Hi Jan,

Yes indeed, a template situated in outside URL will cause a synchronization error in Contributor. In order to avoid this issue, you will need to use a URL that refers to the same site as the library with the content type. You can setup a document library with templates in it and content type on the same site can have these templates referenced as a URL.

Not a solution in our case… We will probably change the way our templates are stored (upload them directly with the content type) so that we can still use Contributor. A great tool!