Installing Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services on 64-bit Machines

As many of you may already know, the Visual Studion Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services makes developing custom SharePoint components easier. As some of you have discovered, you can't install on a 64-bit machine...until now.

Harold van de Kamp wrote a nice post in his blog on how to configure the original MSI installer to install on 64-bit machines using Microsoft's Orca tool. If you don't have time to experiment, he provides a link to a version that has already been configured to support installing on a 64-bit machine.



Directions for configuring the MSI for 64-bit support (includes link to download a version that installs on a 64-bit machine)

A Sneak Peek At SharePoint 2010: My Take

Note: I'm currently working on another SharePoint tutorial on enhancing the Announcements web part on your page. As soon as I finish that tutorial, I will post it.

Recently I attended a Microsoft seminar on SharePoint 2010. From what I've seen in the seminar, there are numerous improvements to SharePoint in this version. The following is my evaluation of the SharePoint 2010, broken down into "pros", "cons", and "questions". Note that I haven't covered every single enhancement - there are so many to mention.

Pros

• Vastly Improved Features for a True Web Communication Solution
  
  Using SharePoint as a web site had limitations, including the lack of cross-browser support. A SharePoint site looked fantastic in Internet Explorer, but the same site looked "blah" in Firefox or Safari. Microsoft is adding cross-browser support to SharePoint 2010.
  
  You probably noticed that SharePoint really didn't support embedding rich media without a little bit of effort. For example, I have tutorials on this blog on embedding rich media on a SharePoint 2007 page using the Content Editor Web Part. According to Microsoft, SharePoint 2010 will fully support embedding rich media (including Silverlight).
  
  Another feature that has been added to SharePoint 2010 is "preview before publishing". In some cases, you have to publish your changes in SharePoint 2007 in order to see the outcome, which is not a good approach. In SharePoint 2010, you will have the ability to view your changes without having to publish your "works in progress".
  


• Better Support of SharePoint Development
  
  If you've done any customization to SharePoint, such as creating custom web parts, you probably noticed that testing and debugging your work is...frankly, what testing and debugging? You usually had to publish your changes to the SharePoint site and test in "real time" on the site. SharePoint 2010 will have Sandboxed Solutions to give the developer a genuine, "protected" environment to test custom SharePoint development without affecting the SharePoint sites.
  
  

More information on FAST - http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/en/us/fast-customer.aspx

• Dramatically Enhanced Search Capabilities
  
  From my experience, SharePoint 2007's search capability was adequate, but there was some limitation. SharePoint 2010 will have enhanced search capabilities such as: boolean and wildcard searches, phonetic lookups, and Bing-like capabilities. The best part of the search enhancement is the integration of the FAST search technology in SharePoint 2010. This will help position SharePoint as a valid platform for web communication.
  


• Integration with Office 2010
  
  In a nutshell, SharePoint 2010 plays very nicely with Office 2010. Some of the many integration features include:
  
  
  
  • Ability to take large amounts of data and pivot on those quickly like a spreadsheet (also requires SQL Server 2008 R2)
  
  
  • Ability to create workflow flow charts in Visio, import the workflow flow charts into SharePoint Designer, and have SharePoint designer create the workflows from the flow charts
  
  
  • Ability to import Office themes to use as themes for SharePoint 2010
  
  
  • With the correct licensing, ability to edit Office documents through the browser rather than on the client machine
  
  
  
  


• Wizards for Easier Interactions with Databases
  
  In SharePoint 2007, this functionality required a custom-developed web part. SharePoint 2010 will have Business Connectivity Services that will allow a person to connect directly to a database via a wizard in SharePoint designer. Not only will it display the information, but it can also provide an interface for the person to change the data. (The Microsoft rep demonstrated this with SQL Server, but I would imagine that this could work with Oracle or PostgreSQL/MySQL.)
  

Cons

• More "Power to the People" May Require Business to Re-Evaluate IT Support
  
  One of the enhancements that Microsoft is adding to SharePoint 2010 is adding more "power to the people" to make SharePoint an even better collaborative tool. This could make IT management re-evaluate how the IT department will support SharePoint. Based on experience, a number of SharePoint problems that I have to address is problems caused by the user (deleting security groups, setting up a page incorrectly, accidentally deleting content, assigning the wrong security to the site). Since users will have more "power" in SP 2010, IT departments may need to realign their resources to help support the users, even if the user base gets all the SharePoint training that they need. These changes may also affect financial budgets. For example, a reorganization may be required, so people who once fell under the IT budget and headcount may now fall under the business unit's budget and headcount.
  
  


• The Requirements for SP 2010 May Require Additional Cost Investment from Companies
  
  
  SharePoint 2010 requires the following:
  
  
  
  • Windows 2008 64-bit SP2 or R2
  
  
  • SQL Server 2005 or 2008
  
  
  • Office 2010 preferred
  
  
  
  Not all companies are running bleeding-edge hardware technology, and in this economy, companies have tightened their IT budgets. If a company wants to use or upgrade to SharePoint 2010, the company may also need to purchase additional hardware and software if it's not equipped for SP 2010.
  

Questions

• What about Flash?
  
  Although SharePoint 2010 is supposed to support embedding rich media on the pages, the one format that the Microsoft representative failed to mention was Flash. All due respect to Microsoft - for rich content on the web, Flash is much more prevalent than Silverlight. It looks like that one may still need to add a few workarounds on a SharePoint page to get Flash to appear on a SharePoint page.
  

One thing that I haven't mentioned is upgrading. Microsoft has acknowledged that upgrading from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007 was not properly supported by Microsoft. Microsoft is providing many tools and documents to make upgrading from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 as easy and seamless as possible.

I'm getting the impression that Microsoft wants to make SharePoint the "all in one" tool for web communication, and with this version, it appears that they are closer to accomplishing that goal.

Adding a SlideShow to a SharePoint Site Redux

One of my most popular posts on this blog was a tutorial on adding a slide show to a SharePoint site using HTML, JavaScript and the Content Editor Web Part. If you haven't had a chance to view that tutorial, you can view it at this link: Add a SlideShow to the SharePoint Site using HTML, JavaScript, and the CEWP.

Just as it was one of my most popular tutorials, it was the one that seemed to cause trouble for some of the readers. Two of the most popular questions that I received were:

• Why am I only getting the first image?


• Why am I getting red X's?

I created this separate post to address troubleshooting the application.

Check Your Browser Version
Common Symptom: The first picture displays but the slide show doesn't play

To give you more information on the tutorial, I tested the tutorial on the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer 6


• Internet Explorer 7


• Firefox 3.1x


• Firefox 3.5x


• Opera 0.9x

I've noticed that in some of the browsers, the comments in the JavaScript caused it to only show the first picture only. Try removing the comments from the JavaScript.


If you're not using the browsers that I've used to test the code, test the code in a stand-alone "test" web page to see if the browser supports the JavaScript. If you do that, make sure that you comment out the _spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push("runSlideShow"); line. If the code is not working, it's possible that your browser will not support the JavaScript code.


Also check the user's browser settings. The browser settings may be configured to not run JavaScript. If that's the case, then the script won't run.

Check Your Code

Common Symptom: The first picture displays but the slide show doesn't play; red X's appear instead of images

When I was assisting people with the slide show, I found two common problems:

• Coders forgot to add the _spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push("runSlideShow"); statement before the ending </script> tag


• Coders were not referencing the correct location for the images

Make sure that the _spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push("runSlideShow"); line appears before the closing </script> tag.

If the _spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push("runSlideShow"); statement is there, check to make sure that your path to reference the pictures is exactly right (the src property in the <img> tag). If you are having trouble with using the relative path, try referencing the absolute path (ex: http://www.bogus.com/images/image.jpg). If you are still getting the red X, it's possible that the image does not exist where you are referencing.

Check to Make Sure That Other Scripts on the Page Aren't Failing

Common Symptom: The first picture displays but the slide show doesn't play

If the page on the SharePoint site is running other JavaScripts (especially JavaScript that gets added through a feature) and one of those JavaScripts fail before the page gets a chance to load the slide show script, the slide show script won't run. For example, in my environment, we have a feature that adds JavaScript to change the logo. If that JavaScript fails, the slide show stops working. If your slide show is not working, view the errors on your browser to see if there is any JavaScript that's failing.

If You Are Referencing a Document Image Library for the Images, Check to Make Sure That You Have Read Permission on the Library

Common Symptom: The script "hangs", then red Xs appear when the user stops the script from running.

One of the things that readers reported was that their script would "hang", and when the stop the "hanging", it would show a red X. If you are referencing a document library for the images, you will possibly get "hanging" if the viewer does not have read permission to the document library. Either grant the viewers of the site at least read permission to the document image library, or move the pictures to a document image library where the users have read permission.

Hopefully these techniques are helpful. If you have other ideas to help fellow readers who are having trouble with the script, please post your suggestions.

Links to FREE SharePoint 2007 Training and Reference Resources

Before I begin my article, I wanted to address a comment that was left on one of my posts regarding moderating comments. I didn't publish the comment because a) it contained language that was not safe for work or school, and b) it was not in a tone that would promote a healthy learning environment. I still want to answer the question anyway.

There are a few reasons why I moderate my comments:

• Since a good bit of my audience are students, some of them try to be funny. If it's something clean, I'll post it. However, there are some who like to post inappropriate links or messages that are not safe for work or school. I don't want my blog to get flagged by web site traffic blockers because somebody finds it amusing to do a rickroll to pornographic material in my comments.


• A pet hate of mine is when someone likes to use the comments to post spam. By moderating the comments, I can keep the spam off my site.


• Although my blog is read by IT professionals of all levels, my blog is targeted to IT students and professionals who are starting out in a technology. As an adjunct professor, I believe in promoting a healthy learning environment where people can freely ask questions without being told that they're "stupid" or that they should just "Google it before asking it", and people can receive constructive criticism instead of negative attacks. By moderating the comments, I can block the people who are attacking others that have left comments or questions.

When I talk about job roles throughout the article, I mean the following in relation to SharePoint:

• Administrator


• Programmer/Developer


• End User


• (Web) Designer

I'm always looking for resources to help me with my day-to-day activities and my project work in relation to SharePoint 2007. Because of the economy, I need to use resources that are as inexpensive as possible. There's nothing less expensive than free.

Below are some free resources that I personally use and endorse.

The MSDN Windows SharePoint Services Developer Center is a fantastic source for all job roles with SharePoint 2007. After all, SharePoint 2007 is a Microsoft product. This site contains whitepapers, tips, and videos on all things SharePoint.

If you are looking for general tips and techniques, the SharePoint News Section of SearchWinIT.com contains great tips and techniques to help you with the various job roles in SharePoint. Note: you may have to register on the site to gain access to some of the information. Registration is free.

You can also access the free SharePoint E-Zine to get monthly information about the management, implementation, and governance of SharePoint. For example, the March 2009 issue contains traps to avoid to save yourself aggravation while supporting SharePoint, and the February 2009 issue talks about migrating from WSS 3.0 to MOSS 2007.

If you are a designer, look no further than Heather Solomon's Site. If you already work with branding and designing SharePoint sites, you probably already know that Ms. Solomon is considered the expert in SharePoint branding. Her site is the most comprehensive site on SharePoint branding.

If you are a developer, there are two helpful sites for you. Kirk Evans Links to Free SharePoint Developer Resources contains reference links that SharePoint developers need to have handy when working on development projects for SharePoint, and Point8020 free developer training is a 12-part course on writing code for SharePoint. It includes a module on Silverlight, which is what I'm learning now. ;)

When it comes to free SharePoint resources, a "new kid on the block" is Shelby Consulting. Bob Shelby is an IT professional working toward Microsoft Partner status in SharePoint, and he was kind enough to publish materials that he acquired and developed during the process. Most of the tutorials are targeted at administrators, but he does have a section for designers.

If you have any links to great free resources (in SharePoint) that you would like to share, please leave a comment and I will publish them.

SharePoint 2007: System.OutOfMemoryException in SiteData During Search Crawl

Lately at work we've been getting these errors on our SharePoint site. From what I was able to Google, it looks like others have this problem as well.

After doing some research, I found a post from Ranjan Banerji, who also experienced this problem in his environment. This post goes into deep detail as to how they worked around this problem. You may want to read through the post. I've found it to be very helpful.

In addition to the information mentioned in the post, we found that we had users who had abnormally long names for folders and files. As a result, it would make a path that was entirely too long for SharePoint to handle. From what we were able to tell in our logs, we noticed that the crawler would "choke" on these entries, which would then trigger the OutOfMemoryException.

If you have encountered this problem due to a reason not mentioned by me or Ranjan, please feel free to post a comment.

SharePoint Development Tutorial: Programmatically Create View on a List

While it is easy to create a view for a list in SharePoint, you may find a scenario where you need an easier way to create a view on a list. For example, I had a situation where I had to create over 30 views for one list. Creating the views using SharePoint can be time-consuming, and it could increase the possibility of user error because of the manual process. Using C#, the Microsoft.SharePoint library, and CAML, one can create a view for a list on SharePoint.

This illustration will demonstrate the simplest example of using C# code to add a view to a list (as a console application). You may want to make modifications for your needs, or use it as a foundation for a larger-scale application.

Note: This code will only work on a server where SharePoint is installed. For example, if you are going to add a view to a list that exists on http://bogus/bogussite, you need to have this code on the server that houses http://bogus.

The Scenario

In this illustration, there is a list on a SharePoint site called "Doctor Who Episodes". This list needs a new view called "JNT Era", which will display Doctor Who episodes made during the JNT era (1980-1989). This list has four fields:

• Title


• The Doctor


• Synopsis


• Year

See the example list

After starting a new project, you will need to add a reference to the Microsoft.SharePoint library in your code, and you will need to indicate that you will be using the library in your code.
See the example snippet

The next step is to define the SharePoint classes that you will need to perform the action. The four classes that you will need are:

• SPSite - Collection of sites


• SPWeb - The SharePoint web site


• SPList - A List on a SharePoint web site


• SPViewCollection - Collections of views on a list

In the code, you will need to access the website. You will define an instance of the SPSite class to get the site, then you will need to define an instance of the SPWeb class to have a reference to the actual site.

SPSite oSite = new SPSite("http://bogus/bogussite");
SPWeb oWeb = oSite.OpenWeb();


Alternative to SPList oList = oWeb.Lists["List Name"]

You can also access the list by the GUID. Use the following logic if you want to access the list by the GUID rather than the name:

Guid gui = new Guid("The List GUID");
SPList oList = oWeb.Lists[gui];


Then, you will need to access the list that will get the new view, and you will need to access the list's collection of views.

SPList oList = oWeb.Lists["Doctor Who Episodes"];
SPViewCollection oViewCollection = oList.Views;


Finally, you will need to define the new view name.

string strViewName = "JNT Era";

See the example snippet

We are ready to define the fields that will be displayed in this new view. In this example, the view will display all the fields. You will need to define an instance of the System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection class to hold the names of the fields that will be displayed in the view.

System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection viewFields =
new System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection();

To add the fields, use the Add() function of the class. You do not have to use the special hexadecimal characters to represent spaces and special characters for the field names. You can use the literal field name.
See the example snippet


Helpful Links:

CAML Syntax

Stramit Caml Viewer

We have to define the criteria for the view using CAML. In our illustration, we want to display the Doctor Who episodes from 1980 until 1989, and we want to display them in ascending order. Your scenario may be different, so your CAML will be different. If you are unsure of CAML syntax, a link to a site that has documentation on the CAML syntax has been provided for you on this post. If you want to make sure that your query will work before you begin coding, you can use the Stramit Caml Viewer to test your CAML query. A link to the tool has also been provided for you on this post. In this illustration, I am using the StringBuilder class to hold the CAML query. Then, I am converting it to a String.
See the example snippet

Finally, we are ready to add the view. The Add() function of the SPViewCollection class adds a view to the list. The Add function
takes six parameters:

• View Name - a string


• Collection of View Fields - string collection


• CAML query - a string


• Row Count - an integer


• Is this paged? - a boolean


• Is this going to be the default view? - a boolean

You also have to call the Update() function of the SPWeb class to make sure the changes "take".

oViewCollection.Add(strViewName, viewFields, query, 5000, true, false);
oWeb.Update();

See the example snippet

After completing, compiling and running the program, the list now has a new view!
See the results

If you would like a copy of the skeleton code, you can download the RTF file of the skeleton code here.

Please post your questions or comments, and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Add a SlideShow to the SharePoint Site using HTML, JavaScript and the CEWP

While the SharePoint OOTB web parts for displaying images are nice, the functionality of the web parts are very limited. Particularly, the OOTB web parts do not have a true "slide show" capabiilties that many end users are looking for. You can write your own custom web part to display images like a slide
show. However, this solution will not only take time and effort to do, but if you are just a “power user” for your SharePoint site, you may not have the right tools and permissions to make your own web parts. If you are familiar with JavaScript and HTML, you can add your own slide show on your site.

For a step-by-step guide that you can download: Add a Slideshow on a SharePoint Site using Javascript, HTML, and the Content Editor Web Part

Here is a video demonstrating how to add the slideshow:


UPDATE: If you are having trouble with getting this to work, see the blog post from 10/26/2009 for troubleshooting tips.

SharePoint Tutorial: Playing a WMV File in a SharePoint Site

Sometimes you may need to play a WMV file on a page in a SharePoint site. For example, you may have to play a video of your CEO speaking, or you may have to play a training video. By using the Content Editor web part, you can easily play a WMV file on a page in a SharePoint site.

You can download the step-by-step documentation from the following location: Playing a WMV File in a SharePoint Site

Below is the step-by-step demonstration:


If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask!

SharePoint Tutorial: Play a Flash Video on your SharePoint Site

Sometimes you may have to play a Flash video on your SharePoint site. For example, you may have to play a message from your CEO, or you may have to incorporate a quiz on the site. This tutorial demonstrates how to play a Flash video on your SharePoint site.

You can download the written tutorial here: Playing a Flash Video on a SharePoint Site

If you are a more visual person, here is a demonstration:


If you have any questions or comments, please post a comment and I will answer the question to the best of my ability.

Thoughts about the SharePoint Convention

I got back from the SharePoint Convention (SPTechCon) in San Fran late last night, so I thought that I would give some highlights about the conference.

• Overall, I was really impressed with the information at the conference. Granted, there were some sessions that left me cold. The "live examples" didn't work or took too long to do, and the presenter spent more time trying to get the demo to work rather than discuss the topic at hand. However, the majority of the presentations were really informative and productive, and I came out of the conference with more knowledge than I originally had.


• It was also a great networking opportunity. I was able to meet a number of professionals from all walks of life in IT (managers, administrators, developers) and all levels of SharePoint knowledge. I was able to learn about how these people were using SharePoint, and I learned about the trials and tribulations of using SharePoint in their respective environments.


• It was great to place names with faces. A number of presenters were authors of SharePoint blogs and/or books about SharePoint that I've read. One of the presenters (Errin O'Connor) co-authored one of the SharePoint books in my personal library.

If you are working in a SharePoint environment, I would suggest going to their next convention, which is being held in Boston in June. It's actually quite reasonable, especially if you register for the extreme early bird. In my case, the cost of the convention, flight from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, and hotel stay was $1000 less than a SharePoint Designer class that I took locally. Visit the SPTechCon site for further details on the next conference.

P.S. - I'll start publishing tutorials again on Monday!