Configuring WebDAV

Setting up WebDAV access to Vault Standard is relatively straightforward, in that no additional client software needs to be installed. However, since the setup is not as automated as connecting a Vault Standard Windows Client to the server, the details must be handled carefully.

Constructing the Vault Standard WebDAV URL

All WebDAV access to Vault Standard is via URLs. A Vault Standard WebDAV URL is composed of 4 parts:

The WebDAV Server

This is almost always on the same host as your Vault Standard server, at /sgdav/wd.ashx.

For example, if Vault Standard lives at http://example.com/VaultService, WebDAV lives at http://example.com/sgdav/wd.ashx

The Vault Standard server name

The host name where Vault Standard resides.

For example, if Vault Standard lives at http://example.com/VaultService, the host name is simply example.com

Note: Vault's WebDAV does not support SSL. The WebDav URL can be configured to use http:// but not https://.

The Repository name

The specific repository with which you'll be working, as it appears in your Repository List.

For example, "Initial Repository" or "ERP".

The File or Folder path

The full path to the file or folder we're after.

For example, to access the $/bigproject/trunk/includes Vault Standard folder, we would use /bigproject/trunk/includes

Although file-by-file access is possible via WebDAV, when configuring a client it is much more common to pick the high-level folder corresponding to the project or group of files you're working with.

Example 8.1. A complete Vault Standard WebDAV URL

Let's say that Vault Standard, and its WebDAV component, reside on scc.example.com; that we're using the "Initial Repository" repository there; and that we wish to work within the $/myproject/trunk/ folder.

This URL would be built as follows:

http://scc.example.com/sgdav/wd.ashx/scc.example.com/Initial%20Repository/myproject/trunk


Note: Special characters in WebDAV URLs

If your repository name or folder path contains special characters (spaces, punctuation other than "/", etc.) you'll need to URL-escape those characters.

For example, "My Repository" would be escaped as "My%20Repository"; "/trunk/Odds&Ends" would be escaped as "/trunk/Odds%26Ends".

See the Percent-encoding Wikipedia page for more examples and further reading on URL encoding.

Authentication

You'll need to login via WebDAV, using a valid Vault Standard username and password. Some clients will also want you to use a "check out name" or "scc username" for WebDAV's own purposes -- in this case, you should use the same username as you do for Vault Standard. (See the Dreamweaver example)

Sanity Check

To ensure that your WebDAV URL is correct, it's a good idea to use the built-in "sanity check". This will give you a quick overview of what WebDAV sees, and note any errors that occur if the URL is incorrect.

Use the same URL as discussed in Constructing the Vault Standard WebDAV URL, but replace the folder/file portion with "SanityCheck". Using the previous example, this would be:

http://scc.example.com/sgdav/wd.ashx/scc.example.com/Initial%20Repository/SanityCheck

If all goes well, you'll see something like:

Request URI:	 http://scc.example.com:80/sgdav/wd.ashx/scc.example.com/Initial%20Repository/SanityCheck
Vault/Vaultpro server:	 scc.example.com
Vault/Vaultpro repository: 	Initial Repository
Vault credentials: 	minion722/*********
Working folder: 	C:\Windows\TEMP\

Top-level folders:
  $/wdom2
  $/WorldDomination