Destination:\ SharePoint

Title: Speaking at Baltimore SharePoint Group on Jun 17 2010

Topic: Client Object Model in SharePoint 2010

Details: Baltimore SharePoint Users Group - Web Site here

Location:1450 South rolling road Baltimore, MD 21227; How to reach here?

SharePoint 2010 Architecture and Services Documentation

2010-04-25T08:45:00.001-04:00

This link is moved here.

Speaking at SharePoint Saturday DC on May 15th 2010

2010-04-15T17:37:00.001-04:00

Title: Speaking at SharePoint Saturday DC on May 15th 2010

Topic: SharePoint 2010 Sandboxed Solutions

Details: SharePoint Saturday DC

Location: NVCC Community Cultural Center Annandale, VA

How to use Rating Control in SharePoint 2010

2010-04-03T12:36:00.005-04:00

Title: How to use Rating Control in SharePoint 2010

Details: Some thing and finally some thing every one really wanted. Either you download code from codeplex or use any 3rd party controls - its takes about week or more for you to create a Rating Control that is customized to your needs. Now, we have this out of the box in SharePoint 2010 and here is how you use it.

How-To: Lets begin with setting up Rating Control for a Custom List first.

Step # 1 Enable / Start the 'User Profile Service' from the CA > System Settings > Servers > Manage services on server ( by default it is Started ).

Step # 2 Under CA > Monitoring > Timer Jobs > Review Job Definitions > look for 'User Profile Service Application - Social Data Maintenance Job' and

'User Profile Service Application - Social Rating Synchronization Job'.
These jobs are scheduled by default to run every 1 hr.

Step # 3 For our convenience and testing, schedule both these jobs to run every 1 min as shown below.
Also do the same for
'User Profile Service Application - Social Rating Synchronization Job'

Step # 4 Ok you are now all set. Go to the List level ( your desired List / Doc Lib ) and get to the List Settings

Step # 5 Select the Rating Settings on the General Settings option and choose the option 'Yes' for 'Allow items in this list to be rated?'

Step # 6 Once you choose this option, 2 new columns will be added to your list as shown below

Rating (0-5) will give you the 5 star rating asynchronous control that you can rate any item for.
Number of Ratings will display how many unique users rated the item.

Remmember that if same user rates twice, it will override his / her previous rating
( and will not aggregate ).

Rating control will average ratings of unique users rating on item basis.

Step # 7 User ratings are collected asynchronously as shown below.

Step # 8 Once you submit rating, you will be also shown the success message.

Step # 9 Wait for a minute since the timer jobs is set to run for every 1 min as configured earlier. View the list webpart and notice that the ratings will be changed.

Step # 10 Perfect! Lets now see how to use this Rating Control on a Page. First we need the Page level register tag.

<%@ Register Tagprefix="SharePointPortalControls" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>

Step # 11 Once you register the Control Tag, use the below control code and add it to the PlaceHolderMain section.
Make sure that the FieldRef Name matches the column name. You are all set now.

<SharePointPortalControls:AverageRatingFieldControl id="PageRatingControl" FieldName="Rating (0-5)" runat="server" />

Using Custom Actions in SharePoint 2010

2010-04-02T03:41:00.025-04:00

Title: Using Custom Actions in SharePoint 2010

Details: Using Custom Actions in SharePoint 2010 is not different as you create them in either WSS3.0 / MOSS 2007. In this post I will run through the sample of creating your own Custom Group and then a Custom Action link under it. Now before we proceed, I created a very nice pic of mine and sized it to 48x48 and copied it to the 14 hive / Template / Images folder ( named as SiteSettings_SriniSistla_48x48.jpg in this case ). Alright, now lets proceed for few steps.
Step # 1 Create a folder ( MyCustomActions in my example ) with a proper name of your choice
Step # 2 Add a new file to the folder and name it as Feature.xml
Step # 3 Add the content as shown in below code and customize it to your needs. Well, notice that this feature is Scoped to Site and you can create a feature for any scope based on where you want to have the Custom Action.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Feature xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"
 ActivateOnDefault="FALSE" 
 AlwaysForceInstall="FALSE" 
 AutoActivateInCentralAdmin="FALSE" 
 Description="Will Create a Section and Link to my Blog" 
 Hidden="FALSE" Id="90C924A7-32F7-4C19-BD4C-AF49EF0563A9" 
 Scope="Site" Title="My Custom Actions">
 <ElementManifests>
 <ElementManifest Location="MyCustomActions.xml" />
 </ElementManifests>
</Feature>

Step # 4 Create another file in the same folder ( myCustomActions.xml in my example ) and name it as Elements.xml or of your own choice
Step # 5 Add the content as shown in below code and customize it to your needs.

<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
  <CustomActionGroup Description="Srini Sistla Exclusive Custom Group" Id="SriniSistla" Url="/_layouts/images/SiteSettings_SriniSistla_48x48.jpg" 
Location="Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings" Sequence="111" Title="Srini Sistla Blog Details">
  </CustomActionGroup>
  <CustomAction GroupId="SriniSistla" Id="UserInterfaceCustomActions.SiteSettings"  Location="Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings" Sequence="106" Title="Blog  Link">
     <UrlAction Url="http://codename-srini.blogspot.com" />
  </CustomAction>
</Elements>

Step # 6 Now, notice that I have a CustomActionGroup created first ( with Id = SriniSistla ) that I will use it in my CustomAction Section. You can create of your own choice in this case.
Step # 7 Once you have everything in place, copy this folder to 14 hive > Template > Features.
Step # 8 I am happy for now in still using STSADM commands and I will go ahead and use the Install Feature Command here.

stsadm -o installfeature -filename MyCustomFeature\Feature.xml

Step # 9 You can as well activate the feature using Stsadm itself, however you can as well go and activate your feature from the Site collection features link under Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Administration as shown below.

Step # 10 Once you activate the feature, you will find the Custom Actions group and the Custom Actions Link on your site actions > site settings page as shown below.

So far so good. Notice the GroupId="SriniSistla" in my example. If you want to add to an already existing out of the box groups use below GroupId's.

First, to Add your Custom Actions under Site Actions > Site Settings Page set the Location="Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings" and
GroupID="Customization" to add under 'Look and Feel Section'
GroupID="Galleries" to add under Galleries'
GroupID="SiteAdministration" to add under 'Site Administration'
GroupID="SiteCollectionAdmin" to add under 'Site Collection Administration'
GroupID="UsersAndPermissions" to add under 'Users and Permissions'

for entire Custom Actions list, refer to the msdn site here.
have fun.

InLine List Item Editing in SharePoint 2010

2010-03-29T23:16:00.000-04:00

Title: InLine List Item Editing in SharePoint 2010

Details: I have worked on many third party tools including telerik / devexpress and I always wanted the inline editing functionality on atleast the out of the box list items. And finally my wish fulfilled

List items ( on modify view settings ) can now be edited inline as show below.

Before getting to it, you need to first enable the inline editing option as show below on the modify view settings page.

Create a Tool to Get the Full Name of an Assembly

2010-03-29T22:01:00.001-04:00

Title: Create a Tool to Get the Full Name of an Assembly

Details: Here is a wonderful way to create a tool to get the full name of an assembly provided by Microsoft ( original link ). Create a command line project and name it as GetAssemblyName using the below code. Below are few screenshots how it looks like ( output ) after you create it.

#1 Adding the tool to the External Tools on your Visual Studio 2010

#2 Linking the Tool

#3 Using the tool and output

Code:

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.IO;

namespace GetAssemblyName
{
    class Program
    {
        static void PrintUsage()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Usage: GetAssemblyName.exe \n");
            Console.WriteLine(@"Example: GetAssemblyName.exe C:\MyAssembly.dll");
            Console.Read();
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (args.Length < 1 || args[0] == "?")
            {
                PrintUsage();
                return;
            }
            
            string filename = args[0];

            try
            {
                AssemblyName an = AssemblyName.GetAssemblyName(filename);
                Console.WriteLine("Fully specified assembly name:\n");
                Console.WriteLine(an.ToString());
            }
            catch (FileNotFoundException)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Cannot locate the assembly. Check the path and try again.");
            }

            Console.Read();
        }
    }
}

To add a Get Assembly Full Name item to the Tools menu

In Visual Studio, select External Tools from the Tools menu.

In the External Tools dialog, click Add and enter Get Assembly Full Name for the Title.

Fill the Command textbox by browsing to GetAssemblyName.exe.

In the Arguments textbox, type the following (which is case sensitive): $(TargetPath)

Enable the Use Output window checkbox. Click OK.

The new command is added to the Tools menu.

Technorati Tags: Tools,Visual Studio 2010

Document Sets in SharePoint 2010

2010-03-26T14:39:00.002-04:00

This link is moved here.

LINQ to SharePoint

2010-03-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

Title: LINQ to SharePoint

Details: Its not new to us that LINQ to SharePoint is newly introduced in SharePoint 2010 with a new Provider 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Linq'. It translates LINQ Queries into CAML queries. Which means... bye bye CAML ( you can still use it if you love it ). Few pointers on LINQ to SharePoint...

No CAML required
Can be called against both server and client object model
Tools available ( SPMetal ) to create business layer ( entity classes ) - How to use SPMetal?
Intellisense helps query construction
Query across multiple lists with relationships
Allow inefficient queries
Merge results from multiple lists and multiple data sources
Join results from multiple data sources

Code: Sample code on how to use LINQ to SharePoint is as shown below. ( Code run against my custom list called FirstNames which has column name FirstName ). You need to create the entity class ( EntitiesDataContext in the below example ) first using SPMetal that would give a data context for our use.

DataContext data = new DataContext(SPContext.GetContext(this.Context).Web.Url);

using (EntitiesDataContext moEntitiesDataContext = new EntitiesDataContext(SPContext.GetContext(this.Context).Web.Url))
{
    var fn = from fNames in moEntitiesDataContext.FirstNames
            select new { fNames.FirstName };                    
}

Solution Dependencies in SharePoint 2010

2010-03-06T22:37:00.001-05:00

Title: Solution Dependencies in SharePoint 2010

Details: We have seen 'Feature Dependencies' until MOSS 2007. Similarly have you ever felt the need of 'Solution Dependencies'? I am sure you might have felt and then here is how your need is fulfilled in SharePoint 2010. Now we can have solution dependencies and it comes with few rules that we need to understand that are mentioned as below.

Checks if dependant solution is available
Does not deploy dependant solutions
Checks for dependancy during the time of deployment
Solution dependancy works for both kinds of solutions ( Farm / Sandboxed )
Solution dependancy does not work on the combination of Farm / Sandboxed Solutions
In situation when dependancy solution is not activated/deployed then activating/deploying dependant solution will fail.
Opposite the above point # 6 will succeed.
In case of dependancy solution is deactivated/retracted, dependant solution will still be activated/deployed.

Below is sample code on how to use it ( under package.template.xml file )...

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Solution xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"
          SolutionId="CURRENT_SOLUTION_GUID"
         <  
  <ActivationDependencies>
    <ActivationDependency SolutionId="DEPENDANT_SOLUTION_GUID"/>
  </ActivationDependencies>
</Solution>

SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 Lauch dates announced as May 12th 2010

2010-03-06T08:50:00.000-05:00

Title: SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 Lauch dates announced

Details: Mark your calendars as Microsoft announced the launch dates for SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 as May 12th 2010; official link with details on the SharePoint msdn blog site here.

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2010/03/05/sharepoint-2010-office-2010-launch.aspx

Error: System.IO.FileNotFoundException was unhandled by user code

2010-03-02T22:22:00.001-05:00

Title: Error(s) while running SharePoint 2010 projects using Visual Studio 2010

Details: Have you encountered the below errors while you are running SharePoint 2010 projects using Visual Studio 2010?

System.IO.FileNotFoundException was unhandled by user code
Message="The Web application at http://sp2010/ could not be found. Verify that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the intended application."

or

Request for the permission of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Security.SharePointPermission, Microsoft.SharePoint.Security, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' failed.

Resolution: Verify what framework you are running against. By default Visual Studion 2010 runs with .NET Framework 4.0 and SharePoint 2010 is built against to run on .NET Framework 3.5.
Change you project settings to run against 3.5 and you should be good

Speaking at CapArea SharePoint Group on May 11 2010

2010-03-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Title: Speaking at CapArea SharePoint Group on May 11 2010

Topic: SharePoint 2010 Sandboxed Solutions

Details: CapArea SharePoint Site

Location: AT&T Building, 1900 Gallows Road, Vienna, VA 22182; How to reach here?

Speaking at SharePoint Users Group of DC on Mar 04 2010

2010-03-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

Title: Speaking at SharePoint Users Group of DC on Mar 04 2010

Topic: SharePoint 2010 Sandboxed Solutions

Details: Register here

Location: How to reach here?