aMiT kUmAr

Get UserProfile Object of Logged-in User

2011-10-11T14:26:00.000+05:30

In this article, I will explain how to get UserProfile object for Logged-in User (current user).

//Function Call
UserProfile objUserProfile= GetProfileOfCurrentUser(SPContext.Current.Web.CurrentUser.LoginName)
public UserProfile GetProfileOfCurrentUser(string accountName)
        {
            UserProfile profile = null;
            try
            {
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(accountName))
                {
                    return null;
                }
                SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
                {
                    SPSite site = SPContext.Current.Site;
                    ServerContext context = ServerContext.GetContext(site);

                    UserProfileManager profileManager = new UserProfileManager(context);
                    if (!profileManager.UserExists(accountName))
                    {
                        profile = null;
                    }

                    profile = profileManager.GetUserProfile(accountName);
                });
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                profile = null;
            }
            return profile;
        }

Event receiver to update an item's in list

2011-10-11T14:10:00.000+05:30

How to update Created By and Modified By fields in sharepoint list using C#
In this article I will explain, how to update list item in event receiver. In event receiver, I will update Created By /Modified By/Title metadata of list item.
Code:


public override void ItemUpdated(SPItemEventProperties properties)
    {
        int userID=0;
        string userNTID = "WIN\AMITKUMAR";
        SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
        {
        SPListItem CurrentItem = properties.ListItem;
        CurrentItem.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
        CurrentItem.Web.Site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
        // In the next statment i am updating CreatedBy(Author) filed with SystemAccount
        CurrentItem["Author"] = CurrentItem.Web.Site.SystemAccount.ID; //CreatedBy
        //We can also update CreatedBy(Author)/ModifiedBy(Editor) field with Any user account
         FindUserIDByNTID(userNTID, CurrentItem.Web.Site, ref userID);
         if (userID > 0)
         {
            CurrentItem["Editor"] = userID; //ModifiedBy
         }
         else
         {
            CurrentItem["Editor"] = CurrentItem.Web.Site.SystemAccount.ID; //ModifiedBy
         }
        CurrentItem["Title"] = "Amit Kumar";
        CurrentItem.Update();
        CurrentItem.ParentList.Update();
        CurrentItem.Web.Update();
        CurrentItem.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
        CurrentItem.Web.Site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
        });
    }
public static void FindUserIDByNTID(string userNTID, SPSite site, ref int userID)
        {
          try
            {
              //--Check user NTID is null or not
              if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(userNTID))
              {
               //--userNTID is not null
               //--then fetch ID of the user
               userID = site.RootWeb.AllUsers[userNTID].ID;
              }
              else
              {
               //--If userNTID is null
               userID = 0;
              }
          }
        catch (ArgumentException ex)
            {
              userID = 0;
            }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
      userID = 0;
      }
     }

Get unique value from Array (String/Integer):

2011-10-11T13:56:00.001+05:30

Problem: In one of my project, I am getting values from one datasource in the form of .net Array. In the .NET Framework 3.5 there is a function called Distinct(). This Distinct() function return unique values from Array. This function works fine in the case of integer array. In string array, it not able to handle case sensitivity. If all items in the string array in same case, then it will work fine. Due to this, I was facing problem in getting unique value from String Array. Resolution: To Solve this problem, I have created functions, which used Stringcomparison. InvariantCultureIgnoreCase. .NET Framework 3.5: It is one line of code.

//If integer array
int [] intArr={5,2,3,3,5};
intArr = intArr.Distinct().ToArray(); // Output : intArr ={5,2,3}
//If string array
string [] strArr={“Amit”,”Amit”,”Kumar”,”Kumar”};
strArr = strArr.Distinct().ToArray(); //Output: strArr ={“Amit”,,”Kumar” }
string [] strArrCase={“Amit”,”AMIT”,”Kumar”,”KUMAR”,”Amit”,”Kumar”};
strArrCase = strArrCase.Distinct().ToArray(); //Output: strArrCase ={“Amit”,”AMIT”,”Kumar”,”KUMAR” }

Custom Function:

//Function call
string [] strArr={“Amit”,”Amit”,”Kumar”,”Kumar”};
strArr= GetUniqueArray(strArr); //Output: strArr ={“Amit”,”Kumar” }
        #region Get unique From Array
        public static string[] GetUniqueArray(string[] itemValues)
        {
            string stringList=string.Empty;
            string currentValue=string.Empty;
            string[] newArray=null;
            ArrayList uniqueList = new ArrayList();
            try
            {
                for (int counter = 0; counter < itemValues.Length; counter++)
                {
                    currentValue = Convert.ToString(itemValues[counter]);
                    if (!CheckDuplicateArray(currentValue, uniqueList))
                    {
                       uniqueList.Add(itemValues[counter]);
                    }
                }
                if (uniqueList.Count != 0)
                {
                    newArray = uniqueList.ToArray(Type.GetType("System.String")) as string[]; 
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
            }
            return newArray;
        }
        #endregion

        #region Check Duplicates From Array
        public static bool CheckDuplicateArray(string value, ArrayList uniqueList)
        {
            bool itemFound = false;
            try
            {
                foreach (string currentValue in uniqueList)
                {
                    if (string.Equals(value, currentValue, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
                    {
                        itemFound = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
            }
            return itemFound;
        }
        #endregion

Render(Parse) XML using XSLT

2011-09-06T12:15:00.004+05:30

Requirement:
The requirement is to render xml data into a page.
Resolution:
We can perform this task by following ways:
1. Read xml file using C#.Net and iterate the xml node. At the time of iteration, render data from xml to page.
2. Use the XSL. In this approach, create .XSLT file, which store the formatting in the form of HTML/CSS. By using XSL, we can separate the data rending from the data itself.
Example to render (parse) xml using xslt:
Save given xml in to file called "myNavigation.xslt":

Now add following tag in your .ASPX page:

In the code behind file of .ASPX page (.ASPX.CS file), add following directive:

using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Xsl;

After that,in the code behind file of .ASPX page (.ASPX.CS file), write following code in the Page_Load method:


string languageDetails =
 @"
    
        
            
                
                
                
            
            
                
                
            
            
            
            
                
                
                
                
                
              
            
            
              
            
        
      ";
XmlDocument myNavigationDoc = new XmlDocument();
myNavigationDoc.LoadXml(languageDetails);

XslTransform myNavigationTransform = new XslTransform();
myNavigationTransform.Load(Server.MapPath("myNavigation.xslt"));

this.myNavigationControl.Document = myNavigationDoc;
this.myNavigationControl.Transform = myNavigationTransform;

How to read XML using LINQ

2011-09-06T11:16:00.001+05:30

LINQ is a set of extensions to the .NET Framework that encompass language-integrated query, set, and transform operations. It extends C# and Visual Basic with native language syntax for queries and provides class libraries to take advantage of these capabilities.
One of the big programming model improvements being made in .NET 3.5 is LINQ. "LINQ", stands for .NET Language Integrated Query.
LINQ supports a rich extensibility model that facilitates the creation of efficient domain-specific providers for data sources. .NET 3.5 ships with built-in libraries that enable LINQ support against Objects, XML, and Databases.
“Microsoft original motivation behind LINQ was to address the impedance mismatch between programming languages and database.”
What is LINQ to XML?
LINQ to XML is a built-in LINQ data provider that is implemented within the "System.Xml.Linq" namespace in .NET 3.5. Formerly LINQ is XLinq. It means Queries performed against the XML source. LINQ to XML provides a clean programming model that enables you to read, construct and write XML data. You can use LINQ to XML to perform LINQ queries over XML that you retrieve from the file-system, from a remote HTTP URL or web-service, or from any in-memory XML content.
Using LINQ to XML to read XML file:

using System;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ReadXMLData
{
  class Program  
	{
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			DisplayXmlData();

		}

public static void DisplayXmlData()
{
string languageDetails =

  @"                           ";

////Create XDocument object using string.
XDocument xmlDoc = XDocument.Parse(languageDetails);
/*
////Load XDocument object using xml document/file:
string xmlPath=""; //// Complete path of xml
XDocument xmlDoc = XDocument.Load(xmlPath);
*/
string languageTitle=GetLanguageTitle(xmlDoc);

////Find language xml

List languagesXml = GetLanguageXml(xmlDoc);

if (languagesXml != null)
     {
      ////Loop of language xml :: Begins
      foreach (XElement languageXml in languagesXml)
      {

       Console.WriteLine(languageXml.Attribute("URL").Value);
       Console.WriteLine(languageXml.Attribute("Name").Value);
      }
      ////Loop of language xml :: Ends
     }
}


 public static string GetLanguageTitle(XDocument xmlDoc)
  {
   string languageTitle = string.Empty;

   try
   {

    List objXElements = new List();
    objXElements = (from localeXml in xmlDoc.Descendants("LanguageTitle")
        select localeXml).ToList();

    if (objXElements != null)
    {
     languageTitle = objXElements[0].Attribute("Name").Value;
    }
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {

   }

   return languageTitle;
  }


  public static List GetLanguageXml(XDocument xmlDoc)
  {
   List objXElements = new List();

   try
   {

    objXElements = (from localeXml in xmlDoc.Descendants("Language")
        select localeXml).ToList();
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {

   }

   return objXElements;
  }

        }
}

Highlight the link(href Tag/HTML link Tag) on click:

2011-07-01T15:13:00.002+05:30

Highlight the link(href Tag/HTML link Tag) on click:

With the help of style sheet(CSS), we can highlight the link after click.

Write below mentioned styles in STYLE tag before HEAD Tag of page:



a:link {font-size: 11px;color:green;text-decoration: none}    /* unvisited link */
a:visited {font-size: 11px;orange:orange;text-decoration: none} /* visited link */
a:hover {font-size: 11px;text-decoration: underline;color:#FF00FF;}   /* mouse over link */
a:active {font-size: 11px;color:orange;text-decoration: none}  /* selected link */

Write below mentioned HTML in BODY Tag of page:



Amit Kumar1


Amit Kumar2


Amit Kumar3

How to get Publishing Page Meta Data (Column Value) in Sharepoint

2011-07-01T12:50:00.002+05:30

Requirement:

The requirement is to identify status (Draft/Approved/Checkout/Pending/Published) of page in Pages library and also fetch the metadata of page using SharePoint Ojbect Model in Publishing Web.

Resolution:

With the help of PublishingWeb class (Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing), we can access different components of Published Web site like Pages document library, Published site navigation bar and etc.

The PublishingWeb class provides publishing behavior for an SPWeb instance that supports publishing. This class cannot be inherited.

Namespace: Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing
Assembly: Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing (in microsoft.sharepoint.publishing.dll)

In this example we will identify status (Draft/Approved/Checkout/Pending/Published) of page and access metadata of Pages from Pages Library in Publishing Web:



using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Navigation;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing;


namespace GetPublishedData
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
try
            {

using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com"))
                {
                    using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
                    {
                        // Check web is PublishingWeb or not
                        if (PublishingWeb.IsPublishingWeb(web))
                        {
                            // Get the PublishingWeb 
                            PublishingWeb publishingWeb = PublishingWeb.GetPublishingWeb(web);
                            // Get the Page list from PublishingWeb
                            SPList pagesList = publishingWeb.PagesList;
                            if (pagesList != null && pagesList.Items.Count > 0)
                            {
                                // Get a reference to a publishing page

                                foreach (SPListItem page in pagesList.Items)
                                {
                                    //Find status (Draft/Approved/Checkout/Pending/Published) of page
                                    if (page.ModerationInformation.Status == SPModerationStatusType.Draft)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Draft mode.");
                                    }
                                    else if (page.ModerationInformation.Status == SPModerationStatusType.Approved)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Approved mode.");
                                    }
                                    else if (page.ModerationInformation.Status == SPModerationStatusType.Pending)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Pendig mode.");
                                    }

                                    if (page.Level == SPFileLevel.Checkout)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Checkout mode.");
                                    }
                                    else if (page.Level == SPFileLevel.Published)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Published mode.");
                                    }
                                    else if (page.Level == SPFileLevel.Draft)
                                    {
                                        Console.WriteLine("Page in Draft mode.");
                                    }

                                    //Find metadata of page
                                    if (string.Equals(page.Name, "AmitKumar.aspx", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
                                    {
                                        //Access the page metadata
                                        Console.WriteLine(Convert.ToString(page["Title"]));
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            // If the SPWeb is not a PublishingWeb, 
                            // then GetPagesListName returns the URL
                            // that would be used by the Pages list 
                            // if the Publishing feature were to be
                            // activated.
                            string pagesListName = PublishingWeb.GetPagesListName(web);
                            //After getting the url we can access Pages list
                        }
                    }
                }

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw;
            }

        }
    }
}

Upload (Import) data from excel (spreadsheet) file to SharePoint list using c#

2011-06-07T15:55:00.002+05:30

Upload (Import) data from excel (spreadsheet) file to SharePoint list using c#:

When we have data in excel format and want to import that data to a SharePoint list, then how to do. By default SharePoint will provide us an option to edit in spreadsheet or download list items in spread sheet. But, it doesn't have an option to import the excel data to SharePoint list. To resolve this problem, I have created web part.
In this web part, I am using SharePoint list called “Employee”. The name of columns are Tile and LastName.
With the help of this web part, user will enter the data in the excel and then give the path of the file in the input box present in the page. Now instead of uploading the whole excel file into a document library the code will read the file and update the list with the data present in the excel file.

The web part code is:


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;
using System.Data;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data.OleDb;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;




namespace Example1
{
    public class wp_ImportXLSFile : WebPart
    {
        #region Member Variables
        System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button btnUpload;
        FileUpload fleDoc;
        #endregion

        #region Properties
        private const string _defaultList = "Employee";
        private string _listName = "Employee";
        [DefaultValue(_defaultList)]
        [WebPartStorage(Storage.Personal)]
        [XmlElement(ElementName = "List Name", IsNullable = false)]
        public string InternalList
        {
            get { return this._listName; }
            set { this._listName = value; }
        }


         #endregion

        #region Render Controls and Handle Controls Event

        #region Create Child Controls
        protected override void CreateChildControls()
        {

            try
            {
                Table tbl = new Table();
                TableRow tr = new TableRow();
                TableCell tc = new TableCell();

                tc.Text = "Select file:";
                tr.Cells.Add(tc);
                tc = new TableCell();
                //Create browse object
                fleDoc = new FileUpload();
                tc.Controls.Add(fleDoc);
                tr.Cells.Add(tc);
                tbl.Rows.Add(tr);


                tr = new TableRow();
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.RowSpan = 2;
                tc.HorizontalAlign = HorizontalAlign.Center;
                //Create button
                btnUpload = new System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button();
                btnUpload.Text = "Upload File";
                btnUpload.Click += new EventHandler(btnUpload_Click);
                tc.Controls.Add(btnUpload);
                tr.Cells.Add(tc);
                tbl.Rows.Add(tr);
                this.Controls.Add(tbl);

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                this.Page.Response.Write(ex.Message);
            }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Handle button click event
        void btnUpload_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                if (fleDoc != null && fleDoc.PostedFile != null)
                {
                    #region If File exist

                    if (fleDoc.PostedFile.ContentLength > 0)
                    {
                        #region File size is greater than 0
                        
                        string fileExt = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(fleDoc.FileName);
                        if (string.Equals(fileExt, ".xls", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) )
                        {
                            #region If not xls file
                            string Path = fleDoc.PostedFile.FileName;
                            string listname = "Sheet1";

                            OleDbConnection con = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" + Path + ";Extended Properties=Excel 8.0");
                            //OleDbConnection con = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=" + Path + ";Extended Properties=Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES");
                            //Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0;HDR=YES";
                            //Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES";
                            con.Open();


                            //Create Dataset and fill with imformation from the Excel Spreadsheet for easier reference
                            DataSet myDataSet = new DataSet();
                            OleDbCommand myCommand = new OleDbCommand(" SELECT * FROM [" + listname + "$]", con);
                            System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataAdapter da = new OleDbDataAdapter(myCommand);

                            da.Fill(myDataSet);
                            con.Close();

                            if (myDataSet != null && myDataSet.Tables.Count > 0 && myDataSet.Tables[0].Rows.Count > 0 && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.InternalList))
                            {
                                #region If record found

                                SPWeb web = SPContext.Current.Web;

                                SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate
                                                    {
                                                        using (SPSite fullSite = new SPSite(web.Site.ID))
                                                        {
                                                            using (SPWeb fullWeb = fullSite.OpenWeb())
                                                            {

                                                                #region Find list exist or not
                                                                if (chkListExist(fullWeb))
                                                                {
                                                                    fullWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
                                                                    SPList oList = fullWeb.Lists[this.InternalList];

                                                                    #region Travers through each row in the dataset
                                                                    foreach (DataRow myDataRow in myDataSet.Tables[0].Rows)
                                                                    {
                                                                        #region Datarow Loop
                                                                        Object[] cells = myDataRow.ItemArray;
                                                                        string strFirstName = string.Empty;
                                                                        string strLastName = string.Empty;
                                                                        int cellCount = 1;
                                                                        foreach (object cellContent in cells)
                                                                        {
                                                                            #region Cell Loop

                                                                            string cellText = cellContent.ToString();
                                                                            cellText = cellText.Replace("\n", "|");
                                                                            //Read the string and put into Array of characters chars
                                                                            if (cellCount == 1)
                                                                            {
                                                                                strFirstName = cellText;
                                                                                cellCount++;
                                                                            }
                                                                            else if (cellCount == 2)
                                                                            {
                                                                                strLastName = cellText;
                                                                                cellCount = 1;
                                                                            }
                                                                            this.Page.Response.Write("\n" + cellText);
                                                                            #endregion
                                                                        }
                                                                        insertRecordInList(oList, strFirstName, strLastName);
                                                                        #endregion
                                                                    }
                                                                    #endregion

                                                                    fullWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;

                                                                }
                                                                
                                                                #endregion

                                                            }
                                                        }
                                                    });

                                #endregion
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                #region If record not found
                                this.Page.Response.Write("No record found.");
                                #endregion
                            }
                            #endregion

                        }
                        else
                        {
                            #region If not xls file
                            this.Page.Response.Write("Only .xls files allowed!");
                            #endregion
                        }



                        #endregion
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        #region File size is 0
                        this.Page.Response.Write("Uploaded file size is 0.");
                        #endregion
                    }


                    #endregion
                }
                else
                {
                    #region If File not exist
                    this.Page.Response.Write("Uploaded file does not exist.");
                    #endregion
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }
        }

        #endregion

        #endregion

        #region Helper


        #region Check list exist or not
        private Boolean chkListExist(SPWeb web)
        {
            Boolean blnExist = false;
            try
            {
                #region Try
                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(this.InternalList) && this.InternalList.ToString().Trim().Length != 0)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        if (web.Lists[this.InternalList] != null)
                        {
                            blnExist =  true;
                        }
                    }
                    catch
                    {
                        #region If internal news list name is not valid
                        blnExist = false;
                        #endregion

                    }

                }
                else
                {
                    #region If internal news list name is empty
                    blnExist = false;
                    #endregion
                }

                #endregion

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                #region Catch
                blnExist = false;
                #endregion
            }
            return blnExist;
        }
        #endregion


        #region Insert record in list
        private void insertRecordInList(SPList oList,string strFirstName,string strLastName)
        {
            try
            {
                #region Try
                SPListItem oListItem = oList.Items.Add();
                oListItem["Title"] = strFirstName;
                oListItem["LastName"] = strLastName;
                oListItem.Update();
                #endregion

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                #region Catch
                throw ex;
                #endregion
            }
        }
        #endregion

        #endregion

    }
}

Get changed user profiles in SharePoint using C#

2011-06-06T16:22:00.003+05:30

Get all the user profiles/properties which are modified since yesterday date or any datetime interval:

With the help of UserProfileManager class (Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles), we can access properties of user profile and changed profile which are modified since yesterday date or any datetime interval.
In this example we will access different components of UserProfileManager :


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
using System.Collections;

namespace UserProfilesOMApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com"))
            {
                ServerContext context = ServerContext.GetContext(site);
                UserProfileManager profileManager =
                  new UserProfileManager(context);

                //Fetch all user profile properties 
                Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.PropertyCollection props = profileManager.Properties;
                //Print all user profile properties


                Console.WriteLine("_______________________Start:Print all user profile properties.");

                foreach (Property prop in props)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(prop.Name);
                }
                Console.WriteLine("_______________________End:Print all user profile properties.");


                //Find user profile changes.

                // this gets some subset of changes to a user profile, changed 5 days before
                DateTime startDate =
                  DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(TimeSpan.FromDays(5));

                /* If we want to access changes after "4/30/2011 11:33:47 PM" then we can use below mentioned code:
                 
                 StartTime="5/30/2010 11:33:47 PM"
                System.TimeSpan dateDiff = DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(Convert.ToDateTime(StartTime));
                DateTime startDate = DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(dateDiff);
                */

                UserProfileChangeQuery changeQuery = new UserProfileChangeQuery(true, true);
                changeQuery.ChangeTokenStart = new UserProfileChangeToken(startDate);
                UserProfileChangeCollection changes = profileManager.GetChanges(changeQuery);
                //Used to store unique user names
                ArrayList arrLstUsers = new ArrayList();
                foreach (UserProfileChange change in changes)
                {
                    if (arrLstUsers != null && !arrLstUsers.Contains(change.AccountName))
                    {
                        //Add user to array list
                        arrLstUsers.Add(change.AccountName);
                        //Print chagned profile user name
                        Console.Write(change.AccountName);
                    }
                }
                Console.Read();
            }
        }
    }
}

Accessing SharePoint Publishing site Navigation (Global Navigation bar) using C#

2011-06-06T15:19:00.003+05:30

Accessing SharePoint Publishing site Navigation (Global Navigation bar) using C#:

With the help of PublishingWeb class (Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing), we can access different components of Published Web site like Pages document library, Published site navigation bar and etc.
In this example we will access different components of Published site:


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Navigation;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing;


namespace GetPublishedData
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/"))
            {
                using (SPWeb web = site.RootWeb)
                {
                    PublishingWeb publishingWeb = PublishingWeb.GetPublishingWeb(web);

                    //Display Global Navigation menu items(Home > Site Settings > Modify Navigation)
                    foreach (Microsoft.SharePoint.Navigation.SPNavigationNode node in publishingWeb.GlobalNavigationNodes)
                    {

                        Console.WriteLine(node.Title + " " + node.Url);

                    }
                    // Get the Id for the Pages list.
                    Guid pagesListId = publishingWeb.PagesListId;
                    SPList pagesList = publishingWeb.PagesList;

                    // The PublishingWeb.PagesListName is equivalent 
                    // to PublishingWeb.PagesList.RootFolder.Url.
                    string pagesListUrl = publishingWeb.PagesListName;

                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Reference: MSDN

Accessing SharePoint Quick Launch menu (SPNavigation.QuickLaunch) using C#:

2011-06-06T15:01:00.002+05:30

Accessing SharePoint Quick Launch menu (SPNavigation.QuickLaunch) using C#:
With the help of SPNavigation, we will be able to access the Quick Launch menu of SharePoint site. Sometimes we need to show/hide Quick Launch menu item, so with the help of SPNavigation. QuickLaunch, we can loop through Quick Launch menu item.
In this example we will access Quick Launch menu:


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Navigation;


namespace GetQuickLaunch
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/"))
            {
                using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
                {
                    SPNavigationNodeCollection qlNodes = web.Navigation.QuickLaunch;
                    foreach (SPNavigationNode node in qlNodes)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine(node.Title + "--" + node.Url);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Reference: MSDN

SharePoint web parts properties validation

2011-06-04T14:13:00.001+05:30

SharePoint web parts properties validation

Sometimes, in a custom web part we define the custom properties. It’s very difficult to validate properties every time by opening the web part in edit mode. So we needed to include validations on it so that whenever the user clicked OK or Apply the error message should be shown so that the correct input should be given.

Solution 1:

Earlier definition of the Property


private string _amitKumar=String.Empty;
public string AmitKumar
{
          get {return _amitKumar;}
          set {_amitKumar = value;}
}
 
Updated web part property definition,
private string _amitKumar =String.Empty;
public string AmitKumar
{
          get {return _amitKumar;}
          set
{
   If(String.IsNullOrEmpty(value)
    {
          throw new Exception (“Value is required”);
    }
else
   _amitKumar =value; 
}
 
}

The above approach works perfectly fine and will not let you close the properties pane until you provide the value in the _amitKumar field, you will keep getting exception for that web part. Now the disadvantage here is the user does not get a friendly message telling him what exactly is going wrong, though we specify the message in the new Exception constructor, it still shows a generic message.

Solution 2:

Now the above does fulfill the requirement but the client would clearly says they don’t like it because the error message does not talk about what happened and where, and hence there has to be a way to show the user our custom error message. So, we have used new exception of type WebPartPageUserException instead of Excepton. WebPartPageUserException class shows the exception custom message in the webpart property pane itself. So the correct or rather more appropriate way of implementing the above code would be,


private string _amitKumar =String.Empty;
public string AmitKumar
{
          get {return _amitKumar;}
          set
{
   If(String.IsNullOrEmpty(value)
    {
          throw new WebPartPageUserException (“Value is required”);
    }
else
   _amitKumar =value; 
}
 
}

And this will show the custom error message in the property pane so user knows what’s exactly is wrong.

Amit Kumar awarded “Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011”

2011-05-11T14:05:00.006+05:30

Amit Kumar awarded “Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011”:

I’m very pleased and honored to share this with all of you that my community contributions have been recognized by Microsoft. I have received the Microsoft Community Contributor Award for year 2011. This is really great and I would like to thank Microsoft for honoring me with such an award!

How to convert absolute url to relative url

2011-04-02T12:51:00.002+05:30

How to convert absolute url to relative url:

URL: URL is just a fancy name for "address". You use a "url" to give the address to a link or image.

Absolute url: An url that is ABSOLUTE shows the complete address. In other words, there is no confusion about where this item is located, as the ABSOLUTE URL gives the entire path to that file. http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html is an example of an ABSOLUTE url.

Relative url: A url that is RELATIVE only shows a partial address - like /2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html - and the success or failure of finding the file is contingent on certain conditions being met - which means the outcome can and will vary, depending largely how the directories within your website are structured.

Problem:
After restoring the site from development environment to staging environment.
If some document library having metadata like “ListURL”. This metadata contains url in the form of absolute url, then it will show development environment url into staging site. Now, application team decided to change this metadata value from absolute url to relative url, in that case we need to change value, which exist at present in the form of absolute url into relative url.

Resolution:
In this scenario, we can use SharePoint Object Model classes to access data from custom SharePoint list and pass the value of “ListURL” to following function:

public string GetRelativeURL(string urlToConvert)
       {
           char[] chrsplitter1 = { '/' };
           string[] strsplitter1 = { "://" };
           string convertedURL = string.Empty;
           if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(urlToConvert) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(urlToConvert))
           {
               //If url is not null
               //Replace "https" with "http"
               if (urlToConvert.ToLower().Contains("https"))
               {
                   urlToConvert = urlToConvert.Replace("https", "http");
               }

               //Remove "/" from start and end of the string
               urlToConvert = urlToConvert.TrimStart(chrsplitter1).TrimEnd(chrsplitter1);

               if (urlToConvert.ToLower().Contains("http"))
               {
                   // urlToConvert is a full URL, i.e. absolute URL
                   // For Example : -- "http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html" 
                   // So we are converting it into :-- /2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html

                   //Replace "\\" with "//"
                   if (urlToConvert.ToLower().Contains("\\"))
                   {
                       urlToConvert = urlToConvert.Replace("\\", "//");
                   }

                   //Spilt url with "://"
                   // For Example : -- "http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html"
                   string[] arrHTTP = urlToConvert.Split(strsplitter1, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
                   //arrHTTP[0]="http"
                   //arrHTTP[1]="amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html"
                   if (arrHTTP != null && arrHTTP.Length >= 2)
                   {
                       if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(arrHTTP[1]))
                       {
                           //If arrHTTP[1] is not null
                           string relativeURL = string.Empty;
                           if (arrHTTP[1].IndexOf("/") >= 0)
                           {
                               //If "/" found in the string
                               relativeURL = arrHTTP[1].Substring(arrHTTP[1].IndexOf("/"));
                           }
                           else
                           {
                               //If "/" not found in the string
                               relativeURL = arrHTTP[1];
                           }

                           if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(relativeURL))
                           {
                               //We will receive relativeURL ="2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html"
                               relativeURL = relativeURL.TrimStart(chrsplitter1).TrimEnd(chrsplitter1);
                               //We will receive convertedURL ="/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html"
                               convertedURL = "/" + relativeURL;
                           }
                       }
                   }

               }
               else
               {
                   //We will receive convertedURL ="/2011/02/get-list-data-using-sharepoint-object.html"
                   convertedURL = "/" + urlToConvert;
               }
           }
           else
           {
               //If url is null
           }
           return convertedURL;
       }

Above function return the relative url.

Reference: gallery.menalto.com

Add password reset page in Form Based Authentication MOSS 2007 site

2011-03-19T14:07:00.010+05:30

Add password reset page in Form Based Authentication MOSS 2007 site:

Overview:

This article explains how to add a reset password page in Form Based Authentication enable SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) site, so the user can reset his/her password. We will add this page in standard menu.

Problem:

When you enable forms authentication on SharePoint 2007 (MOSS), it means that users credentials are stored in membership database like ASP.NET database. In Form Based Authentication site, if we want to reset password then reset password page should be accessible to anonymous user also.

Solution:

We are going to add new feature (ResetPasswordPage feature) in the standard user menu:

1. Write code .cs file(c# file), In this class, we will inherit the class Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.UnsecuredLayoutsPageBase

For example:


public  class ExtranetPasswordReset_Test : Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.UnsecuredLayoutsPageBase

2. Creating ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx
3. Creating ResetPasswordPage feature
4. Deployment

1. Creation of ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx:

We will create new ExtranetPasswordReset.aspx with the help of VS 2005.


<%@ Assembly Name="Microsoft.SharePoint,Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c"  %>
<%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.UnsecuredLayoutsPageBase"  MasterPageFile="~/_layouts/simple.master"  %>
<%@ Assembly Name="Test.Security, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=8b7a42e9b9b5355f" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls"  Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="Utilities" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages" %>



Site Title:

Code behind file of ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx, called ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx.cs:

1. We need add two functions:
I. protected override bool AllowAnonymousAccess
II. protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

2. Inherit the class with UnsecuredLayoutsPageBase class.


namespace Test.Security.Web.UI
{


public  class ExtranetPasswordReset_Test : Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.UnsecuredLayoutsPageBase
{
protected override bool AllowAnonymousAccess
{
  get
  {
      return true;

  }
}
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  Response.Write("Test");
}


}
}

2. Create ResetPasswordPage feature:

We will create Feature file and put into the ResetPasswordPage folder inside the Feature folder.

We also need to create elements.xml file.

Set CustomAction properties as shown, Location to be ‘StandardMenu’ and UrlAction URL property should be “_layouts/ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx”
3. Deployment
1. Copy ‘ExtranetPasswordReset_Test.aspx’ file to the following path:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\
2. Copy ResetPasswordPage folder that contains elements.xml and feature.xml to the following path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\

3. run the following command:

Now the feature is installed successfully, but needs to be activated.

4. Go to your site-> Site Actions -> Site Settings -> Modify All Site Settings->Site Collection Features ->Activate ResetPasswordPage feature.

Now you can find Reset Password action in the standard user menu

How to deploy DLL’s into GAC using batch (.bat) file

2011-03-07T10:03:00.019+05:30

How to deploy DLL’s into GAC using batch (.bat) file:

Global Assembly Cache Tool (Gacutil.exe):
The Global Assembly Cache tool allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the global assembly cache and download cache.


gacutil [options] [assemblyName  assemblyPath  assemblyListFile]

The Gacutil is a tool used by developers to install versioned assemblies into the system Global Assembly Cache (GAC) to become part of the assemblies that are available for all applications at runtime.

Parameter:

assemblyName:The name of an assembly. You can supply either a partially specified assembly name such as myAssembly or a fully specified assembly name such as myAssembly, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0038abc9deabfle5.

assemblyPath:The name of a file that contains an assembly manifest.

assemblyListFile:The path to an ANSI text file that lists assemblies to install or uninstall. To use a text file to install assemblies, specify the path to each assembly on a separate line in the file. The tool interprets relative paths, relative to the location of the assemblyListFile. To use a text file to uninstall assemblies, specify the fully qualified assembly name for each assembly on a separate line in the file. See the assemblyListFile contents examples later in this topic.

Option:

/cdl :Deletes the contents of the download cache.

/f :Specify this option with the /i or /il options to force an assembly to reinstall. If an assembly with the same name already exists in the global assembly cache, the tool overwrites it.

/h[elp] :Displays command syntax and options for the tool.

/i assemblyPath :Installs an assembly into the global assembly cache.

/if assemblyPath :Installs an assembly into the global assembly cache. If an assembly with the same name already exists in the global assembly cache, the tool overwrites it.
Specifying this option is equivalent to specifying the /i and /f options together.

/il assemblyListFile :Installs one or more assemblies specified in assemblyListFile into the global assembly cache.

/ir assemblyPath :Installs an assembly into the global assembly cache and adds a reference to count the assembly. You must specify the assemblyPath, scheme, id, and description parameters with this option. For a description of the valid values you can specify for these parameters, see the /r option. Specifying this option is equivalent to specifying the /i and /r options together.

/l [assemblyName] :Lists the contents of the global assembly cache. If you specify the assemblyName parameter, the tool lists only the assemblies matching that name.

/ldl :Lists the contents of the downloaded files cache.

/lr [assemblyName] :Lists all assemblies and their corresponding reference counts. If you specify the assemblyName parameter, the tool lists only the assemblies matching that name and their corresponding reference counts.

/nologo :Suppresses the Microsoft startup banner display.

/r [assemblyName assemblyPath] :Specifies a traced reference to an assembly or assemblies to install or uninstall. Specify this option with the /i, /il, /u, or /ul options.
To install an assembly, specify the assemblyPath, scheme, id, and description parameters with this option. To uninstall an assembly, specify the assemblyName, scheme, id, and description parameters.
To remove a reference to an assembly, you must specify the same scheme, id, and description parameters that were specified with the /i and /r (or /ir) options when the assembly was installed. If you are uninstalling an assembly, the tool also removes the assembly from the global assembly cache if it is the last reference to remove and if Windows Installer has no outstanding references to the assembly.

/silent :Suppresses the display of all output.

/u assemblyName :Uninstalls an assembly from the global assembly cache.

/uf assemblyName :Forces a specified assembly to uninstall by removing all references to the assembly. Specifying this option is equivalent to specifying the /u and /f options together.
Note :You cannot use this option to remove an assembly that was installed using Microsoft Windows Installer. If you attempt this operation, the tool displays an error message.

/ul assemblyListFile :Uninstalls one or more assemblies specified in assemblyListFile from the global assembly cache.

/u[ngen] assemblyName :Uninstalls a specified assembly from the global assembly cache. If the specified assembly has existing reference counts, the tool displays the reference counts and does not remove the assembly from the global assembly cache.
Note: In the .NET Framework version 2.0, /ungen is not supported. Instead, use the uninstall command of the Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe).
In the .NET Framework versions 1.0 and 1.1, specifying /ungen causes Gacutil.exe to remove the assembly from the native image cache. This cache stores the native images for assemblies that have been created using the Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe).

/ur assemblyName :Uninstalls a reference to a specified assembly from the global assembly cache. To remove a reference to an assembly, you must specify the same scheme, id, and description parameters that were specified with the /i and /r (or /ir) options when the assembly was installed. For a description of the valid values you can specify for these parameters, see the /r option. Specifying this option is equivalent to specifying the /u and /r options together.

/? :Displays command syntax and options for the tool.

Problem: How to deploy DLL’s into GAC using batch (.bat) file
Resolution:
There are 2 ways to deploy DLL’s into GAC using batch (.bat) file:
1. Using ul & il option of Gacutil.exe in batch file:
For example, we need to un-install some Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version=3.1.0.0 dll from GAC and need to install some Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version= 5.0.414.0 into GAC. For this I created a text files which contain the details of DLL’s which we need to un-install and install:

i. UnInstallAssemblyList.txt:


Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version=3.1.0.0,Culture=Neutral,PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.Logging,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.Logging,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Security.Cryptography,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a

ii. InstallAssemblyList.txt:


Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.Logging,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Security.Cryptography,Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a

iii. InstallMicrosoftEnterpriseLibrary.bat:


@echo off
setlocal
Echo Un-Installing dll from GAC
%GACUTIL% /ul UnInstallAssemblyList.txt
Echo Installing dll in GAC
%GACUTIL% /il InstallAssemblyList.txt

For running InstallMicrosoftEnterpriseLibrary.bat:
Set the environment variables for
1. GACUTIL
Navigate to folder where InstallMicrosoftEnterpriseLibrary.bat stored and execute the following scripts:

1. InstallMicrosoftEnterpriseLibrary.bat

2. Using uf & i option of Gacutil.exe in batch file:

For example, we need to un-install some Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version=3.1.0.0 dll from GAC and need to install some Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version= 5.0.414.0 into GAC. For this I created a batch file called InstallMicrosoftEnterpriseLibrary.bat:


@echo off
setlocal
Echo Un-Installing dll from GAC
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.Logging,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
%GACUTIL% /uf "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Security.Cryptography,Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"

Echo Installing dll in GAC
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.dll"
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.dll"
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.dll"
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling.Logging.dll"
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.dll"
%GACUTIL% /i "Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Security.Cryptography.dll"

Default/Integrated role in SharePoint 2007

2011-02-22T10:08:00.005+05:30

Default/Integrated role in SharePoint 2007:

A role consists of two parts:

1. Role definition
2. Role assignment.

The role definition, or permission level, is the list of rights associated with the role. A right is a uniquely controllable action within a SharePoint Web site. For example, a user with the Read role can browse pages in the Web site and view items in lists. Unlike in Windows SharePoint Services 2.0, in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 user permissions are never managed directly using rights. All user and group permissions are managed through roles. A role definition is a collection of rights bound to a specific object. Role definitions are scoped to the Web site (for example, Full Control, Read, Contribute, Design, or Limited Access) and mean the same thing everywhere within the Web site, but their meanings can differ between sites within the same site collection. Role definitions can also be inherited from the parent Web site, just as permissions.

The role assignment is the relationship among the role definition, the users and groups, and the scope (for example, one user may be a reader on list one, while another user is a reader on list two). The relationship expressed through the role assignment is the key to making Windows SharePoint Services security management role-based. All permissions are managed through roles; you never assign rights directly to a user, but only meaningful collections of rights (role definitions) that are well defined and consistent. You manage unique permissions by adding or removing users and groups to or from role definitions through role assignments.

The default/integrated role in SharePoint 2007:
1. Full Control
2. Read
3. Contribute
4. Design
5. Limited Access

Reference: MSDN

Encrypting Web.Config

2011-02-15T14:51:00.006+05:30

Encrypting Web.Config using RSAProtectedConfigurationProvider in SharePoint

Overview:

One of the most common uses of the protected configuration is to encrypt connection strings in web.confg (that's one of the reasons for creating a separate tag for connection strings instead of adding it in appSettings tag). Adding this connection string as plain text is not the best practice for sharepoint web application security and this might cause serious hacking problems. Sharepoint also support for encrypting and decrypting configuration sections in web.config file. In this article, we will explore how to encrypt and decrypt sections of the web.config. We can encrypt the configuration sections by using two built-in providers: DPAPI (Windows Data Protection API) Provider or the RSA provider. The RSA provider (default) uses an RSA key which holds public and private keys, where as the DPAPI provider uses built-in machine-specific key. Let us explore the steps required to encrypt the sections using RSA.

Below are steps in detail:

Step 1: Add a web.config file to the project. Right click the project > Add New Item > Web Configuration File
Step 2: To create the custom configuration section in Web.Config file please create the custom class inherited from ConfigurationSection class.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web.Configuration;

namespace AmitKumar.GeneralSite.Web.UI
{
    class CustomUpdateProfileSection : ConfigurationSection
    {
        private static CustomUpdateProfileSection settings = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection") as CustomUpdateProfileSection;
        public static CustomUpdateProfileSection Settings
        {
            get
            {
                return settings;
            }
        }
        [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserDomain", DefaultValue = "v4", IsRequired = true)]
        public string UpdateProfileUserDomain
        {
            get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserDomain"]; }
            set { this["UpdateProfileUserDomain"] = value; }
        }

        [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserName", IsRequired = true)]
        public string UpdateProfileUserName
        {
            get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserName"]; }
            set { this["UpdateProfileUserName"] = value; }
        }
        [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserPassword", IsRequired = true)]
        public string UpdateProfileUserPassword
        {
            get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserPassword"]; }
            set { this["UpdateProfileUserPassword"] = value; }
        }

    }
}

Step 3: Sign the assembly with the strong name and deploy in the GAC.
Step 4: Define the custom section in the Web.Config file

Note: "AmitKumar.Web.UI.CustomUpdateProfileSection" is the name of the class. "AmitKumar" is the name of the Assembly.
Step 5: Now add two buttons to the page, called btnEncrypt and btnDecrypt. We will use these buttons to encrypt and decrypt the sections of the web.config file. Add the following code in the button click event of the two buttons:


public void btnEncrypt_OnClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        System.Configuration.Configuration config = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(Request.ApplicationPath);
        ConfigurationSection objSection = config.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection");
        if ((config != null) && (!objSection.SectionInformation.IsProtected))
        {
            if (!objSection.ElementInformation.IsLocked)
            {
                objSection.SectionInformation.ProtectSection("RsaProtectedConfigurationProvider");
                config.Save();
                this.lblCustomError.Visible = false;
                this.lblSuccess.Text = "Successfully Encrypted, Kindly check the Web.Config file.";
                this.lblSuccess.Visible = true;
            }                
        }         
             
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        string strErrorMsg = "Error, DateTime :" + DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString() + ", Error : " + ex.Message.ToString() + ", Stack Trace : " + ex.StackTrace.ToString();
        this.lblCustomError.Text = strErrorMsg;
        this.lblCustomError.Visible = true;
    }
}

public void btnDecrypt_OnClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        System.Configuration.Configuration objConfig = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(Request.ApplicationPath);
        ConfigurationSection objSection = objConfig.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection");
        if (objConfig != null && objSection.SectionInformation.IsProtected)
        {
            if (!objSection.ElementInformation.IsLocked)
            {
                objSection.SectionInformation.UnprotectSection();
                objConfig.Save();
                this.lblCustomError.Visible = false;
                this.lblSuccess.Text = "Successfully Decrypted, Kindly check the Web.Config file.";
                this.lblSuccess.Visible = true;
            }                 
        }              
             
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        string strErrorMsg = "Error, DateTime :" + DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString() + ", Error : " + ex.Message.ToString() + ", Stack Trace : " + ex.StackTrace.ToString();
        this.lblCustomError.Text = strErrorMsg;
        this.lblCustomError.Visible = true;
    }
}

Get list data using SharePoint Object Model

2011-02-13T14:55:00.005+05:30

Get list data using SharePoint Object Model:

This article explains how you can use the SharePoint Object Model(MOSS 2007) classes like SPSite and SPWeb in C# or Visual Basic code to fetch data from a custom SharePoint list.

This article explains how you can use the SharePoint Object Model(MOSS 2007) classes like SPSite and SPWeb in C# or Visual Basic code to fetch data from a custom SharePoint list.

Problem:
You want to get data on the basis of url (including siteurl+listname) from the custom SharePoint list.

Resolution:
In this scenario, we can use SharePoint Object Model classes to access data from custom SharePoint list.


public static bool CheckListExists(string listName, SPWeb web,ref SPList list)
     {
         try
         {
             //---Check list exist or not
             if (web.Lists[listName]!=null)
             {
                 list = web.Lists[listName];
                 return true;
             }
             return false;
         }
         catch (ArgumentException ex)
         {
             return false;
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             return false;

         }
     }

Above function used to check list exist in the SharePoint site or not.


     public static void  GetListData(string listUrl)
     {
         SPList objList = null;
         char [] chrSplitter={'/'};
         try
         {
             listUrl = listUrl.TrimEnd(chrSplitter);
             string[] arrList = listUrl.Split(chrSplitter);
             if (arrList != null && arrList.Length > 0)
             {

                 using (SPSite site = new SPSite(listUrl))
                 {
                     using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
                     {
                         if(CheckListExists(SPEncode.UrlDecodeAsUrl(arrList[arrList.Length - 1]),web,ref objList))
                         {
                            //Add business logic here
                         }
                     }
                 }
             }
          

         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {

         }
     }

Above function used to get data from SharePoint site by passing the url only. The url contain both site url and list name. For example:

From presentation layer, we make a call to GetListData function


string listUrl="http://amitkumarmca04.blogspot.com/sites/mcapassion/Lists/AmitKumar";
GetListData(listUrl);

Customizing Styles of Summary Links Web Parts

2011-01-13T12:09:00.010+05:30

Customizing Styles of Summary Links Web Parts:

The Summary Link field control present authored links on your page. You can base these links on a set of styles available to the Web site.
You can also style the items and group headers in these Web Parts so they use a set of available styles to render.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 uses XSL style sheets to present these Web Parts. You can customize and extend styles to match the color and branding of your Web site.
The following table shows the mapping of XSL style sheet files and the corresponding Web Parts.

XSL Style Sheet	Purpose	Corresponding Web Part
ContentQueryMain.xsl	"Application" XSL style sheet	Content Query
Header.xsl	Group headers for Content Query and Summary Links, title headers for Table of Contents	Content Query, Summary Links, Table of Contents
ItemStyle.xsl	Content Query and Summary Link item styles	Content Query, Summary Links
LevelStyle.xsl	Table of Contents level styles, which includes the site and its pages	Table of Contents
SummaryLinkMain.xsl	"Application" XSL for Summary Links	Summary Links
TableOfContentsMain.xsl	"Application" XSL for Table of Contents	Table of Contents

Requirement:

We required two custom styles for link items:

1. First style with one horizontal line.

2. Second style with two horizontal lines

Steps to update:

1. First we will create css class:


.SingleLine
{
Border-bottom:1px solid #000000; text-decoration:none;
FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica; font-size:12px;
}

.SingleLine A, .SingleLine A:link, .SingleLine A:active,.SingleLine A:visited
{
text-decoration:none;

}

Add above mentioned css class into your site css file.

2. To find and modify Summary Link styles

1. Navigate to the home page of your Web site and click View All Site Content.

2. Click Style Library.

3. Click XSL Styles Sheets. The list of XSL files available in the Style Library for all three Web Part types appears.

4. To see an example, open ItemStyle.xsl, which controls the display of Summary Link items, to modify it. Next, consider the file's structure and contents.

a. The XSL template is simply HTML with a few variables (@ImageURL, @LinkURL, @Description, and so on).

b. You can show or hide the Summary Link data by adding or removing these variables.

c. You can also choose to change how the surrounding HTML makes these variables appear.

d. Each XSL template maps to one style that an author can choose.

e. The first section of the code sample includes XSL templates that Office SharePoint Server 2007 calls, passes data to, and gets modified versions of the data from.

f. The section includes the rendered HTML with the result of the functions.



// This section includes a set of functions, or xsl templates, which MOSS 2007 calls, passes data into, and gets modified versions of the data from.  The product does this primarily to improve security.

















_blank

// Includes the rendered HTML with the results of the functions.

3. To create a new style:

1. Repeat steps 1 through 4 mentioned in step 2 in the previous procedure to navigate to the ItemStyle.xsl file.

2. Open the ItemStyle.xsl file and add the following code.

// SingleLine style





















_blank

// DoubleLine style

3. Now upload updated ItemStyle.xsl in the library.

4. After uploading the ItemStyle.xsl in the library, newly created styles are available in the item style:

5. Now, if we create new link items by using newly created styles:

Reference: MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms551040(v=office.12).aspx)

Create SharePoint List/Document Library using programming

2010-12-02T15:14:00.008+05:30

Create SharePoint List/Document Library using C#
(How-To: Create a SharePoint list programmatically/Create a list/Add a Custom List to SharePoint/Programmatically create a custom SharePoint list):

Overview:

In one of my project, i am having requirements of list SharePoint List logging. For this, i required a SharePoint. I can create a SharePoint List by following way:

Create a SharePoint List by directly accessing the SharePoint Site
Create a SharePoint List with the help of SharePoint Object Model (Microsoft.SharePoint namespace)

I adopted the second case in my windows application project.

Below are steps in detail.

Step 1: Create a xml file with name ListDetails.xml and copy following text in to that xml file:

Step 2: Create a .cs file and add following code:




private SPFieldType GetFieldType(string fieldType)
{
SPFieldType fieldTypeForColumn = SPFieldType.Text;
// Get the field type.
switch (fieldType)
{
case "Text":
fieldTypeForColumn = SPFieldType.Text;
break;

case "Choice":
fieldTypeForColumn = SPFieldType.Choice;
break;

case "Note":
fieldTypeForColumn = SPFieldType.Note;
break;
}
return fieldTypeForColumn;
}

private void AddFieldsToList(SPList referenceList, XmlNodeList columnsList)
{
// Variable Initialization.
SPField listField = null;
SPFieldType fieldType;
SPView listDefaultView = null;
SPFieldText fieldText = null;
try
{
foreach (XmlNode column in columnsList)
{
fieldType = GetFieldType(column.Attributes["DataType"].Value as string);
// Create the field
listField = referenceList.Fields.CreateNewField(fieldType.ToString(), column.Attributes["Name"].Value) as SPField;
// Set Various properties for the field.
listField.AllowDeletion = true;
listField.Description = column.Attributes["Description"].Value;

// Set the required properties for the column.
listField.ShowInDisplayForm = true;
listField.ShowInEditForm = true;
listField.ShowInListSettings = true;
listField.ShowInNewForm = true;
listField.ShowInVersionHistory = true;
referenceList.Fields.Add(listField);
// Add the column to the view of the list.
listDefaultView = referenceList.Views[0] as SPView;
listDefaultView.ViewFields.Add(column.Attributes["Name"].Value);
listDefaultView.Update();
referenceList.Update();

// Set the maximum length
if (fieldType.ToString().Equals(SPFieldType.Text.ToString(), StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) && column.Attributes["MaximumLength"] != null)
{
fieldText = referenceList.Fields[column.Attributes["Name"].Value] as SPFieldText;
fieldText.MaxLength = Convert.ToInt32(column.Attributes["MaximumLength"].Value);
fieldText.Update();
}
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
}



public SPList CheckListExist(string strListName, SPWeb objWeb)
{
SPList objList = null;
try
{
//---Check list exist or not
if (objWeb.Lists[strListName] != null)
{
objList = objWeb.Lists[strListName] as SPList;
}
}
catch
{
objList = null;
}
return objList;
}


public SPList CreateReportList(string strXMLPath)
{
SPList objList = null;
XmlDocument xmlListDetailsDoc = new XmlDocument();
XmlNode objListNode = null;
XmlNodeList columnsList = null;
string urlSite = string.Empty;
string listName = string.Empty;
string description = string.Empty;
try
{
xmlListDetailsDoc.Load(strXMLPath);
// Get the URL
urlSite = xmlListDetailsDoc.SelectSingleNode("Lists").Attributes[0].Value;
// Get the list Node.
objListNode = xmlListDetailsDoc.SelectSingleNode("Lists/List");
// Process each list node and create/retrieve the list.
    using (SPSite referenceSite = new SPSite(urlSite))
    {
          using (SPWeb referenceWeb = referenceSite.OpenWeb())
          {
                listName = objListNode.Attributes[0].Value;
                description = objListNode.Attributes[1].Value;

                  if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(listName))
                  {
                    //Check list exist or not
                    objList = CheckListExist(listName, referenceWeb);
                    if(objList==null)
                    {
                      //Create the list.
                      SPListTemplateType templateType = SPListTemplateType.GenericList;
                      Guid referenceListId = referenceWeb.Lists.Add(listName, description, templateType);
                      objList = referenceWeb.Lists[referenceListId];
                      // Set that the list can be displayed in quick launch.
                      objList.OnQuickLaunch = true;
                      // Create the columns in the list.
                      columnsList = objListNode.SelectNodes("Columns/Column");
                      if (columnsList != null && columnsList.Count > 0)
                          {
                          AddFieldsToList(objList, columnsList);
                          }
                      }
                    }
          }
    }
}
catch (Exception e)
{
objList = null;
}
return objList;
}

Step 3: Call the function CreateReportList() .

With the help of above mentioned steps you can create a SharePoint List using SharePoint Object Model.

Encrypting Web.Config using RSAProtectedConfigurationProvider in SharePoint Using C#

2010-11-01T01:19:00.006+05:30

Encrypting Web.Config Values

Overview:

One of the most common uses of the protected configuration is to encrypt connection strings in web.confg (that's one of the reasons for creating a separate tag for connection strings instead of adding it in appSettings tag). Adding this connection string as plain text is not the best practice for sharepoint web application security and this might cause serious hacking problems. Sharepoint also support for encrypting and decrypting configuration sections in web.config file. In this article, we will explore how to encrypt and decrypt sections of the web.config. We can encrypt the configuration sections by using two built-in providers: DPAPI (Windows Data Protection API) Provider or the RSA provider.

The RSA provider (default) uses an RSA key which holds public and private keys, where as the DPAPI provider uses built-in machine-specific key. Let us explore the steps required to encrypt the sections using RSA.

Below are steps in detail.

Step 1: Add a web.config file to the project. Right click the project > Add New Item > Web Configuration File

Step 2: To create the custom configuration section in Web.Config file please create the custom class inherited from ConfigurationSection class.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web.Configuration;

namespace Amit.Kumar.GeneralSite.Web.UI
{
   class CustomUpdateProfileSection : ConfigurationSection
   {
       private static CustomUpdateProfileSection settings = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection") as CustomUpdateProfileSection;
       public static CustomUpdateProfileSection Settings
       {
           get
           {
               return settings;
           }
       }
       [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserDomain", DefaultValue = "v4", IsRequired = true)]
       public string UpdateProfileUserDomain
       {
           get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserDomain"]; }
           set { this["UpdateProfileUserDomain"] = value; }
       }

       [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserName", IsRequired = true)]
       public string UpdateProfileUserName
       {
           get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserName"]; }
           set { this["UpdateProfileUserName"] = value; }
       }
       [ConfigurationProperty("UpdateProfileUserPassword", IsRequired = true)]
       public string UpdateProfileUserPassword
       {
           get { return (string)this["UpdateProfileUserPassword"]; }
           set { this["UpdateProfileUserPassword"] = value; }
       }

   }
}

Step 3: Sign the assembly with the strong name and deploy in the GAC.

Step 4: Define the custom section in the Web.Config file


<configuration>
 <configSections>
   <section name="CustomUpdateProfileSection" type="Amit.Kumar.GeneralSite.Web.UI.CustomUpdateProfileSection, Amit.Kumar.GeneralSite, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=8b7a42e9b9b5355f" />
 </configSections>
 <CustomUpdateProfileSection UpdateProfileUserDomain="v4" UpdateProfileUserName="arpit" UpdateProfileUserPassword="pass" />
</configuration>

Note: "Amit.Kumar.GeneralSite.Web.UI.CustomUpdateProfileSection" is the name of the class. "Amit.Kumar.GeneralSite" is the name of the Assembly.

Step 5: Now add two buttons to the page, called btnEncrypt and btnDecrypt. We will use these buttons to encrypt and decrypt the sections of the web.config file. Add the following code in the button click event of the two buttons:



public void btnEncrypt_OnClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   try
   {
       System.Configuration.Configuration config = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(Request.ApplicationPath);
       ConfigurationSection objSection = config.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection");
       if ((config != null) && (!objSection.SectionInformation.IsProtected))
       {
           if (!objSection.ElementInformation.IsLocked)
           {
               objSection.SectionInformation.ProtectSection("RsaProtectedConfigurationProvider");
               config.Save();
               this.lblCustomError.Visible = false;
               this.lblSuccess.Text = "Successfully Encrypted, Kindly check the Web.Config file.";
               this.lblSuccess.Visible = true;
           }                
       }         
            
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {
       string strErrorMsg = "Error, DateTime :" + DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString() + ", Error : " + ex.Message.ToString() + ", Stack Trace : " + ex.StackTrace.ToString();
       this.lblCustomError.Text = strErrorMsg;
       this.lblCustomError.Visible = true;
   }
}

public void btnDecrypt_OnClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   try
   {
       System.Configuration.Configuration objConfig = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(Request.ApplicationPath);
       ConfigurationSection objSection = objConfig.GetSection("CustomUpdateProfileSection");
       if (objConfig != null && objSection.SectionInformation.IsProtected)
       {
           if (!objSection.ElementInformation.IsLocked)
           {
               objSection.SectionInformation.UnprotectSection();
               objConfig.Save();
               this.lblCustomError.Visible = false;
               this.lblSuccess.Text = "Successfully Decrypted, Kindly check the Web.Config file.";
               this.lblSuccess.Visible = true;
           }                 
       }              
            
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {
       string strErrorMsg = "Error, DateTime :" + DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString() + ", Error : " + ex.Message.ToString() + ", Stack Trace : " + ex.StackTrace.ToString();
       this.lblCustomError.Text = strErrorMsg;
       this.lblCustomError.Visible = true;
   }
}

Add Technorati tags in blog posts

2010-10-31T19:37:00.004+05:30

How to Add Technorati Tags to a Blog:

Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. You can increase your blog traffic by adding Technorati tags at the end of your blog posts. This will put your post into the list of posts searchers find on Technorati when searching for the tags you used. Everyday, thousands of visitor search for information through it.

If your blog is registered in Technorati, a bigger chance it will be seen by visitors.
This can increase your SEO Blog rank.
To register in Technorati, follow below simple steps:

1. Sign In on Technorati, if not register, please Join on Technorati, follow below simple steps:

2. Click your account (your userID), it's near signout link.
3. Click Claimed Blogs tab.
4. Click Claim a new blog link below.
5. Enter your Blog URL then click Begin Claim Button.

Now, your blog is registered in technorati.

In the next step, i will discuss about how to add technorati tag on every posting.

1. Login to BLOGGER, go to: "Settings > Template > Edit HTML"
2. Click on 'Expand Widget Templates'
3. Search for class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'
4. After below mention code:

5. Now add following code:

6. Now, your every blog post display Technorati tags as belw:

Add Web Part to page using C# code in SharePoint

2010-10-22T19:47:00.005+05:30

Add Web Part to page using C# code in SharePoint:

In MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 sites we can add or remove the web part from SharePoint page, using the options available in site. We can also add web part into a page using SharePoint Object Model. To add web part into a page, we will use SPLimitedWebPartManager class.

SPLimitedWebPartManager class:

Provides a limited set of Web Part operations that can be performed in our object model scenarios when there is no HttpContext and no Page object is instantiated.

Example 1: Add web part to a page by passing page Url, webPart Name, zoneID and zoneIndex:-


Using Microsoft.Sharepoint;
Using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;


public static string AddWebPartToPage(
            SPWeb web,
            string pageUrl,
            string webPartName,
            string zoneID,
            int zoneIndex)
  {
      using (SPLimitedWebPartManager webPartManager = web.GetLimitedWebPartManager(
              pageUrl, PersonalizationScope.Shared))
          {
              using (WebPart webPart =

CreateWebPart(web, webPartName, webPartManager))
              {
             webPartManager.AddWebPart(webPart, zoneID, zoneIndex);
              return webPart.ID;
          }
      }
  }

public static WebPart CreateWebPart(SPWeb web, string webPartName, SPLimitedWebPartManager webPartManager)
  {
      SPQuery qry = new SPQuery();
      qry.Query = String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
          "{0}",
          webPartName);

      SPList webPartGallery = null;

      if (null == web.ParentWeb)
      {
          webPartGallery = web.GetCatalog(
             SPListTemplateType.WebPartCatalog);
      }
      else
      {
          webPartGallery = web.Site.RootWeb.GetCatalog(
             SPListTemplateType.WebPartCatalog);
      }

      SPListItemCollection webParts = webPartGallery.GetItems(qry);

      XmlReader xmlReader = new XmlTextReader(webParts[0].File.OpenBinaryStream());
      string errorMsg;
      WebPart webPart = webPartManager.ImportWebPart(xmlReader, out errorMsg);

      return webPart;
  }

Example 2: Add Content Editor web part to a page by passing site Url and page relative URL:-




public static string AddWebPartToPage(
            string siteURL,
            string pageRelativeUrl,
            )
  {




using (SPSite site = new SPSite(siteURL))
      {
          SPWeb web = site.RootWeb;
          SPFile page = web.GetFile(pageRelativeUrl);
          page.CheckOut();
          using (SPLimitedWebPartManager wpmgr = page.GetLimitedWebPartManager(System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.PersonalizationScope.Shared))
          {  
              XmlElement p = new XmlDocument().CreateElement("p");   
              p.InnerText = "Hello World";  
              ContentEditorWebPart cewp = new ContentEditorWebPart();
              cewp.Content = p;             
              wpmgr.AddWebPart(cewp, "Header", 0);
          }
          page.CheckIn(String.Empty);
      }


  }

References for this article:

http://www.dhirajranka.com/?p=78

SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) Control

2010-10-22T18:50:00.029+05:30

Use of Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) Control in SharePoint:

Objective:

In this article, I am going to explain use of RichTextField (InputFormTextBox) control in SharePoint.

Requirement:

Take an example of one requirement: We need to create newsletter on the basis of user input. The user input can be a normal text or html format text.

Resolution:

In this scenario, we can use SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control in a custom webpart/usercontrol. Check the screen shot below:

Ways of using SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control:

1. The following code illustrates how to use SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control in user control:

i. Add the required directive at the top of the ascx page (if you're using a web user control):


<%@ Register Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" TagPrefix="AmitKumarSPControls" %>

ii. For creating instance of SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control in your ascx (if you're using a web user control):

2. You can also create this type of control completely in code:

i. This is available under Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls namespace (if you're using a custom web part):


InputFormTextBox richMessage = new InputFormTextBox();
richMessage.RichText = true;
richMessage.RichTextMode = SPRichTextMode.FullHtml;

You may also use following useful properties:


richMessage.AllowHyperlink = true;
richMessage.TextMode = TextBoxMode.MultiLine;
richMessage.Wrap = true;
richMessage.Rows = 10;
richMessage.Width = System.Web.UI.WebControls.Unit.Percentage(100);

There are a number of properties/attributes that you can set:

•ID: control id.
•Text: the string within the control.
•ErrorMessage: you can define a custom error message that will be displayed when an error occurs.
•ErrorMessageLabelControl: you can specify a control id of a control on the page in which the error message will be rendered.
•TextMode: accepts a value of type TextBoxMode. Possible values are MultiLine, SingleLine and Password. The default is SingleLine.
•Columns: indicates the width of the text box.
•Rows: indicates the number of rows that will be displayed. This is only applied if the TextMode property is set to MultiLine.
•RichText: indicates if a normal text box or a rich text box will be displayed. The default value is false. The text box will only be rendered as a rich text box if the TextMode property is set to MultiLine.
•RichTextBoxMode: accepts a value of type SPRichTextMode. Possible values are Compatible, FullHtml and HtmlAsXml. The default value is Compatible. this property only applies if the RichText property is set to true.
•AllowHyperlink: this property only applies if the RichtText property is set to true. The necessary controls to insert hyperlinks and images will be added to the tools pane.
•Direction: This orders the controls in the tools pane from left to right or from right to left. The value is of type ContentDirection having values NotSet, LeftToRight, RightToLeft. The default value is NotSet. This property only applies if the RichText property is set to true.

Example:

The following code illustrates how to use SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control in user control. In this example, I am also validating, value in SharePoint Rich Text Box (InputFormTextBox) control is empty or not using JavaScript.

RichTextBoxControl.ascx Code:



<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="RichTextBoxControl.ascx.cs" Inherits="RichTextBoxControl" %>
<%@ Register Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c"
    Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" TagPrefix="AmitKumarSPControls" %>
    
    
    
    
    














          
  
      Rich Text Box Control   
      












              






                          Enter Text:*             
                          
                   



                                                    
                                                                    RichText="true" RichTextMode="FullHTML" Rows="21" Style='height: 270px; width: 700px;'
                                    TextMode="MultiLine" Width="700px">

RichTextBoxControl.ascx.cs Code:




using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Collections;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;

public partial class RichTextBoxControl : System.Web.UI.UserControl
{

    #region Render Controls and Handle Controls Event


    #region Handle Page Load Event
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            SetAttibutes();
        }
    }
    #endregion

    #region Handle Display Button Click Event
    protected void btnDisplay_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(txtNotes.Text))
        {
           SetMessage(txtNotes.Text.Trim(), lblMessage);
        }

    }
    #endregion


    #endregion

    #region Helper

    #region set controls attributes
    private void SetAttibutes()
    {
        //Add JS to the Display button
        btnDisplay.Attributes.Add("OnClick", "return TextBoxMessageCheck('" + txtNotes.ID + "','" + txtNotes.ClientID + "');");
        //


    }
    #endregion

    #region Show message on the screen
    /// 
    /// This method makes the lblMessage object visible to the page and set its Text property to the message provided.
    /// 

    /// The string value assigned to the Text property of the lblMessage object.
    private void SetMessage(string message, Label lblMessage)
    {
        if (lblMessage != null)
        {
            lblMessage.Visible = true;
            lblMessage.Text = message;
        }
        else
        {
            Page.Response.Write(message);
        }
    }
    #endregion

    #endregion
}

You can deploy custom user control in SharePoint with the help of SonofSmartPart Web part.

References for this article:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sharepoint.webcontrols.inputformtextbox.aspx

http://smartpart.codeplex.com/releases/view/10697