About Web Access

Web Access is the name for the intranet/Internet access system built into Meridian. Web Access lets you work with Meridian Enterprise vaults using the Internet Explorer web browser. Web Access is available in two levels that each use a different license:

Office Web Client – All Web Access features described in this chapter

Power Web Client – All Web Access features described in this chapter plus the CAD application links in remote mode as described in About the application links.

You can access all of the same vault features and data from Web Access that you can with PowerUser except:

Viewing work area properties

Creating, modifying, and deleting baselines

Saving searches (collections)

Comparing documents

Web Access is the ideal client application for:

Occasional LAN users

WAN users

Remote users

Traveling users

Telecommuters

Consultants, contractors, and other business partners

The following figure identifies the various areas of the Web Access window when browsing a vault.

The following figure identifies the various areas of the Web Access window when viewing a document.

The following table describes each area of the application window.

Features of the Web Access client window
Number	Name	Description
1	Context bar	Lists for changing the current Navigation view, time context, work area, and vault. Note Time Context appears only if it has been enabled in your Web Access preferences.
2	Toolbar	Quick access to common commands.
3	Navigation view	One of various hierarchical views of the vault contents. Select another view from the list in the context bar.
4	Status bar	Displays the current folder’s: path, creation date and time, creator’s name, number of subfolders, and number of documents. Also displays your logon name.
5	Property page tabs	Click to display the same property pages as shown in the other Meridian client applications with only slightly different functionality.
6	Menu bar	Menus of Meridian commands. Displayed only when a document is selected. The commands listed on the various menus are the same as those on the Document shortcut menu.
7	Hybrid Parts tab	Click to display and work with the list of available hybrid parts for the selected document.
8	Property pages	Property values for the currently selected document. The number and names of property pages varies with the currently selected document type.
9	URL	Web Access address of the selected document that you can copy to the Clipboard and paste in other documents or systems to create a link to the selected document.
10	Thumbnail	A static preview image of the selected document. Click to view the document in a viewer window the same as described for PowerUser.

Features of the Web Access client window

Number

Name

Description

Context bar

Lists for changing the current Navigation view, time context, work area, and vault.

Note Time Context appears only if it has been enabled in your Web Access preferences.

Toolbar

Quick access to common commands.

Navigation view

One of various hierarchical views of the vault contents. Select another view from the list in the context bar.

Status bar

Displays the current folder’s: path, creation date and time, creator’s name, number of subfolders, and number of documents. Also displays your logon name.

Property page tabs

Click to display the same property pages as shown in the other Meridian client applications with only slightly different functionality.

Menu bar

Menus of Meridian commands. Displayed only when a document is selected. The commands listed on the various menus are the same as those on the Document shortcut menu.

Hybrid Parts tab

Click to display and work with the list of available hybrid parts for the selected document.

Property pages

Property values for the currently selected document. The number and names of property pages varies with the currently selected document type.

URL

Web Access address of the selected document that you can copy to the Clipboard and paste in other documents or systems to create a link to the selected document.

Thumbnail

A static preview image of the selected document. Click to view the document in a viewer window the same as described for PowerUser.

As with most web pages, blue text in Web Access indicates a hyperlink. Web Access displays hyperlinks for opening folders and the document log.

Warning Web Access saves session information on a per-user basis. This differs from PowerUser, which saves information on a per-session basis. To prevent errors and lost data, do not log on to multiple sessions of Web Access simultaneously with the same user account.

The following topics describe how to use Web Access to perform common tasks.

Related concepts

Understanding the shortcut menus

About read only Web Access

About the Meridian desktop application

Understanding the Office Client

About Application Integration

Related tasks

Opening a vault

Navigating to a document

Finding documents

Creating a folder