WebDAV: Overview

What it does

WebDAV is a technology that allows you to easily transfer files and folders from your local computer to your Resources folder in your My Workspace or a course site or project site to which you belong. WebDAV stands for "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning". It is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol that allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers.

Once you have set up WebDAV, your computer will treat your Resources section like any other folder on your local system. You will be able to drag and drop files and folders from Resources just as you would in My Computer in Windows XP or the Finder on a Mac.

For more information about WebDAV, including technical specifications and major features, see the WebDAV FAQ at:

Key concepts

Locking properties: If you are using WebDAV to work on files and folders in a shared Resources section, you can use its locking properties to prevent two or more users from overwriting the same resource without first merging changes.

Windows vs. Mac: On a Windows XP computer, WebDAV works through My Network Places. Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) supports secure WebDAV connections. If you use Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) or earlier, you will need to download software called Goliath if you want to use WebDAV.

Things to consider

• WebDAV is not available for use with guest accounts.
  
  
• There must be at least one object (i.e., file or folder) in your Resources section before you set up WebDAV.
  
  
• If you are using WebDAV in Windows and have mapped a drive to the application via Network Places, you cannot delete a file by dragging it from the Network Place window to the Recycle Bin. Instead, select the file and click Delete.
  
  
• WebDAV will require you to enter the siteID for each site you wish to access. The siteID is a unique identifier for each worksite. To find the siteID, in the worksite's menubar, click Resources. Click Upload-Download Multiple Resources. Your site ID should appear near the top of the page.

Help documentation

For help documentation about using WebDAV in Oncourse CL, see Using WebDAV in Oncourse CL: Help contents.