Fixing Documents that Mysteriously Become Protected
Applies to: Word 2003
The Microsystems Solutions Center recently fielded multiple inquiries on a malady we've dubbed "Mysteriously-Protected Document Syndrome", or MPDS for short. If your documents (hence, you!) become protected and you don't know why, we've uncovered at least one way this spontaneous activation can occur, how you can fix it, and how DocXamine can be used to identify its presence. Read on!
The cause:
Word's File | Send To | Routing Recipient feature, first introduced in Word 97, is designed to choreograph a revision cycle among a team of reviewers. Essentially, a routing slip is created at the binary level of the document (e.g., the user can't 'see' it), listing each of the 'parties' named in the cycle. The document's 'owner', or originator, starts the review cycle with Word's File | Send To | Routing Recipient, at which point she lists all of the parties who will sequentially or synchronously be asked to review the attached document.
The cycle:
The first user listed on the slip receives the document, makes her changes, then, when done, performs a File | Send To | -- only now, the feature dynamically changes to reflect "Next" or "Other Recipient" as available choices. When sent, the document is routed off to the next email address defined in the routing list. Ultimately, the originator of the review cycle receives the collected results, and manages the acceptance or rejection of changes.
The 'protected' culprit:
To facilitate this 'cycle', Word defaults the document to a 'protect' state for tracked changes.
The context:
When working in a Word environment managed by more recent versions of Interwoven, File | Send to | Routing Recipient is the available method for attaching a managed Word document to an Outlook email message. As such, the document leaves the firm 'protected', thus returns 'protected'.
To workaround this issue:
When using File | Send To | Routing Recipient, drop-down the Protect for: item, and choose "(none)".
To unprotect the document at any point in this (inadvertent) cycle:
- Tools | Unprotect document
- If applicable, accept/reject any active revisions.
To identify documents which possess the problem:
- Run DocXamine, create a project and a new collection.
- Add files from your DMS, using appropriate search criteria (e.g., "Word documents created in the past 48 hours").
- Click on the first document in the collection to select it, then "Select Properties". Uncheck "Discovery Collections", then check the "Revisions" group. Click OK.
- Holding down the [Shift] key, select the last document in the collection, and launch "Discover Properties".
- DocXamine will run through all documents in the collection, reporting "Job Failed" on those which possess active revisions and the routing slip. Please note: You may need to dismiss the security warning which appears as Word attempts to access your Outlook email box. Once you do, DocXamine will continue.
More about specifying a Routing method:
The Routing feature of Word's "Send to" permits either a sequential review ("One at a time") or a simultaneous ("All at once") review cycle. In either scenario, the document defaults to a protected state for Tracked Changes.
