Collaboration on a Star Office Document

Question

Hello everyone,
how can several people work on the same Star Office document (or MS Office document opened with Star Office 8), providing for the "read-only" mode for all but a single user? Is there any option allowing to use a document as a "read-only" (and even better - password-based, like in MS Office)?
Thank everyone for help.
Mike Faynberg

Answer 1

Hi
You can share files from any location on any Mac. Where you end up storing them depends on who you want to allow access to your computer. Let me give you two examples (although there are more configurations you can use).
A - If you are the only person in your office, and have both a MBP and a Mac Pro, you can turn on File Sharing on either computer, and from the other computer, locate the computer in the sidebar of the Finder, click "Connect As", and enter your other Mac's admin name and password. You will then be able to connect to the entire hard drive. You can therefore share files from any folder across the network.
B - If you share the office with someone else that you don't want to give access to your whole drive or even your user files, but want to share only certain files, turn on File Sharing, and store the shared files in your Public folder. When the other person clicks on your computer name in their Finder sidebar, they'll automatically see your Public folder (they don't need to use "Connect As", since it will automatically log in as a guest). The possible disadvantage of this method is that you must store any needed files in "Public" before the other person can get to them.
You turn on File Sharing in System Preferences, under Sharing. As I say, there are other sharing possibilities, but I've given you the two extremes of the spectrum.
You might also want to look at Dropbox, which is a third-party solution (free for up to 2GB). It is best for individuals with multiple computers, or within a small company. It gives you a single shared folder called "Dropbox" which is automatically synced across all computers on which you have installed the software with your account.
Hope that helps.
Matt