Kicking off earlier this year in the spring of 2020, Timehouse has recently taken on a whole new dimension with the successful launch of an innovative WOPI project.
WOPI stands for Web Application Open Platform Interface: a Microsoft trial interface that allows browser-based processing with documents loaded directly from the server.
This WOPI project was born out of a need to use the MS Online platform as an interface. The idea was that multiple users could simultaneously edit documents, while the files themselves would all be managed and stored on our client’s own servers.
Navigating unchartered territory with new technology
The results has been a success, even though the project itself presented numerous technical challenges.
The WOPI technology is new and available documentation is scant, so the project had to frequently navigate unchartered territory. After a few minor detours that resulted in some important lessons being learned, the project was successfully taken through to completion.
Microsoft Validator as a compass showing us the way
The actual implementation was done using JavaScript. WOPI itself is still very rare for the time being, and this project meant that we were able to truly work “at the forefront of software development”.
Microsoft required us to use their own validator which is part of their verification process.
“We had to go through the validator process to get the green light from Microsoft to join their ecosystem” says our application developer Pekka Nordberg.
“Validation is a crucial step in Microsoft’s authentication process, ensuring that the application we created worked seamlessly with other Microsoft interfaces” concludes Nordberg.
Read a more detailed description of the WOPI project in our case study
From Timehouse’s point of view, this project was a gem. It is great to collaborate with a client who really understands the challenges of software development.
