Yet Another SharePoint Blog

SharePoint 15 Technical Preview SDK

2012-01-31T15:04:00.000-05:00

Today I came to know about Office 15 will be available in the summer 2012 so my obvious reaction was "So will there be new version of SharePoint on its way?" and it was interesting to see that SharePoint 15's Technical Preview SDK is also available on Microsoft's site.

See the link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=28768

Expert SharePoint 2010 Practices - Orion Systems

2012-01-18T10:23:00.001-05:00

With Pradeep Thekkethodi at Orion Systems - Montvale, New Jersey.

SharePoint 2007 Web Service: Delete An Item Versions

2012-01-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Scenario:
We recently had a performance issue in our environment at client side and after some investigation we found out that there are many versions( Up to 500 No kidding) of documents(specially he ASPX) sit in the Content Database which are not even required.

Solution:
We developed a small .NET WinForm (MS Visual Studio 2005) based utility that uses SharePoint Webservice Versions.asmx to cleanup(delete all versions of an item and leave the latest one) the lists with non used versions.
Following is the Code to delete an item version (not the whole item):

1. Get the all the lists function:


//Class Level Variables 
//You need to add the web reference to the project 

public static string strVersionWebServiceURL;
WSLists.Lists _listService;
WSVersion.Versions _versionService;

// Actual Function
private void btnGetListCollection_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

            // List and Version web service declaration and initialization
            strListWebServiceURL = txtSiteURL.Text + "/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";
            strVersionWebServiceURL = txtSiteURL.Text + "/_vti_bin/versions.asmx";
            System.Net.NetworkCredential nt = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(txtUserName.Text, txtPassword.Text);

            _listService = new WSLists.Lists();
            _listService.Credentials = nt;
            _listService.Url = strListWebServiceURL;

            _versionService = new WSVersion.Versions();
            _versionService.Credentials = nt;
            _versionService.Url = strVersionWebServiceURL;

            // end declaration

            if (txtSiteURL.Text != string.Empty && txtUserName.Text != string.Empty && txtPassword.Text != string.Empty)
            {
                lsListCollection.Items.Clear();
                XmlNode _xmlListCollection = _listService.GetListCollection();
                for (int i = 0; i < _xmlListCollection.ChildNodes.Count; i++)
                {
                    string strListName = _xmlListCollection.ChildNodes[i].Attributes["Title"].Value.ToLower();
                    lsListCollection.Items.Add(strListName);
                }// End For Loop
            }
            else
            {
                MessageBox.Show("Site URL, User Name and Password must be entered");
            }
        }

2. Delete all the versions of all the items from the selected list function:

private void btnDeleteAllVersionofList_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string strndQuery = "<OrderBy><FieldRef Name=\"Modified\" Ascending=\"FALSE\" /></OrderBy>";
            /*string strndQuery = "<Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='ID' /><Value Type='Integer'>" + "76" + "</Value></Eq></Where>" +
                       "<OrderBy><FieldRef Name=\"Modified\" Ascending=\"FALSE\" /></OrderBy>";
            **/
            XmlNodeList _nodelist = GetListItems(strndQuery);
            if (_nodelist != null)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < _nodelist.Count; i++)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        XmlNode _node = _nodelist[i];
                        string strItemURL = _node.Attributes["ows_EncodedAbsUrl"].Value;
 //                       MessageBox.Show(strItemURL);
                        XmlNode xmlVersionCollection = _versionService.DeleteAllVersions(strItemURL);
                    }
                    catch  {}
                }
                MessageBox.Show("Done!!!");
            }
        }

private XmlNodeList GetListItems(string strndQuery)
        {
            XmlNodeList _nodelist = null;

            string strListName = lsListCollection.SelectedItem.ToString();

            XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

            XmlNode ndQuery = xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Query", "");
            XmlNode ndViewFields =
                    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "ViewFields", "");
            XmlNode ndQueryOptions =
                    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "QueryOptions", "");

            ndQueryOptions.InnerXml =
                "<IncludeMandatoryColumns>FALSE</IncludeMandatoryColumns>" +
                "<DateInUtc>TRUE</DateInUtc>" + "<ViewAttributes Scope='Recursive'/>";

            ndQuery.InnerXml = strndQuery;
            //add view fields to fix
            ndViewFields.InnerXml =
                    "<FieldRef Name='Title' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='Abstract' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='ContentURL' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='LinkFilename' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='Last_x0020_Modified' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='DocIcon' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='DaysNew' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='RiskManagementLevel' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='File_x0020_Size' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='CategoryFilter_x002F_USDocumentType' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='ID' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='MediaType' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='EncodedAbsUrl' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='USPrimaryServiceLine_x002F_USPrimarySubService' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='USSecondaryServiceLine_x002F_USSecondarySubService' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='USIndustry_x002F_USSector' />" +
                    "<FieldRef Name='USServiceLine_x002F_ServiceOffering' /><FieldRef Name='ServerUrl' /><FieldRef Name='Modified' />";

            try
            {
                XmlDocument _xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
                XmlNamespaceManager _xmlNameSpaceMngr = new XmlNamespaceManager(_xmlDocument.NameTable);

                _xmlNameSpaceMngr.AddNamespace("rs", "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset");
                _xmlNameSpaceMngr.AddNamespace("z", "#RowsetSchema");

                XmlNode ndListItems = null;

                ndListItems =
                        _listService.GetListItems(strListName, null, ndQuery,
                        ndViewFields, "2500", ndQueryOptions, null);

                _nodelist = ndListItems.SelectNodes("/rs:data/z:row", _xmlNameSpaceMngr);
            }
            catch
            {

            }

            return _nodelist;
        }

SharePoint 2010 Book - Launched

2011-12-06T10:31:00.001-05:00

Hello SharePointers!

Final Update on the SharePoint 2010 Book:
The book Expert SharePoint 2010 Practices has been finally launched on 30th November, 2011 and is available on APress.

SharePoint 2010 Correlation ID in Error Messages

2011-10-10T11:25:00.001-04:00

This morning one of my colleague in another team was having problem in creating a SharePoint 2010 site with an imported Site Template. This site template was created in a different SharePoint 2010 environment. He was getting the famous SharePoint error "Error: An unexpected error has occurred." with no details but it has Correlation ID.

I was trying to explain him how to look into the logs using the Correlation ID and found this MSDN article which explain how to search the error in the SharePoint logs in detail: SharePoint 2010 Correlation ID in error messages

SharePoint 2010 Book (Update)

2011-10-10T09:38:00.000-04:00

Hello SharePointers!

Quick Update on the SharePoint 2010 Book:
The book Expert SharePoint 2010 Practices is slightly delayed and the new launch date is 24th October, 2011.

SharePoint 2010 Book

2011-09-15T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hello SharePointers!

No post since ages, I know. I actually was busy with my book on SharePoint 2010 with a team of authors...surprrrrrise :o). The title of the book is Expert SharePoint 2010 Practices and it has been published by APress.

This book is available for pre-order for now and will be finally launched on Oct 15, 2011. This book is a great source of knowledge for Architects and Developers who are keen about SharePoint 2010. Don't forget to leave the feedback.

Happy Reading.

SharePoint Client Object Model in Silverlight - Developer - NothingButSharePoint.com

2011-05-25T16:40:00.002-04:00

SharePoint Client Object Model in Silverlight - Developer - NothingButSharePoint.com

Replacing URL in HTML using JQuery

2011-05-06T14:56:00.008-04:00

Scenario:
Sometimes if a list is currupted, Allitems.aspx's HTML starts acting weird and we dont want to spend too much time to dig deep into the problem but want a quick fix and endup fixing the HTML. Same goes here.

Solution:
Following code change the URLs in a page to a predefined URL.

<script type="text/javascript">

 if(typeof jQuery=="undefined")
 {
  var jQsrc="http://ajax.microsoft.com/ajax/jquery/jquery-1.4.4.min.js";
  document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+jQsrc+"' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
 }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">

$(document).ready(function() {
  //find all hyperlinks in the table holding calendar links and
  //change them to point at the display page instead of the edit page
  $("table[id^='CalViewTable']").find("a[href*='OldForm.aspx']").each(function(){
  var originalUrl = $(this).attr("href");
  var newUrl = originalUrl.replace("OldForm.aspx", "NewForm.aspx");
$(this).attr("href", newUrl);
});
});

</script>

Ref: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepointcustomization/thread/ee519099-e685-4560-9c18-70e4aa62eb39

SharePoint Client Object Model using ECMAScript - End User - NothingButSharePoint.com

2011-03-28T17:40:00.001-04:00

SharePoint Client Object Model using ECMAScript - End User - NothingButSharePoint.com

ECMAScript Class Library

2011-03-21T16:53:00.002-04:00

Following is the refrence to SHarePoint 2010 ECMA Script Class Library:

URL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee538253.aspx

SharePoint Client Object Model vs Server Object Model Classes

2011-03-15T17:43:00.035-04:00

One of the new feature of SharePoint 2010 is the Client Object Model. By using Client Object Model, developers can build the applications which can talk to SharePoint without using WebServices and without deploying any server side code.

Following is the list of Client Object Model classes and their equivalent to Server Object Model classes:

Client Object Model	Server Object Model
ClientContext	SPContext
Site	SPSite
Web	SPWeb
List	SPList
ListItem	SPListItem
Field	SPField

Example:

using Microsoft.SharePoint.Client;

private void SomeMethod()
{
  ClientContext clientContext = new ClientContext(siteUrl);
  Site siteCollection = clientContext.Site;
  Web site = clientContext.Web;
}

Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee857094(office.14).aspx

EMail as Primary Key in List

2011-03-04T11:35:00.008-05:00

Problem:
I have been asked a question today from one of the developers in another team that he wants to create a user registration list where emial should be unique for every user. And if user add item with existing email then he should be informed.

Solution:
We know that this functionality does not exist in the OTB SharePoint list features. After googling a bit I found following excellent solution using JQuery:

URL: http://sharepointjavascript.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/sharepoint-lists-or-document-librarys-primary-key-in-selected-field/

Silverlight Application in SharePoint 2010

2011-01-24T15:44:00.014-05:00

In my last post I have explained how to develop the Silverlight application using Visual Studio 2010. Then we deployed that application in SharePoint 2007 using Content Editor Webpart. In this post I will explain how to deploy the same application in SharePoint 2010 using Silverlight Webpart.

Note: Please click here for the Silverlight application development using Visual Studio 2010. This Hello World Silverlight application can be deployed on both SharePoint 2007 and 2010.

Deployment to SharePoint 2010

Go to the SharePoint portal.

Upload the SilverlightApp.xap to a document library.

Create a sample webpart page.

Open the page in Edit mode and from the ribbon select Editing Tools -> Insert -> Web Part.

From categories select Media and Content -> Silverlight Web Part -> Add.

Provide the URL of the SilverlightApp.xap file and hit OK.

It should look like this

Pretty easy hah! =]

Silverlight Application for SharePoint 2007

2011-01-19T14:58:00.042-05:00

The goal of this post is to guide the .NET developers to write a basic Silverlight 3 application using Visual Studio 2010 and then deploying it to SharePoint 2007. Trust me its pretty easy :).

Development with Visual Studio 2010
Following are the steps to develop a simple Silverlight 3 application using Visual Studio 2010:

Launch Visual Studio 2010

Select File -> New -> Project -> Silverlight Application and hit Ok.

Uncheck Host the Silverlight Application in a new Web site and select OK. We don’t want to host our Silverlight application in a ASP.NET Web application rather we will host it in a simple HTML page. This HTML Page will get created by the project.

Now you are ready to do the development on MainPage.xaml.

Drop a Textbox(txtMessage) and a Button(btnGo) on MainPage.xaml from the Toolbox on the left.

Double click on the button to get it’s click event handler and paste following code there:

namespace SilverlightApp  
{  
public partial class MainPage : UserControl  
{  
    public MainPage()  
    {  
        InitializeComponent();  
    }  
    private void btnGo_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)  
    {  
        MessageBox.Show(this.txtMessage.Text);  
    }  
}  
}

Go to bin folder and you will see a HTML file (In my case its SilverlightAppTestPage.html). Launch that HTML file and it should display your Silverlight application. Clicking the Go button should display the text entered in the Textbox.

Note: When Silverlight application is compiled, Visual Studio generates a XAP file (compiled silverlight application) which runs in a silverlight enabled browser. HTML page contains the object tag to load the Silverlight control which runs the Silverlight application.

Deployment to SharePoint 2010
Following are the steps to deploy the Silverlight application in to a SharePoint 2007 site:

Goto a SharePoint portal.

Upload the Silverlight.xap file in a document library.

Create a test ASPX page and add a Content Editor Web Part on it.

Paste following HTML object code in the ContentEditor Web Part:

<object type="application/x-silverlight-2" width="600" height="200">
    <param name="source" value="SilverlightApp.xap"/>
    <param name="minRuntimeVersion" value="3.0.40818.0" />
    <param name="background" value="white" />
</object>
<iframe id="_sl_historyFrame" style="height:0px;width:0px;border:0px"></iframe>

Make sure to change the parth of the XAP file from the document library.

Exit the edit mode.

The Silverlight application should be displayed in the test page.

Thanks for reading :).

View All XML Data via XSLT

2010-11-02T14:06:00.012-04:00

Some times we have to debug the XSLT for a WebPart (which generates XML data as output e.g. Search Core Results WebPart in MOSS) to manipulate the results. The first step of XSLT debugging is to see if the generated XML is valid and have all the necessary data.

Following is the code XSLT snippit to display all the XML elements:


  
  
  
<xsl:copy-of select="*"/>

MOSS Development/Customization Training

2010-10-04T10:01:00.025-04:00

In April 2010, my manager Pradeep Thekkethodi asked me to conduct a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Development training to upgrade the skills of our colleagues with .NET experience. The idea was to quickly bring the developers up to the speed for SharePoint Development and Advance Customization with SharePoint Designer 2007 and Visual Studio 2008. This training was held in our company Orion Systems Integrators Inc. This training was attended by 12 professionals.

I joined hands with my colleague Pramod who is a SharePoint Architect and we came up with a following course outline:

Module 1: SharePoint Object Model – 2 Hrs - Pramod
• SharePoint Object Model – Farm, Web Application, Site Collection, Sites and Site elements
• Navigation, Access control and security, Site directory, Site columns, Content types
• Lists and Views, Search, Extra-net Usage

Module 2: Site Tools – 2 Hours – Tahir
• Create custom lists
• Create custom default views for lists
• Create custom web pages and web part zones
• Insert and configure web parts
• Connect web parts to filter data

Module 3: Master Pages – 2 Hours – Tahir
• Understand the structure of master pages.
• Modifying Master Pages
• Creating a Custom Master Page
• Creating a Custom Cascading Style Sheet
• Creating a Web Page from a Master Page
• Understand the purpose and use of Cascading Style Sheets.
• Attach and customize master pages.
• Create content pages from master pages.

Module 4: Forms and Data – 4 Hours – Tahir
• Creating a Formatted View
• Creating a Merged Data Source
• Creating a Custom Data View Page
• Applying Conditional Formatting
• Create and customize Data Views.
• Use conditional formatting to identify data changes.
• Create custom data sources
• Create linked and merged data sources

Module 5: Automating Business Processes - 4 Hours – Tahir
• Implementing Workflows Using Workflow Designer
• Create a SharePoint Designer Workflow
• Using Conditions and Actions
• Verifying and Deploying a Workflow
• Describe Workflows in SharePoint and SharePoint Designer
• Create a workflow through Workflow Designer
• Add conditions and actions to a workflow.

Module 6 and 7: Web Part Development – 4 Hours – Tahir
(Prereq: ASP.NET, C# & SharePoint)
• Creating, deploying and debugging ASP.NET Web Parts in WSS
• Writing CAML to retrieve and store data.
• Deploying WebPart

Module 8: Event Handlers – 4 hrs – Tahir
• List Event Handlers
• Deployment

Model 9: Logical Architecture, Performance Optimization and Tuning – 2 Hours – Pramod
• Client Side Performance issue
• Server side performance issues

Model 10: Best Practices, Information Architecture, Governance Planning - Pramod
• Best Practices for SharePoint implementation and Designing

Update a List Column using JQuery with SharePoint WebServices

2010-07-28T16:19:00.007-04:00

Scenario: Click on the image in data View to update the Status on an item.
PreReq: A list with choice column Status (0,1,2).
0 represents Not started,
1 represents In Progress and
2 represents Completed.

You need two libraries:
1. JQuery (jquery-1.4.2.js)
2. SPServices (jquery.SPServices-0.5.6.min.js)

Add following code in your page in the head, or where ever you want to:

<script type="text/javascript" src="Scripts/jquery-1.4.2.js"></script>  
<script type="text/javascript" src="Scripts/jquery.SPServices-0.5.6.min.js"></script>  
  
<script type="text/javascript">  
  
function UpdateStatusCode(divId, waitMessage, ID, StatusCode)  
  {  
    
   //alert(divId +" "+ waitMessage +" "+ ID + " " + StatusCode);  
   if (confirm ("Are you sure you want to update the status of the selected event?"))  
   {  
    StatusCode = StatusCode + 1;  
      
    if (StatusCode < 3)  
    {  
     $(divId).html(waitMessage).SPServices({  
     operation: "UpdateListItems",  
     listName: 'Events',  
     ID: ID,  
     valuepairs: [["Status", StatusCode]],  
     completefunc: function (xData, Status) {  
      var out = $().SPServices.SPDebugXMLHttpResult({  
       node: xData.responseXML,  
       outputId: divId  
      });  
        
      window.location = RefreshPageURL('Default.aspx');  
  
      }  
     });  
    }  
    else  
    {  
     alert('This event is already completed.');  
    }  
   }  
  }  
</script>

Place the following div where you want to display the status column in the DataView Webpart. XSL in the <div> will display the relevant image and click event on the div will call the UpdateStatusCode() function to update the value on StatusCode column via JQuery and then page will get refreshed to show the right image based on the updated value.

<div id="div+{@ID}" onclick="UpdateStatusCode('div'+{@ID}, 'Updating', {@ID}, {@Status});">  
<xsl:if test="@Status = '0'"><img src="images/NotStarted.png"></xsl:if>  
<xsl:if test="@Status = '1'"><img src="images/InProgress.jpg"></xsl:if>  
<xsl:if test="@Status = '2'"><img src="images/Completed.jpg"></xsl:if>  
</div>

JQuery makes life easy :o).

SharePoint WebPart Custom Properties

2010-07-08T17:51:00.011-04:00

Add the following piece of code (to create the custom property Password for your custom WebPart) in your WebPart class. Now the property will get displayed under Parameters section in the Property panel of the WebPart as displayed in the screenshot below.


private string _strPassword;


[Browsable(true),
Category("Parameters"),
DefaultValue(""),
WebBrowsable(true),
Personalizable(PersonalizationScope.Shared),
WebDisplayName("Password"),
Description("Network Password")]
public string strPassword
{
    get
    {
        return _strPassword;
    }
    set
    {
        _strPassword = value;
    }
}

Now Access strPassword anywhere in the code to access the value provided by the user.

SharePoint 2007 Web Service: Get Items

2010-06-04T18:10:00.002-04:00

Use lists.asmx to get the items through a desktop application

Below is the C# function to call the lists.asmx MOSS Web Service to get list items from a list/document library.
Add reference to lists.asmx to your project and use the following code:

private void GetItems(string strListName)
{

try
{
    #region Connect to URL

    this.m_objWSSListService.Url = this.cmbURL.Text.Trim('/') + "/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";

    string sDomain = string.Empty;
    string sUserName = this.txtLogin.Text.Trim();
    if (sUserName.IndexOf("\\") > 0)
    {
        sDomain = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[0];
        sUserName = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[1];
    }

    this.m_objWSSListService.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(sUserName, this.txtPassword.Text.Trim(), sDomain);

    #endregion

    string sListName = strListName;
    string SourceDocumentURL = "";
    string strTempLocation = "C:\\Temp\\";
    string strFileName = "";

    System.Xml.XmlNode xnListSchema = m_objWSSListService.GetList(sListName);

    //get the Data from the List
    System.Xml.XmlDocument xdListData = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnQuery = xdListData.CreateElement("Query");
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnViewFields = xdListData.CreateElement("ViewFields");
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnQueryOptions = xdListData.CreateElement("QueryOptions");

    System.Xml.XmlNode xnListData = m_objWSSListService.GetListItems(sListName, null, xnQuery, xnViewFields, null, xnQueryOptions);


    if (!Directory.Exists(strTempLocation))
    {
        Directory.CreateDirectory(strTempLocation);
    }

    foreach (XmlNode outerNode in xnListData.ChildNodes)
    {
        if (outerNode.NodeType.Equals(System.Xml.XmlNodeType.Element))
        {
            foreach (XmlNode node in outerNode.ChildNodes)
            {
                if (node.NodeType.Equals(System.Xml.XmlNodeType.Element))
                {
                    MessageBox.Show(node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("ows_Title").InnerText);
                }
            }
        }
    }

}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{

    this.WriteLog(ex.ToString());
}

}

SharePoint 2007 Web Service: Create Folder in Document Library

2010-06-02T15:26:00.004-04:00

Use lists.asmx to create folder in a document library through a desktop application

Below is the C# function to call the lists.asmx MOSS Web Service to create folders in a document library.
Add reference to lists.asmx to your project and use the following code:


private void CreateFolder(string strPath, string strListName)
{

try
{
#region Connect to URL

this.m_objWSSListService.Url = this.cmbURL.Text.Trim('/') + "/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";

string sDomain = string.Empty;
string sUserName = this.txtLogin.Text.Trim();
if (sUserName.IndexOf("\\") > 0)
{
    sDomain = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[0];
    sUserName = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[1];
}

this.m_objWSSListService.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(sUserName, this.txtPassword.Text.Trim(), sDomain);

#endregion

System.Xml.XmlDocument xmlDoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
System.Xml.XmlElement Batch = xmlDoc.CreateElement("Batch");

Batch.SetAttribute("OnError", "Continue");
Batch.SetAttribute("ListVersion", "0");
string strBatch = "<method id="1" cmd="New">";
strBatch = strBatch + "<field name="ID">New</field>";
strBatch = strBatch + "<field name="FSObjType">1</field>";
strBatch = strBatch + "<field name="FileRef">" + strPath + "</field></method>";

Batch.InnerXml = strBatch;
XmlNode ndReturn = this.m_objWSSListService.UpdateListItems(strListName, Batch);
if (ndReturn.FirstChild.FirstChild.InnerText != "0x00000000")
{
    this.WriteLog(ndReturn.InnerText);
}

this.WriteLog("Create Operation - List:" + strListName + " - Folder: " + strPath);


}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{
this.WriteLog(ex.ToString());
}

}

SharePoint 2007 Web Service: Download Documents

2010-06-02T15:07:00.007-04:00

Use lists.asmx to download the documents from a document library through a desktop application

Below is the C# function to call the lists.asmx MOSS Web Service to download the documents from a document library.
Add reference to lists.asmx to your project and use the following code:

private void DownloadDocumnts(string strListName)
{

try
{
    #region Connect to URL

    this.m_objWSSListService.Url = this.cmbURL.Text.Trim('/') + "/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";

    string sDomain = string.Empty;
    string sUserName = this.txtLogin.Text.Trim();
    if (sUserName.IndexOf("\\") > 0)
    {
        sDomain = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[0];
        sUserName = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[1];
    }

    this.m_objWSSListService.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(sUserName, this.txtPassword.Text.Trim(), sDomain);

    #endregion

    string sListName = strListName;
    string SourceDocumentURL = "";
    string strTempLocation = "C:\\Temp\\";
    string strFileName = "";

    System.Xml.XmlNode xnListSchema = m_objWSSListService.GetList(sListName);

    //get the Data from the List
    System.Xml.XmlDocument xdListData = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnQuery = xdListData.CreateElement("Query");
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnViewFields = xdListData.CreateElement("ViewFields");
    System.Xml.XmlNode xnQueryOptions = xdListData.CreateElement("QueryOptions");

    System.Xml.XmlNode xnListData = m_objWSSListService.GetListItems(sListName, null, xnQuery, xnViewFields, null, xnQueryOptions);


    if (!Directory.Exists(strTempLocation))
    {
        Directory.CreateDirectory(strTempLocation);
    }

    foreach (XmlNode outerNode in xnListData.ChildNodes)
    {
        if (outerNode.NodeType.Equals(System.Xml.XmlNodeType.Element))
        {
            foreach (XmlNode node in outerNode.ChildNodes)
            {
                if (node.NodeType.Equals(System.Xml.XmlNodeType.Element))
                {
                    XmlNode FileNameNode = node.Attributes.GetNamedItem("ows_EncodedAbsUrl");
                    SourceDocumentURL = FileNameNode.InnerText;
                    strFileName = SourceDocumentURL.Substring(SourceDocumentURL.LastIndexOf('/') + 1).Replace("%20", " ");

                    /*
                     * ?noredirect=true 
                     * will not open the file in default program (e.g. XSN for InfoPath), instead it will download the file
                     * 
                     * */

                    System.Net.WebClient objWebClient = new System.Net.WebClient();
                    objWebClient.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
                    objWebClient.DownloadFile(SourceDocumentURL + "?noredirect=true" ,strTempLocation + strFileName);

                    this.WriteLog("File Downloaded: " + SourceDocumentURL);
                }
            }
        }
    }

}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{

    this.WriteLog(ex.ToString());
}

}

SharePoint 2007 Web Service: Create User Group

2010-06-01T14:18:00.020-04:00

Use UserGroup.asmx to create User Group through a desktop application

Below is the C# function to call the UserGroup.asmx MOSS Web Service to create Uer Groups.
Add reference to UserGroup.asmx to your project and use the following code:

private void CreateUserGroup(string strGroupName, string strDescription)
{
try
{

    #region Connect to UserGroup.asmx

    this.objUserGroupService.Url = this.cmbURL.Text.Trim('/') + "/_vti_bin/UserGroup.asmx";

    string sDomain = string.Empty;
    string sUserName = this.txtLogin.Text.Trim();
    if (sUserName.IndexOf("\\") > 0)
    {
        sDomain = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[0];
        sUserName = sUserName.Split("\\".ToCharArray())[1];
    }

    this.objUserGroupService.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(sUserName, this.txtPassword.Text.Trim(), sDomain);

    #endregion

    this.objUserGroupService.AddGroup(strGroupName, this.txtLogin.Text.Trim(), "user", this.txtLogin.Text.Trim(), strDescription);
    this.WriteLog("Created Group: " + strGroupName);


}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{
    
    this.WriteLog(ex.ToString());
}
}

Developing Custom WebPart using ASP.NET Web User Control

2010-05-09T16:51:00.006-04:00

In this post I will explian how to build a custom WebPart for SharePoint 2007 and how to use ASP.NET Web User Control in it. I am using Visual Studio 2008 for the development.

Following are the steps to create a custom webpart and calling/loading Web User Control in it:

Building WebPart and Web User Control project

Craete ASP.NET Web Application Project.

Delete Default.aspx.

Add two new folders: UserControls and WebPart into the solution.

Add new Web User Control in UserControls folder.

Add new CS Class file TrainingWP.cs in WebPart folder.

Add reference to SharePoint.dll (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.dll)

Add followign code to TrainingWP.cs


namespace Training
{
    [Guid("2E4AFAAA-AE99-4e15-9972-E6195EFBDD9C")]
    public class TrainingWP : WebPart
    {
        private Control uc = null;
        private string ucPath = "~/UserControls/TrainingUC.ascx";

        protected override void CreateChildControls()
        {
            try
            {
                uc = Page.LoadControl(ucPath);
                this.Controls.Add(uc);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }
            finally
            {
                base.CreateChildControls();
            }
        }
    }
}

Go to Tools -> Create GUID and copy/paste GUID above the class and add reference using System.Runtime.InteropServices; line.
Open code behind for Web User Control and add using Microsoft.SharePoint; line and in Page_Load function write hello world code and build the solution.

Deploying the WebPart and the Web User Control

In Project Properties -> Build Event tab -> Post-build Event Command add following line:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin\gacutil.exe" /i $(TargetPath)
This will deploy our webpart dll into GAC after building the solution.

In Project Properties -> Signing tab -> check Sign Assembly -> and give a name.

Build the solution and WebPart should be deployed into GAC (c:\Windows\assembly).

Create DWP File using following XML




 
  
   
   Cannot import this Web Part.
  
  
   
    Training Web Part

Upload DWP file to WebPart Gallery. DWP file tells SharePoint to load which library when webpart is called.

Open the root folder of the Web Application and edit Web.config. Under <SafeControls> add following line

Under <assemblies> in Web.config add following line

Copy UserControls folder in to the root folder of the Web Application.(Just copy ASCX)

Do iisreset and add the WebPart on the page through Web UI of the site.

Thats it :o). Happy Programming.

Pointing DataView to List Name (Not List GUIID)

2010-04-27T10:09:00.021-04:00

I had a requirement to display items from a Document library in DataView WebPart and tricky part was to make it portable, so that everytime a site template is created and restored somewhere else, the DataView should not crash.

Solution:
Change the following XSL for DataView WebPart:
1. Update Name="ListID" to Name="ListName"
2. Update ParameterKey="ListID" to ParameterKey="ListName"
3. Update DefaultValue="GUID" to DefaultValue="[List Name]"
in SelectParameters, DeleteParameters, UpdateParameters, InsertParameters and ParameterBindings tags.

Intractive SharePoint Charts with No Code

2010-04-15T13:16:00.018-04:00

Recently I came across this amazing article of Claudio (http://www.endusersharepoint.com/2009/04/20/finally-dynamic-charting-in-wss-no-code-required/) about displaying the graphs from a SharePoint list data without writing any code (of course JavaScript is code but we are referring to C# here ;o)). It shows how you can display pie-chart (Google Charts) with a small JavaScript code added to CEWP which works on your SharePoint Data.

I have extended the same technique (JavaScript) to display the Interactive Google Charts based on the SharePoint Data without writing any code :o). The javascript code uses JQuery and Google Interactive Charts (aka Visualization API).

You need to perform following steps:
1. Create a new SharePoint List View.
2. Group the data by a Column e.g. Title.

3. Add Content Editor WebPart

4. Select Edit-> Modify Shared WebPart -> Source Editor and paste the following JavaScript:

5. You will see the error message: Internet Explorer cannot display the WebPage. Ignore the message and remove the ?PageView=Shared from URL and refresh the page. You should be able to see the chart as follows:

Attachments in DataView

2010-03-10T17:10:00.015-05:00

By Dafault DataView control dont display attachments and when you add attachment column it displays true/false.

Here is the solution by Brandt Fuchs: http://dbweb.sbisite.com/blogs/bf/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=19

Perform following steps:

1. Add DataView control in your page.
2. Add an empty column.
3. Add following code:

Adding JavaScript to SharePoint Form Field

2010-03-08T17:21:00.014-05:00

Many times in my current project I felt the need of adding javascript to the SharePoint Form Fields to trigger my custom function to perform some calculation etc.
Luckily I found the following blog and it sloved my Javascript problem.

URL: http://webborg.blogspot.com/2008/04/add-functions-and-events-to-sharepoint.html

When you add the javascript mentioned in the above blog in the bottom of your page, do call your custom function again because in the end. Because if ur page postbacks and reload (due to some missing required field or any other reason) dropdown change event wont fire. So here is the updated code:


function getField(fieldType,fieldTitle) { 
    var docTags = document.getElementsByTagName(fieldType); 
    for (var i=0; i < docTags.length; i++) { 
        if (docTags[i].title == fieldTitle) { 
            return docTags[i] 
        } 
    } 
} 
 
function DisplayMessage()
{
 alert('Hello World');
}

//Add JavaScript to Decision Column
getField('select','Decision').onchange = function() {DisplayMessage()};

//Add additional call
DisplayMessage();

Line 19 is the additional call to the function.
Above code will add onchange event to choice type SharePoint field and each time the selected value is changed, DisplayMessage() will be triggered.

SharePoint 2010 - List Relationship

2009-12-16T11:14:00.009-05:00

Today, I got the access to the SharePoint 2010 Beta and guess what I saw? The most beautiful thing that could happen to the SharePoint lists...Relationships. Just like Database relations. :o)

Lets take a look at the following screen shot: While creating a lookup column in a list, I noticed following enhancements:

I can choose ID Column from the parent list.Very very important for building reports/views.
If I choose other column (Title etc), I still can include ID as an additional field.
Restrict & Cascade delete option. :o) If I choose restrict and want to delete parent item, having child items...it will not allow me to do so. If I choose cassade and want to delete parent item...it will delete all the child items along with the parent.

SharePoint 2010 Lists rock!

Join Lists Using SharePoint Designer 2007

2009-12-11T11:23:00.051-05:00

Background:
There is no parent-child relationship support in MOSS 2007 lists by default. But as a developer, we all know it is the most common functionality while storing and displaying the data. Following is the technique that I discovered somewhere on the internet to display the data using DataView Control in SharePoint Designer(while developing reports for my last project), but unfortunatily I lost the original source and thought to reproduce it in my blog with some enhancements.

Implementation:
Following are the steps to perform Inner Join on two lists using DataView Control in SharePoint Designer:

1. We need following two lists(with data in them):

Department (ID, Title)

Student (ID,Department_x0020_ID, Title)

2. Open SharePoint Designer and create a new ASPX page.

3. Create a linked datasource by following steps:

Select Create a new Linked Source... from Data Source Library tab.

In Data Source Properties dialog, select Configure Linked Source... button.

From Link Data Sources Wizard, select Students and Department Lists and hit Next.

Choose Join the contents... option and select Finish.

Then select OK to get the New Data Source.

Expand the New Data Source and select Show Data option.

Under Data Source Details tab, you should see both lists (Department and student).

4. Insert a Data View control into the ASPX page.
5. Under Data Source Details tab, expand the Students list and drag and drop the Title column to Data View control and it will display all the students.
6. Now place your cursur in Title column and select Table -> Insert -> Column to Right. In this column we will display Department.Title.
7. Place your cursor on the first row of new column, select Title Column from Department list and select the Insert selected field as... button and choose Joined Subview opion.
8. In Join Subview dialog, select Department_x0020_ID = ID and hit OK. (Pic 12)
9. Thats it :o).
10. Play with the HTML to make it look like a report.

Get the actual error message in SharePoint Site Page

2009-11-15T00:37:00.021-05:00

In web.config change the following:

1. CallStack="false"

2. <customErrors mode="On" />

Now refresh the page to see the actual ASP.NET error message.

Before:

After:

Security on SharePoint Website Controls with SPSecurityTrimmedControl

2009-11-09T10:44:00.020-05:00

I came across a requirement where I have to display the left menu only to administrator and Thanks to Mark Wagner for his quick and to the point post on SPSecurityTrimmedControl.

What exactly I did was:

1. Open the Default.aspx in SharePoint Designer.
2. Select the left menu and then select Create Custom Content.
3. Arranged the tags as follow:







All the divs and HTML for the menu goes here.

Now the menu will only appear for users having administrator rights.
Note: Also, you can directly implement this in Master Page for hiding View All Site Content.

SharePoint 2003 to MOSS 2007 Migration

2009-07-14T09:30:00.004-04:00

Senario: You have two servers. One has SharePoint 2003 and other have MOSS 2007 installed. You want to migrate a website collection from SharePoint 2003 to MOSS2007.

Scan the SharePoint 2003 Website
1. PreScan Tool
prescan.exe /c preupgradescanconfig.xml /v http://intranet
2. Check the Orphan Records
stsadm -o databaserepair -url http://intranet -databasename MyIntranet_Site
3. Delete the Orphan Records
stsadm -o databaserepair -url http://intranet -databasename MyIntranet_Site -deletecorruption
4. Check the Orphan Records
stsadm -o databaserepair -url http://intranet -databasename MyIntranet_Site
5. PreScan Tool
prescan.exe /c preupgradescanconfig.xml /v http://intranet

Content Database Migration
1. Goto SQL Server and create the website’s content database backup.
2. Copy the database to New Server.
3. Create a new Database on New Server and Restore the database (overwrite).

Create the MOSS 2007 Website
1. Create the WebApplication in MOSS 2007. Don’t create any site collection.
2. Remove the content application database
stsadm.exe -o deletecontentdb -databasename WSS_Content_Intranet_80 -url http://newintranetsite/
3. Attach the new database
stsadm.exe -o addcontentdb -url http://newintranetsitet/ –databasename Portal_Site_Restore

Ref 1: http://farhanfaiz.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/sharepoint-upgrade-database-migration
Ref 2: http://sharemypoint.blogspot.com/2007/04/prescanexe-finished-with-failure.html

SharePoint Designer 2007 - Hide the Quick Launch Link

2009-07-06T18:09:00.015-04:00

Today my manager came up with the requirement that Recycle Bin Link in Quick Launch Menu should be visible to Administrator only.
If it was the case for a webpart then I could easily specify the Target Audience and voila. But unfortunately webpart zone is not available for Quick Launch Menu and I didn’t want to write custom menu just to hide the RecycleBin link so the genius came up with the following dirty trick. (Yes, I have recognized myself as a genius since childhood).

1. Launch the SharePoint Designer.
2. Navigate to _catalogs -> masterpage -> default.master.
3. Create a backup of the master page file and open original for editing.
4. Scroll down till the bottom and paste the following javascript code right before </Body> Tag:


var UserID = document.getElementById('zz8_Menu').innerHTML;
UserID = UserID.split('<')[0]; UserID = UserID.split('\\')[1]; if (UserID != 'Administrator') {  //Hide Recyclebin  var objRecycleBin = document.getElementById('ctl00_PlaceHolderLeftNavBar_idNavLinkRecycleBin'); if (objRecycleBin)  {  objRecycleBin.style.display = 'none';  }  }

5. Save and it should hide Recyclebin for all users except for the administrator.

Note: Please check for the Ids ctl00_PlaceHolderLeftNavBar_idNavLinkRecycleBin and zz8_Menu by view source.

SharePoint Designer 2007 - Join Two Lists

2009-07-06T11:41:00.006-04:00

We all come across situation at times when we have to display data from two different lists in a single view, specially in reporting. I was looking if SharePoint Designer support something like Join View etc when I came across Sahil Malik's following amazing article:

URL: http://blah.winsmarts.com/2007-10-Performing_joins_between_SharePoint_lists.aspx?postID=359

SharePoint Website – Login Dialog Fix

2009-06-30T19:04:00.012-04:00

Problem: Windows user get Login dialog again and again when visiting the page with custom webparts, even when they are logged into the site.

Solution:
1. Open Computer Management and select Users.
2. Double click the user and select Member Of tab and add WSS_WPG.

This will add user to WSS_WPG group and it should solve the problem.

Note: Removing users from WSS_ADMIN_WPG will hide Site Actions from the website.

SharePoint: List Event Handler

2009-06-03T16:53:00.024-04:00

Sometimes we get business requirements like populate a particular field with some pre-defined specific data when item is added or send an alert when item is added etc. SharePoint Designer Workflows solve these kind of basic problem like sending alerts, update the list item etc BUT you need event handlers to be more flexible and to have more control.

In this post I will explain how to quickly develop and deploy SharePoint List Events.

1. Create a Class Library Project.
2. Add reference to SharePoint DLL.
3. Inherit your class with SPItemEventReceiver
4. Override ItemAdded(SPItemEventProperties properties) function
5. Your code should look like:


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;

namespace SPListEvents
{
    public class CandidateListHandler: SPItemEventReceiver
    {
        public override void ItemAdded(SPItemEventProperties properties)
        {
            try
            {
                SPListItem item = properties.ListItem;
                item["Status"] = "Added";
                item["Company"] = "Company1";
                item.Update();

            }
            catch (Exception exp)
            {
                  //do something with exp
            }
            finally
            {
                base.ItemAdded(properties);
            }
        }
    }
}

Above code will get fired on the associated list, when a new item will be created. Pretty easy hah.

6. Sign your dll by selecting Project -> Properties -> Signing Tab and should look like:

7. Compile
8. Deploy the SPListEvents.dll to GAC (c:\windows\assembly)

Note down the Public Key Token for the installed DLL to use it in the below deployment code e.g. PublicKeyToken=cd22d2b1bc79915b

[Assign the Event Handler to a specific list]

9. Create a Windows application
10. Add a button and write following code on its click event.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;

namespace InstallSPEventHandler
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://mysite.com:1100");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            SPList survey = web.Lists["Candidates"];

            string assemblyName = "SPListEvents, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cd22d2b1bc79915b";
            string className = "SPListEvents.CandidateListHandler";

            survey.EventReceivers.Add(SPEventReceiverType.ItemAdded, assemblyName, className);
            //survey.EventReceivers.Add(SPEventReceiverType.ItemUpdated, assemblyName, className);
            MessageBox.Show("Done");
        }
    }
}

11. Run the Desktop Application and click the button to register the ItemAdded event handler to Candidate list.

12.Your solution might look like:

13. Add new item in Candidate list and Status and Company fields shoyuld get poulated automatically.
14.That’s it.

SharePoint: CAML Query - AND

2009-05-29T12:42:00.015-04:00

I was ANDing three SharePoint fields in CAML Query based on the regular logic (place And between all three fields) and was getting errors with absolutely no clue that what possibaly could be wrong.
Here is the right way...thanks to Google:

Target: field1 && field2 && field3

Correct CAML:

Happy CAMLing!

Date Comparison in XSL

2009-05-21T17:05:00.010-04:00

Since XSL in SharePoint Designer does not have a very good support for date comparisons. I Googled for at least more than half of the day for a decent date comparison and came across this post as a solution by ma man Kotendra. However, this post assumes that date is provided in ISO format (YYYMMDD). This was not my case…so I Googled bit more and bit more and little bit more :o) and here is the solution.

Below is the formula (XSLT Filtering) to compare dates in SharePoint Designer using XSL:

[
number(ddwrt:FormatDateTime(ddwrt:FormatDate(string(@Open_x0020_Date),1033,1),1033,'yyyyMMdd'))
>=
number(ddwrt:FormatDateTime(ddwrt:FormatDate(string($varFromDate),1033,1),1033,'yyyyMMdd'))
]

Above formula will convert date 5/31/2009 into 20093105 and treat it as a number to compare with another number converted from date.

Thanks!

Implementing Search in a SharePoint List

2009-05-11T09:46:00.015-04:00

There are times when we want to search in a SharePoint list only, not in the whole portal. I ran into this requirement in my current project and implemented the search on a list using SharePoint Designer. I didn’t want to create a WebPart and with some research I was able to do it in SharePoint Designer. In this post I will explain what exactly I did.

To implement the search I created following two pages:

1. Search.aspx (This page will take input parameters)
2. SearchResults.aspx (This page will display results in DataView Control and filter the data based on the input parameters provided in the Search.aspx)

Let’s start the implementation:

1. I will not go into the details of Search.aspx page. All you can have on the Search.aspx page is a text box and a submit button. Clicking the button will redirect the use to SearchResults.aspx with the parameters attached into the Query String. Our final URL will look like:

http://www.domain.com/sites/MySite/ListName/SearchResults.aspx?skill=Sharepoint

Yup, I am searching for people in my list who have SharePoint skills.

2. Open the SearchResults.aspx in SharePoint Designer and insert the DataView Control. I applied Master Page so those pages don’t look like an alien :o).
3. Assign the DataSource of the list and at this point DataView should display all the items in the list.
4. In the designer, select <WebPartPages:DataFormWebPart> and open the Common Data View Task window and choose Parameters.

5. Create a Parameter varTechnicalSkill and Select Query String from Parameter Source drop down and provide the Query String Variable which is skill in our case.

6. Again, open the Common Data View Task window and choose Filter this time.
7. Select Add XSLT Filtering and hit Edit… button. Don’t get confuse with the varExperience. It’s just another variable and has absolutely nothing to do with our example.

8. In the Advance Condition window, in Edit the XPath expression provide the following formula for search:

[contains(@Skill,$varTechnicalSkill)]

Contains is a XSL function
@Skill is the column in the list
$varTechnicalSkill is the parameter which will get populated by the Query String skill.

Hit OK and then OK again.

9. If you view the source then you should be able to see the following XSL code added to the <XSL:tamplate>:

<xsl:variable name="Rows" select="/dsQueryResponse/Rows/Row[contains(@Tech_x0020_Skill_x0020__x0023_1,$varTechnicalSkill)]"/>

10. Save the SearchResults.aspx page and that’s it. We are good to use the search functionality.

SharePoint: Accessing XSL variables in JavaScript

2009-05-07T15:20:00.008-04:00

As we all know for a successful SharePoint project we need SharePoint knowledge, development skills, ability to google and prayers…lots of them.

During my current project I was developing a report which will generate a letter and the body of that letter will be generated by the data stored in Rich Text field in a SharePoint list. Now, in my case that body was a predefined template of the letter and I need to replace few keywords in the letter body using JavaScript. To achieve all this I need to access the Body variable (carrying the letter template) into the javaScript function to play with it.

Following are the steps to access I took to access XSL variable into my JavaScript function:

1. Open the website in SharePoint Designer.
2. Create an empty page Report.aspx.
3. Insert DataForm Webpart by selecting Insert-> SharePoint Controls -> DataView.
4. Hide all the columns and your WebPart should look like the following:

5. Also, you should be able to see the variable @Body in the source code window under <datafields> tag. Both are highlighted in the above image.
6. Now add a hidden field in the page under XSL tag and assign its value to @Body variable. Since, @Body variable is accessible in SharePoint generated XSL only. I added hidden field under one of the <xsl:template> tags.

7. Now you have got the value of @Body into the hidden field and you can access the field’s value easily with the following line of javascript, I called this line at the end of the HTML <body> tag:

var strBody = document.getElementById('txtBody').value;

8. Thats it.