Sharing the experience

Big data is like teenage sex

2016-07-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

UX of leaking pipes

2016-03-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Pipes are leaking. How can we make users don't use the faucet?

Here are 2 of many ways to stop users from using it:
1. Prevent water from coming from the faucet
2. Prevent users open the faucet

Which one do you like better?

Perfect way to detect page is ready without jQuery (document.ready without jQuery)

2015-07-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself without jQuery and you need to detect if your page is ready, feel free to use this plain JavaScript implementation I've extracted from jQuery 1.11.3 (the latest of the 1.x.x branch at the time of writing). JSFiddle link below.

// bindReady source

/*!
 * jQuery JavaScript Library v1.11.3
 * http://jquery.com/
 *
 * Includes Sizzle.js
 * http://sizzlejs.com/
 *
 * Copyright 2005, 2014 jQuery Foundation, Inc. and other contributors
 * Released under the MIT license
 * http://jquery.org/license
 *
 * Date: 2015-04-28T16:19Z
 */
var readyFired = false;

function bindReady(readyCallback) {
    /**
     * Clean-up method for dom ready events
     */
    function detach() {
        if (document.addEventListener) {
            document.removeEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", completed, false);
            window.removeEventListener("load", completed, false);
        } else {
            document.detachEvent("onreadystatechange", completed);
            window.detachEvent("onload", completed);
        }
    }
    // Handle when the DOM is ready
    function ready() {
        if (!readyFired) {
            // Make sure body exists, at least, in case IE gets a little overzealous (ticket #5443).
            if (!document.body) {
                setTimeout(ready, 1);
            }
            // Remember that the DOM is ready
            readyFired = true;
            // Time to call back
            if (readyCallback && typeof (readyCallback) === "function") {
                readyCallback.apply();
            }
        }
    }
    /**
     * The ready event handler and self cleanup method
     */
    function completed() {
        // readyState === "complete" is good enough for us to call the dom ready in oldIE
        if (document.addEventListener || event.type === "load" || document.readyState === "complete") {
            detach();
            ready();
        }
    }
    // Catch cases where $(document).ready() is called after the browser event has already occurred.
    // we once tried to use readyState "interactive" here, but it caused issues like the one
    // discovered by ChrisS here: http://bugs.jquery.com/ticket/12282#comment:15
    if (document.readyState === "complete") {
        // Handle it asynchronously to allow scripts the opportunity to delay ready
        setTimeout(ready);
        // Standards-based browsers support DOMContentLoaded
    } else if (document.addEventListener) {
        // Use the handy event callback
        document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", completed, false);
        // A fallback to window.onload, that will always work
        window.addEventListener("load", completed, false);
        // If IE event model is used
    } else {
        // Ensure firing before onload, maybe late but safe also for iframes
        document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange", completed);
        // A fallback to window.onload, that will always work
        window.attachEvent("onload", completed);
        // If IE and not a frame
        // continually check to see if the document is ready
        var top = false;
        try {
            top = window.frameElement == null && document.documentElement;
        } catch (e) {}
        if (top && top.doScroll) {
            (function doScrollCheck() {
                if (!readyFired) {
                    try {
                        // Use the trick by Diego Perini
                        // http://javascript.nwbox.com/IEContentLoaded/
                        top.doScroll("left");
                    } catch (e) {
                        return setTimeout(doScrollCheck, 50);
                    }
                    // detach all dom ready events
                    detach();
                    // and execute any waiting functions
                    ready();
                }
            })();
        }
    }
}
// end bindReady

JSFiddle link: http://jsfiddle.net/mandrika/xpmme9on/

#businessanalysis for beginners. Internal motivation and struggles of BAs

2015-05-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered who are these people who do business Analysis and why are they doing it?
I had the fortune to facilitate series of BA workshops where I got to ask questions to real-world BAs.
At the first meetup I have asked what drives them to do analysis?

After all, a good chunk of developers are trying to stay away from it, and since I have came out of that crowd, I am curious why people choose to do BA

So, here is how they have answered what business analysts love and what challenges them in BA

Motivation and struggles of BA

I can't deny the truth any longer...#businessanalysis @CoggleIt

2015-05-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last 10 years I have been working as a software developer/tech/team lead/PM. I have spent seems like an eternity working with different flavors of SharePoint. I liked that too.

So, it's time to move on....

and uncover my passion in BA! I looooove business analysis!

During years working with SharePoint I was wondering what kept me fascinated by it and I know now - ability to use platform to deliver business value quickly:

Feature tree on coggle.it

I don't have to spend months to craft some basic and needed business processes for people who need solution, not technology per se;
I got to spend more time talking with people to understand their current challenges and co-create with them solution to solve and less time staring at the code.

Last year I walked away from SharePoint and started leading the custom development project.

I have successfully compensated absence of SharePoint in my life with BA activities on the project.

So year later, I am ready to shift focus in my blog - starting now, posts will be more on business analysis side and not so much or maybe not at all on development.

I am sorry SharePoint developers/administrators, I already lost bunch of you, and will lose even more.

Business analysts, I would love to connect with you and promise to share my BA experience, techniques and tools that make BA effective.

By the way, this first post featured my latest nugget in BA toolset - https://coggle.it/ - an extremely useful and free! tool that helps to do not only mind mapping, but feature tree too.

This tree was a huge success in my project to visualize:

scope of the project;
priorities using colors,
as well as completion of the features.

#APIM Dashboard. Usage report: Blocked, Failed, Other calls

2015-02-18T11:03:00.001-08:00

Azure API Management shows the API usage report with the categorization:

Blocked;

Failed;

Other.

Recently my client asks what are the criteria used for these categories.

And here we are:

Successful: 2XX

Blocked: 403 and 429

Failed: 5XX

The rest are counted as other.

#AzureAPIMgmt '<'quota calls="x" renewal-period="seconds"'>'. Does this allow x call in total per product, or x call per API inside the product?

2015-01-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

Azure API Usage Quota Policy allows you define quota per product , per api , per method

The question that I have got from the client was the following:

Quota calls on the product level = x. Does this allow x call in total per product, or x call per API inside the product?

Answer: <quota calls="x" renewal-period="seconds"> allows total X amount of calls per product.

Example:

Quota per API
I have a quota setup per API. Every 60 seconds we can call 5 times each specified APIs. If we exceeds, we get 403 Quota Exceeded
For example:
I call "Echo API" 5 times. Then I am trying to call it one more - 6th time. Failed. 403 Quota Exceeded
But I am still able to call "My Echo API" 5 times after I have called 5 times "Echo API".

Quota per Product

Now, I have modified the policy , I have put calls="5" on the product level. Every hour we can call 5 times any APIs in total per product.

For example: I call "Echo API" 3 times, then I call "My Echo API" 2 times. Total=5. Then I am trying to call "Echo API" again. Attempt is failed. 403 Quota Exceeded

P.S.

It's worth to note that you can't set less than 3600 sec renewal-period on the Product level in case you set calls limit on the product level.

One of improvements that I want to suggest to MS - is to provide error messages for Policy editor, as well as IntelliSense.

The only indicator now that is something wrong with the policy is the fact that I can't save it . How do you know you saved the policy? It should be grey out when it's saved.

#APIs A quick learning kit on Azure API Management @AzureApiMgmt

2015-01-06T14:55:00.002-08:00

#SP2013 The server was unable to save the form at this time.

2014-05-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

A user can't edit and save properties of the document.

In my case it turned out to be a permission issue.
The document library uses a document set which in turn uses a custom content type that were defined on the site collection level.
The lib was created under some site (spweb) , the lib has unique permissions
The user doesn't have access to the site, but has access to the lib.
The user can upload and check in the document to the document set, but can't edit and save the properties of the custom document content type (which is used in the document set).
Every time the user hits the save button he gets the client-side error -
"The server was unable to save the form at this time.Please try again."
I have traced the issue when the user attempted to create a document set item. He got an error: "Access denied".
It happens because SharePoint uses the link ~site/_layouts/15/NewDocSet.aspx that is not accessible by the user since he doesn't have access to the site.
The obvious fix in my case to give access to the site to the user.

@project SP1 for #Project2013 introduces the old bug with missing resources

2014-05-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

‘Lost Resources’ bug has came back after re-relased SP1 for PS2013 has been applied.

The issue - The project won't published . The task has a number instead of resource name

To fix it - you need to manually re-add the missing resources in the project.

Plus, you need to run the SQL to fix 2 PS procedures, as it was recommended in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2933444

draft.MSP_WINPROJ_DELETE_OLD_PROJECT_RESOURCES
pub.MSP_WINPROJ_DELETE_OLD_PROJECT_RESOURCES

I have run the sql before SP1, then I have applied SP1 and compare procedures before and after:
1. [draft].[MSP_WINPROJ_DELETE_OLD_PROJECT_RESOURCES]
The procedure was re-created by SP1 (the service packed was installed on 5/21/2014)

and the SQL delete statement lacks filter by PROJ_UID
WHERE RES_UID IN (SELECT RES_UID FROM @resUids)

2. [pub].[MSP_WINPROJ_DELETE_OLD_PROJECT_RESOURCES]

The procedure was re-created by SP1 (the service packed was installed on 5/21/2014)

and the SQL delete statement lacks filter by PROJ_UID

WHERE RES_UID IN (SELECT RES_UID FROM @resUids)

@project Confusing UI in #Project2013 Assignments scenario

2014-05-22T14:47:00.001-07:00

TaskDetails.aspx - This Web part was unable to load.
The user :
1. Creates a task from tasks.aspx

2. Just a minute or couple later he refreshes TaskDetails.aspx and see the error

3. The user goes back to Tasks.aspx and doesn't see the task that he just created.

Most of the time that is the hint that task or assignment were removed.

It's worth to mention that in the context of Project Server:
The task is ,simply, a task.
The assignment is a task that assigned to a resource.

In this specific scenario, I have checked the project and I saw the task still exists.So, my theory that the task\assignment was removed is not true in this specific scenario.

Important: The resource name is the same user who has just created a task and now he can't see that task in the tasks list.
That's weird.
As it turned out that is the confusing UI in Project Server.

Even though the resource name in the project page (Project%20Detail%20Pages/Schedule.aspx) is the user who created a task , the assignment has been assigned to a different user.

The reason: The default assignment owner is not the resource himself

To fix it:
/_layouts/15/pwa/Admin/AddModifyUser.aspx

Set the resource's name is specified in the Default Assignment Owner field

My suggestion to MS: Please set in Project%20Detail%20Pages/Schedule.aspx in the column Resource - the Assignee, not a task creator
Additional reference:
Team Members cannot see their assigned tasks on the Timesheet page or Task page in PWA

@SPC_ORG SP2013 Search by @bniaulin

2014-05-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Continuous crawl:
- only works on SP Content sources;
- by default every 15 min;

Use continuous crawl diligently, only on the content source that they need it.

NO XSLT, use html, css, js

SP2013 SP1 has ability to turn the Optimistic overwrite for title - MetadataExtractorTitle

2 web parts for Search:
SearchResult web part - you have to have a custom display template
Content Search web part - you can re-map the properties

2 types of templates:
1. Control (a container for item display template)
2. Item Display

! Don't touch automatically created js file out from content template

Result types helps to vary item templates based on the rule (conditions)

Resources:
http://tympanus.net/codrops/

@SPC_ORG Go mobile with responsive design by @kyleschaeffer

2014-05-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

1. Why Mobile
30% audience are on mobile already for a general content

2. What is responsive design
Future-friendly approach to handle different screen resolution.
The inventor of the term - Ethan Marcotte

3. How does it work?
HTML+CSS+JavaScript
Flexibility & Adaptation

Stop using fixed width, use %;
CSS Media query

@media screen and (max-width:800px) {} - basically, a rule when to use this CSS in {}

"Mobile first" is better since the client won't need to download extra artifacts

4. How SharePoint do it?
this is a tricky question. It takes more effort.
We don't have full control on SP OTB html and css.

Much easier if you start with your own master page.

Disable "Mobile browser view"
Activate SP server publishing

(team site don't have master pages, you have to activate the publishing feature, and you need to create a new page for layouts)
Use only Publishing template!

When you create a mobile portal - keep only: publishing site template, custom master page and layouts

Create responsive templates:

Master pages
Page layouts
Item styles
Display templates (2013)

Create responsive content

ListView is still a problem to make it responsible

A kind of workaround: Put a div wrapper.

Resources:

http://spblueprint.codeplex.com/ - a blank blunt template for Sp2013 OTTB Responsive
http://responsivesharepoint.codeplex.com/

@SPC_ORG @DougHemminger on #SharePointApp development

2014-05-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

No more authohosted app!
MS announced that the Office 365 Autohosted Apps Preview program will end on June 30, 2014.
So now we have 2 left: SharePoint-hosted, provider-hosted.

App model to solve security issues of full trust solutions.

When to use the App Model
-SPOnline
-Strong JavaScript\Client side developers

a nice thing to know: Office dev center has Showcase: Contoso incubation search app

@SPC_ORG @helloitsliam on SP2013 Authentication & Authorization

2014-05-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Claims mentality: there is no user, there is an attribute by Liam Cleary

Authentication = Verification of Claim (login, pwd) - is not on SP
Authorization = Verification of Permission (access verification) - going on SP

Authentication precedes authorization (except anonymous access)

Often mistake: "Too often we focus on Authentication and not Authorization"

Authentication Claims
- wide support;
- WF-Trust 1.4
- SAML Token 1.1 AuthN
- It was developed for Sign On
- Federation
Already many providers
-Microsoft standard approach
- before we needed to write custom code to authenticaion

Claim =
1. Identity (AD, Google, Windows Live) +
2. Claim (Attibutes of the Identity) +
3. Token (binary Representation of Idenity) +
4. Relying Party (aka RP) +
5. Secure Token Service (STS)

What is Claims Augmentation:

Ability to intercept the incoming claims and transform to different outgoing claims
Add additional attributes

Why to use Claims Augmentation: - retrieve user attributes to LOB

Authentication methods:

1. AD is a classical method authentication.

2. Membership and Role Providers - a custom mechanism for authentication

3. Custom Identity Provider.

Requires Trusted Certificate for communication

4. Azure Control Service (Azure Windows AD)

for O365 - ADFS Type cloud based service

Oauth - is a mechanism based on "Trust"

You trust the app, the app has permissions assigned.

So you can access data that you (as user) don't have access, but app has.

@SPC_ORG by @susanhanley on User Adoption. Observe, Listen and Communicate

2014-05-19T07:11:00.001-07:00

A keynote on 5/19/2014 #SharePointConference.ORG - User Adoption

http://susanhanley.com/. Susan is local to me - she lives in Bethesda, MD.

Notes from the keynote.

The factors of Successful User Adoption:

1. WIIFM - what's in it for me.

Make you heard your stakeholders

2. The SP solution should be tight to critical company goal

3. Adoptable solution solves the problem

4. Give people voice

SP2013 features engage users:

- likes, ratings in RIGHT context;

- search; Create a Tip web part with tips and feedback. (Sue thinks it's crucial)

5. Engaging content

- well written content for the web;

- relevant for user.

6. Keep it simple

7. Start small.

Turn out solution in 90 days

8.Roll out in gradual manner

9.Engage leaders

"No involvement by leaders, no commitment by employees. No exceptions"

A great tip: " To reduce attachments in the emails, set a rule in the leader's mailbox to reject attachments and ask to provide a link to the document"

10. Look for "early adopters"

11. Train to make people comfortable

Plan a training roadmap - for comfort.

Effective training - training suits people needs. Use different formats for different people.

12. COMMUNICATION

be persistent
get feedback whenever possible
Think about how to communicate THE LAUNCH

The ideas on launch videos:

http://www.scoop.it/t/intranet-launch-videos-and-teasers

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Intranet Home Redesign

don't call SharePoint portal - SharePoint portal

Another idea:

30 minutes for 30 things that you didn't know about SP

"Get Sharp on SharePoint" - webcast

13. OBSERVE the users

UI\IA notes and links

2014-05-19T07:00:00.004-07:00

1) GoodUI — A great list of simple, illustrated ideas that areusually good things to do, or at least try, when designing.

2) PatternTap — A library of user-submitted examples of all the parts of a website you might need. Note: Some are good, some are bad, but looking through examples will definitely give a sense of what is common and what isn't.

3) The Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page — This article isn't super new, but it still holds up. Following this will allow you to quickly create a generic, but effective page for users that find you via search. i.e. — the first page people see. If you're lovin' it, I recommend the Unbounce blog.

4) Mobile Patterns — Similar to PatternTap, this isn't a list of perfect designs, but it is a good way to look at a lot of mobile app designs and get a sense of what is "common".

5) Timoa on Pinterest — A very organized collection of UI elements, sorted by feature.
(from http://thehipperelement.com/post/72691840090/daily-ux-crash-course-8-of-31)
http://prezi.com/aafmvya6bk7t/understanding-information-architecture/
http://journalofia.org/
http://www.nngroup.com/reports/

#SPOnline: 5 things you wish you knew before the move

2014-05-13T08:00:00.001-07:00

SharePoint Online suits my company no doubt. At the same time, I see that certain scenarios won't land well in SharePoint Online. It's a complex question "when to use the cloud". And usually, I ask money to answer it.

What I can do for free here is to share with you few discoveries while using SharePoint Online. I hope these discoveries will help you to form your view if your current on-prem environment can be moved to the cloud.

1. You can't get log from the SharePoint Online.

As of 5/13/2014 , the SPOnline PowerShell cmdlt Get-SPOTenantLogEntry "For Beta 2, the only company logs available are for Business Connectivity Services (BCS)."

No workaround here.

2. Windows PowerShell cmdlets for SharePoint Online have limited command sets. For example, you can't Get-SPWeb the way you used to get on prem.

The Windows PowerShell Command Builder tool helps you quickly understand and use Windows PowerShell cmdlets for SharePoint Online

Workaround: use community tools such as Lapointe.SharePointOnline.PowerShell.msi

3. No mail-enabled library

Workaround: use Site Mailbox if applicable.

4. The file size upload limit - 2 Gb

Workaround: Provider-hosted SP App (example from Office App Model Samples)

5. You can't sync docs from App web lib (the library that resides withing SP App)

Workaround: place library in Host web, assign appropriate permissions for App to access the docs there.

P.S. I didn't cover the obvious limitations such as:

- no farm solutions, that means - no server-side coding, no timer jobs;

- others that described in SharePoint Online Service Description

SPD WF 2013: 5 Things you wish you knew before using it #Azure #SharePoint2013

2014-05-07T10:51:00.001-07:00

Wondering what you can get from SharePoint Workflow 2013 , which is a completely new beast?
I assumed that you have already read all WF 2013 perks that MSDN promises you.

My goal here is to give more a reality check - what you will discover while building workflow 2013 in SharePoint designer (SPD).

1. You can't access user profile. ex. to get a user's department.
You need use interop to call WF2010 that in turn accesses User Profiles list

2. Dictionary sometimes is cumbersome to use when you want to unite multiple stand-alone variables, even though MSDN uses this case to justify use of the new type - Dictionary
2.1. you can't add an item to the dictionary after the dictionary is created. all dictionary pairs should be created and assigned at the same time;
2.2. you can't retrieve dictionary key without assigning it the output variable, which clutters the variable list anyway.

3. Sometimes Workflow is failed to be open in SPD in SharePoint Online.
"Windows Workflow Foundation, part of .Net Framework 3.0, must be installed to use this feature"

To fix it:
3.1. Apply SharePoint Designer 2013 hotfix package (Spd-x-none.msp): April 8, 2014
, spdcore2013-kb2727100
3.2. Clear SPD Cache

4. Re-Publish workflow won't update WF version from the first time. You have to hit publish (at least in my env) twice to deliver a new WF to the site.

5. If (or rather when) your newly developed WF failed with internal status - suspended. The error is not informative even though it's verbose

#MSProject: PWA won't show schedule

2014-05-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

I can't see tasks in the schedule.aspx in project server web access.

How to fix it:
Add the PWA site to the local sites in IE:

Sync in app web not possible?

2014-04-29T14:53:00.001-07:00

@vgrem referenced me (didn't help) to Sync button for Document Library created with custom list definition in order to resolve the issue I am having.
Here is an issue:

I need to have a library in SharePoint-hosted app that can be synced via OneDrive Sync Tool in SpOnline.
as of 4/29/2014, I can't make it happen:

The sharepoint-hosted app has a library. Once deployed (SPOnline), I see the instance.

The sync button is disabled on the doc panel...

I have checked the Sync button for Document Library created with custom list definition and did as prescribed, but the issue remains.

Here what I did as the article said:

1. Checked the feature id that delivers the list and list instance:

FeatureId="7ea48d05-ba84-4553-b5ab-0d02118c86f4"

2. Modified element.xml:

in the list template:

changed the type to 101;
added FeatureId="7ea48d05-ba84-4553-b5ab-0d02118c86f4";
changed DocumentTemplate to "10000".

in the list instance template:

changed the type to 101;
added FeatureId="7ea48d05-ba84-4553-b5ab-0d02118c86f4".

After that, re-deployed to SharePoint Online:
The sync button is still disabled

If somebody knows solution, please help me out!
Thanks

P.S.
The same wsp from App deployed as a sandboxed solution on the same site collection does allow me to sync docs from the lib

P.S.S.

And here is almost official response: NO, APP WEB LIB WON'T SYNC

Why term set pop up doesn't have "Add new item"

2014-04-28T14:06:00.001-07:00

One of the common confusions using term store in SharePoint is:
#1. who can contribute (add new items) to the term set?
#2. why the term set pop doesn't have "add new item"?
As in this example:

Here is the mystery solved:
for #1. Who can contribute to the term set?
In Term Store (_layouts/15/termstoremanager.aspx) you have Term set group to which you can assign access to contribute by adding a user to:
1. Group Managers (high privileged)
2. Contributors

More here : Manage permissions and roles for term sets

for #2.why the term set pop doesn't have "add new item"?
Make sure that:
1. a user has permissions to contribute (see above)
2. the term set submission policy it open

3. the managed metadata column in the list has "Allow Fill-In" - Yes

#SP24 : SP2013 New methodology on Branding by Khoa Quach

2014-04-22T07:45:00.003-07:00

@niftykhoa in #SP24S007 "Branding in SharePoint 2013" demoed New way to brand the SP Sites.

Tools and libraries:

Visual Studio 2012/2013
SPD 2013
Web Development Editor/Tool and mapped drive to asset library in SP2013.

Optional libraries:

jQuery
Boostrap.js
Angular.js, Backbone.js, Ember.js
Knockout.js
CoffeScript.js

Rendering page in SP = Master page + Page Layout + page (content)

New branding methodology in SP2013:
Device channel + master page => the design for mobile
Device channel has User agent string to identity the mobile (to get agent string - http://useragentstring.com/)
After identifying the device channel, create a custom master page and link that page to a channel

Design manager
Allows web designer do the web design in html and upload that into the design manager, which converts the html into master page
In case you need to modify markup stick either with master page or html. Preferably, modify only html to keep automotive conversion going smoothly.

Add additional elements into the markup via snippet gallery.

Utilize JSlink

#SP24 : SP Online vs On-Premise

2014-04-21T15:11:00.003-07:00

A visual aid from #SP24 conference on SP Cloud vs OnPrem

#SP24 : SP Solutions vs Apss

2014-04-21T15:08:00.004-07:00

A quick visual aid from one of the speaker in #SP24.
How do you choose between SP Solutions and SP Apps?