Introduction

Microsoft Office Tools can be modified by “Add-Ins”.  These modifications can enable the Office Tools to pass data between them and other applications.  Add-Ins for Word and Excel have been built to interface with EQMS.  This enables users to store and extract the document files they are working on, directly to or from EQMS without using the usual EQMS screen forms interface.

When an EQMS add-In has been added to an MS Office Tool it has an extra Tab above the ribbon – labelled EQMS.  The associated ribbon has five action icons, four of which enable direct document transfer access to/from EQMS and one which enables the setting up of that access.

To store or check-in a document, EQMS requires that the following are set in a Profile. Profiles are associated with Users. Each user creates and maintains their own profiles in EQMS.

• identification of the target instance of EQMS (by its URL) 
• the Navigator location within EQMS and
• the required Document Control Type

Any EQMS user can download and view documents via this facility unless any viewing restrictions have been put into place.

Installation

Tthe Application can't be rolled out via profiles and must be installed on each Client machine by the user who will be making use of the Office Interface. The user must have been granted Administration rights for the purposes of the installation and the Setup.exe must be installed via right click 'Run as administrator'.

Note:  This is different to the applicaion being installed by an local Administrator using their admin credentials,

Setting and Storing Your User Credentials

Open MS Word and select the EQMS tab from the MS Word Menu bar:

The Settings screen will be displayed similar to this:

If the “Use Current Logon Credentials for all Future EQMS Actions” check box is left unticked in the Settings screen, subsequent access to EQMS will require completion of the Registration popup screen.

Supply your EQMS system URL and select the Save button. You will be presneted with the Registrsation popup screen similar screen to this:

Supply your EQMS username and Password and select the submit button.

Once set for one tool (e.g. for Word) the settings will apply to the other MS Office tools.

Creating and Modifying Your Upload Profiles in EQMS

Open your instance of EQMS and navigate to My User Details from the Tools menu option. The My User Details screen will be displayed similar to this:

Select the Upload Profiles icon from the blue icon bar. The Upload Profiles screen will be displayed similar to this:

To create a new Profile select the New Upload Profile link from the blue icon bar. The Upload Profiles Details screen will be displayed similar to this:

Complete the Profile Title and choose a Document Control Type from the drop down box. Optionally tick the checkbox to apply the same permissions to the component that have been applied to the document.

Identify where documents uploaded using this profile should reside in the Navigation Tree. Select Link To Structure to the right of the Upload To field. The EQMS Structure screen will be displayed similar to this:

Expand the Navigation Tree to locate the Structure Component under which documents uploaded using this profile will sit and select the Click to add a Component Under this one icon. The Upload To will automatically be updated with your selection:

When you are satisfied your Upload Profile is correct select the Save icon from the blue icon bar.

To view and optionally edit the details of the Profile, select the Upload Profile Title from the Upload Profiles screen. The Upload Profile Details screen will be displayed similar to this:

Make your required modifications and select the Save icon. 

Opening a Document Stored in EQMS

Open the MS Office tool for the type of document to be worked on. Select the EQMS tab in the Microsoft Word tool bar. The EQMS navigation buttons will be revealed similar to this:

Select the Open from EQMS icon.  You will be presented with the Open Document from EQMS screen similar to this:

You may Search for Documents by providing a document title string or ID number, or Show Recent Documents which lists your recently opened documents by selecting the corresponding Radio button.

The result of either method produces a list of document matching your search criteria:

Highlight your required document by selecting anywhere in the record row and select the Open button to the bottom right of the screen. The selected document will be opened. In the example above a Document Tile search was performed for documents containing the string Document Manager.

Uploading a Document to EQMS

Note: Only users with the necessary EQMS permissions can use this functionality.

Choose the EQMS tab from the Microsoft tool bar and select the Upload to EQMS icon. The Upload to EQMS screen will be displayed similar to this:

Select one of your defined Upload Profiles from the Drop Down Box:

Select the now active Upload button to upload the document into EQMS using the Document Control Type and Navigator Tree location defined in your chosen Upload Profile. You may also decide to save a copy of the document locally by ticking the Also Save Locally check box.

If the Document Control Type (DCT) has a level of control of Controlled Document, then the upload will trigger a Request For Change (RFC) and Issue the first Action in the associated Approval Path workflow.

Checking a Document Out from EQMS

Only users with the necessary EQMS permissions can use this functionality. You would use this functionality to lock the selected Live document for update from any other Document Content Manager. You can safely edit the document and then check the document into EQMS. This initiates a version change auto incrementing the version number.

Choose the EQMS tab in the Microsoft tool bar and select the Check Out from EQMS icon. The Check Document Out from EQMS screen will be displayed similar to this:

Use the available filters to locate the document you wish to Check out:

Highlight the document you want to Check out and select the Check Document Out button located to the bottom right of the screen. The selected document will be opened ready for editing similar to this:

When you have finished editing the document select the EQMS tab the from the Microsoft tool bar….

Checking a Document back in to EQMS

Only users with the necessary EQMS permissions can use this functionality.

To check a document into EQMS select the Check into EQMS icon. The Check into EQMS screen will be displayed similar to this:

Note: The drop down selection contains all of the documents you have checked out in EQMS.  

Select the document you want to check in from the drop down box. The Check In button becomes active similar to this:

Select the Check In button to check the chosen document back into EQMS. This will perform a version change, auto incrementing the version number.

You have the option to save a copy of the document locally by ticking the Also Save Locally check box. If this check box was ticked the Save As screen will be displayed similar to this:

Complete the File Name and select the Save button located to the bottom right of the screen. The Success screen will be displayed similar to the when the check in process has been completed:

Select OK to continue.

If the Document Control Type (DCT) has a level of control of Controlled Document, then the upload will trigger a Request For Change (RFC) and Issue the first Action in the associated Approval Path workflow.

If the version number of the live document was 2 when it was checked out, the version number will become 2(1) after the version change is instigated by the check in process.

If another version change is instigated from the Office Add-in using the Check-Out/Check-In process the version number of the Live document would become 2(2).