Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Append new line to SPFieldMultiLineText in SharePoint
Do you have a multiline text box field in your SharePoint site and ever wondered how to append a new line to it? Are you confused whether you should use \r\n, Environment.NewLine or perhaps even #xD #xA to mark a line break? Allow me to save you the time and give you a straight answer.
The first thing you have to do is convert the SPListItem that represents your field into SPFieldMultiLineText.
SPFieldMultiLineText multilineField
= item.Fields.GetField(COLUMN_NAME) as SPFieldMultiLineText;
Then you can use its GetFieldValueAsHtml method to get the value in the form of HTML (which will preserve the multiple lines):
string text = multilineField.GetFieldValueAsHtml(item[COLUMN_NAME], item);
You should use '<br/>' as a line break:
string sharePointNewLine = "<br/>";
text = text
+ sharePointNewLine + sharePointNewLine
+ "Appended Text:" + sharePointNewLine
+ "This text is appended on a new line!";
And after that you just update your item:
this.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
item[COLUMN_NAME] = text;
item.Update();
this.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
So if the original text in the field was "Test test test", after executing this code, it would read:
Test test test
Appended Text:
This text is appended on a new line!
Simple? As long as you remember that text should be retrieved as HTML and you should use '<br/>' as a line break, yes.
Here is the full code snippet, ready to use:
public void AppendTextToMultiline(SPListItem item)
{
string COLUMN_NAME = "Multiline Column Name";
string sharePointNewLine = "<br/>";
SPFieldMultiLineText multilineField = item.Fields.GetField(COLUMN_NAME) as SPFieldMultiLineText;
if (multilineField != null)
{
// Get the field value as HTML
string text = multilineField.GetFieldValueAsHtml(item[COLUMN_NAME], item);
// Append the text
text = text
+ sharePointNewLine + sharePointNewLine
+ "Appended Text:" + sharePointNewLine
+ "This text is appended on a new line!";
this.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
item[COLUMN_NAME] = text;
item.Update();
this.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
}
}
Hope this helps!
Read more on this article...
Passed 70-541 exam today
Read more on this article...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Beware using GetFieldValueAsHtml or GetFormattedValue with DateTime fields
Watch out when using GetFieldValueAsHtml or GetFormattedValue with SharePoint DateTime fields! They both expect the value to be in UTC! However, SPListItem[FieldName] returns its value in Local Time zone and marks it as Unspecified.
Basically, what you have to do prior to calling one of the two methods above is make sure your time is in UTC:
DateTime localTime = (DateTime)listItem["SomeDateTime"];
DateTime universalTime = this.Web.RegionalSettings.TimeZone.LocalTimeToUTC(localTime);
string correctlyConverted = listItem["SomeDateTime"].GetFieldValueAsHtml(universalTime);
Read more on this article...
Monday, June 22, 2009
STSADM Technical Reference for Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/cc948709.aspx Read more on this article...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Fixing 'Feature {Guid} for list template is not installed in this farm. The operation could not be completed'
Although the message is about a list template not being installed you can pretty quickly guess that the problem is the list instance that is using the list template since actually the message was shown when you tried to open the list itself. My first reaction was to check the SharePoint FEATURES folder (%Program Files%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Features ) for a feature with that Guid and as I expected I couldn't find anything there that matches the identifier from the error message. The hardest part is to find a starting point for the troubleshooting which can give us some directions to what to look for and in this case since the problem is in the list instance the most obvious thing is to actually see what kind of properties SharePoint has for this particular list and is there a one that has something to do with the Guid.
The following Guid for FeatureId is used as a reference to the list definition, and it will be automatically replaced with actual feature id at deployment time.So now we have the TemplateFeatureId of the list instance the same as the list template one. During a new deployment of the list template if there is already an existing list instance it is being preserved and no new one is being created, which is pretty much expected since we don't want to loose our already existing list with all its data just because we redeployed the list template. So what happens is that the list template feature that the list instance is pointing to is being replaced by the new one which has a new FeatureId generated by SharePoint, but the TemplateFeatureId of all the list instances that are instantiated from the list templates remain the same and thus when the list is being opened no such list template is being found and the exception thrown by SharePoint finally makes sense.
Monday, June 15, 2009
How to create List Templates and List Instances with VSeWSS 1.3
- Modify the schema.xml by hand. This includes creating the fields and content type definitions. I'm sure that there are people out there that are willing and are using this approach, but personally except for learning purposes I would never do that again since too many things can go wrong and it is just waste of time, although it is very helpful to know what is happening behind the scenes in order to troubleshoot the eventual problems that can occur and WILL occur later. This approach may work for a list or two but generally we have much more than that.
- Create the list using the SharePoint UI and export it using the SharePoint Solution Generator 2008 which comes with the VSeWSS 1.3. This approach allows us to create all we need using the SharePoint UI and later export it as Visual Studio .NET projects that have exactly the same structure as the one that was created using the Visual Studio .NET SharePoint template.
- Open the SharePoint Solution Generator 2008 and select List Definition
- After you specify the url of the SharePoint site you will have the option to select a subset of all the site lists that exists on that site. In our case we just need the MyCustomList one.
- The last step of the process is to specify the name of the project and the location where the solution generator should create the Visual Studio .NET project.
Read more on this article...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
iTechnology Forms Accelerator Videos
Make sure to check out the HD/HQ videos we have uploaded for you on YouTube at iTechnology's channel.
As of today, they are...
An overview, which gives you an idea what the product is about:
Installation tutorial:
And a step-by-step tutorial on how to create your first iTFA-enabled application:
And of course, visit us at our web site to get your copy!
Read more on this article...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The right way to SPWeb.EnsureUser in SharePoint
At some point of time you may need to call (SPWeb).EnsureUser from your custom SharePoint web application. But this method can not be called by everyone, as it requires some high level permissions. You may also get an error similar to this one:

Your solution is to wrap the EnsureUser within RunWithElevatedPrivileges call. However, there is a big catch. If you use instances of SPSite or SPWeb, obtained prior to the RunWithElevatedPrivileges block, it won't work as expected because they are already associated to a non-elevated security context.
To illustrate it with code, here is WRONG usage of RunWithElevatedPrivileges:
SPWeb web = [... somehow obtained here...];
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
{
// NOTE: Wrong, do not use
SPUser someUser = web.EnsureUser(web.CurrentUser.LoginName);
});
And here is a CORRECT one:
SPWeb web = [... somehow obtained here...];
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
{
using (SPSite elevatedSite = new SPSite(web.Site.ID))
{
SPWeb elevatedWeb = elevatedSite.OpenWeb(web.ID);
SPUser someUser = elevatedWeb.EnsureUser(web.CurrentUser.LoginName);
}
});
Basically we used the IDs of the Web and Site objects, obtained prior to the elevated block, and used them to create Site and Web object within the elevated context.
Read more on this article...
Monday, June 8, 2009
SPTimerScheduler for SharePoint Improvement
At some point of time, you will need to create a Timer Job (scheduled task) for your custom SharePoint web solution. For example, you may need it to synchronize two systems.
Out of the box, you can create a SharePoint timer job, by inheriting the SPJobDefinition class and then creating a timer job installer, by inheriting SPFeatureReceiver. What this basically does is, during the activation of your feature, the installer will kick in and add your timer job to SharePoint timer jobs list. On deactivation of the feature, the timer job will be 'uninstalled'. This is associated to a huge inconvenience - you can't change the schedule of your task, unless you change your source code and redeploy. In a production environment this may cause a big stir.
This is where you can use SPTimerScheduler! It is really convenient and easy to install. After deploying the solution and activating the feature, you get a 'TimerJobSchedule' list, where you can define all your timer jobs. You just 'point' to the assembly, class and method you want to execute, pass constructor parameters (optional) and you are done! It allows for simple and easy task (re)scheduling, which is generally why you want to use this solution in the first place.
If there is one nice thing about the native SharePoint timer jobs, it is the fact that if your code throws an exception during execution, it will be logged by the SharePoint timer service in the Event Log. This is missing from SPTimerScheduler!
The purpose of this article is to show you how to extend this custom solution functionality so you can see what the error was, if any.
First, you need to download the source code of SPTimerScheduler from here. As of right now, the latest release is 1.1.0.0.
After you download the source, open SharePointerTimerJobScheduler.sln in Visual Studio. It may prompt you to remove the version control associated to the project, to which you agree.
We will start by adding one more column to the 'TimerJobSchedule' list, which will store the latest Exception message. Please note that the project stores the list template as TimerJobSchedule.stp file, which you can not edit directly. Generally, what you have to do is import the stp file to SharePoint, create an instance of this list type, edit it by adding one more column - LastExceptionMessage (multiline, plain) and then export it again. Overwrite the old stp file with the newly exported one. Here are detailed instructions:
1) Go to your SharePoint web site -> Site Actions -> Site Settings. Under 'Galleries', click on 'List Templates'.

2) Click Upload button -> "Upload Document"

3) Browse for "12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\SharePointerTimerJobScheduler\TimerJobSchedule.stp" file from the source code and upload it.
4) Now you have added the SPTimerScheduler as a type of a custom list. Create a new instance of it. Click on 'Create' and under 'Custom Lists' you should see 'TimerJobSchedule'. Click on it.

5) Give the list instance a name and click Create. The go to the settings of the list and under 'Columns' click 'Create column' link.
6) Name the column 'LastExceptionMessage' and make it of type 'Multiple lines of text', 'Plain text' and click ok.
7) Go to the Site Settings -> List templates again and delete the TimerJobSchedule list template you imported on step 3. You need to do this as preparation for the next step.
8) Now go to the list you created (of type 'TimerJobSchedule'. Remember, you gave it a name at step 5) and open its settings. Under 'Permissions and Management' there is a link 'Save list as template'. Click on it.

9) Under 'file name' and 'template name' fields call it 'TimerJobSchedule' as it used to be when you first imported it. Do not include content and click OK button.
10) Go to site settings again -> List templates. You should see the TimerJobSchedule template there. Click on the Name field of the item, which is a link. Save the file TimerJobSchedule.stp back to 12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\SharePointerTimerJobScheduler.
You have now effectively added one more column to the list - LastExceptionMessage.
Now we need to edit the code too. You should have the solution open in your Visual Studio. Open TimerJobScheduler.cs for edit and go to line 140. This is the catch statement, right after the 'RunTheTimerJobInstance(Item);' block. As you can see, logging logic is not yet implemented there. What you want to do is add the following code in this catch statement:
Item["LastExceptionMessage"] = NowDateTime + " - " + ex.Message;
Basically it will write a time stamped exception message into the 'LastExceptionMessage' column you have created earlier. As you can see, we don't even need logging components such as log4net at this point. We are using the column to store the message.
Right click the 'SharePointerTimerJobScheduler' project in Visual Studio and select Properties. Go to the Build Events tab and take a look at the "Post-build event command line" text box. There is an entry saying:
makecab /f solution.ddf"
Change it to:
makecab /f solution.ddf
I.e. - remove the " character at the end of the line, as it is there by mistake (I guess).
There is also an error in TimerJobSchedulerFeature.cs file of the source. Find the line:
AddListTemplateToGallery(@"C:\Program Files\Common Files\
Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\
TEMPLATE\FEATURES\TimerJobScheduler\TimerJobSchedule.stp");
And replace it with:
AddListTemplateToGallery(@"C:\Program Files\Common Files\
Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\
TEMPLATE\FEATURES\SharePointerTimerJobScheduler\TimerJobSchedule.stp");
I have notified the developer about those findings here.
After you are done with all of the above, rebuild the solution. The "Deployment\SharePointerTimerJobScheduler.wsp" will be refreshed. You need to redeploy it. You can do that by copying 'SharePointerTimerJobScheduler Source\Deployment\SharePointerTimerJobScheduler.wsp' (which is the output of the source project) into 'SharePointerTimerJobScheduler Release 1.1.0.0' (which was the release folder of the project, if you downloaded it. And you should!).
After deployment, by running 'SharePointerTimerJobScheduler Release 1.1.0.0\Install Feature.cmd' (and re-activation of the 'SharePointer Timer Job Scheduler' site feature) make sure the 'LastExceptionMessage' column is visible in your default list view, so you can monitor it for errors.
And that's all. Now just make sure that the method you are executing as a timer job, throws a meaningful exception, which will be visualized in the list column!
Read more on this article...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Sending email from SharePoint
Did you ever need to send an email out, from your SharePoint custom web application? When you have such a task, perhaps the first idea that you have is to use System.Net.Mail namespace. However, this requires that your application maintains a setting for the SMTP server, reply address and etc. Wouldn't it be easier if you could delegate the task of storing this configuration to SharePoint (and its Administrator) and instead, just focus on sending out the actual email?
Your solution is the Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPUtility class! It has the very convenient method 'SendEmail'. This is basically SharePoint's native functionality for email delivery.
The first thing you (or the SharePoint Administrator) need to do is setup the Outgoing email SMTP server. Open Central Admin -> Operations -> Outgoing E-Mail Settings.

There, you need to set the Outbound SMTP server, From address and Reply-to address.

And this is exactly how you delegate SMTP setting storage to SharePoint. Now, how do you actually send email from your code?
First, it is always a good idea to check if the email server is set:
bool isEmailServerSet = SPUtility.IsEmailServerSet(web);
If this returns false, you should not bother trying to send the email. Instead, show an error message or notify the SharePoint administrator, to check the settings of the server. If it returns true, you are good to go:
SPWeb web = SPContext.Current.Web;
bool appendHtmlTag = false;
bool htmlEncode = false;
string toAddress = "test@example.com";
string subject = "Subject";
string message = "Message text";
bool result = SPUtility.SendEmail(web, appendHtmlTag, htmlEncode, toAddress, subject, message);
In some cases, you may need to run this code with elevated privileges:
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
{
bool result = SPUtility.SendEmail(web, appendHtmlTag, htmlEncode, toAddress, subject, message);
});
SendEmail method returns a boolean, indicating if sending the email was successful or not.
However, there is a catch in using SPUtility.SendEmail. Internally this method relies on having a SPContext. In other words - if you are trying to use SPUtility.SendEmail from a SharePoint timer, it will fail, because there will be no context. This is when you have no other choice, but use System.Net.Mail. But how can you still benefit from SharePoint storing your SMTP settings? You do it this way:
SPWeb web = new SPSite("http://example").RootWeb;
string toAddress = "test@example.com";
string subject = "Subject";
string messageText = "Message text";
string replyTo = web.Site.WebApplication.OutboundMailReplyToAddress;
MailMessage message = new MailMessage(replyTo, toAddress, subject, messageText);
message.IsBodyHtml = false;
string smtpAddress =
web.Site.WebApplication.OutboundMailServiceInstance.Server.Address;
SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient(smtpAddress);
smtp.Send(message);
So what did we do here? We use .NET's native MailMessage and SmptClient classes, but we still read the configuration from the SharePoint site we opened by URL.
Read more on this article...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Sample SharePoint project localization Part 2 of 2
Hello,
This article assumes you are already familiar with Part 1 and the post preceding it.
Here, we discuss how to localize the content of the SharePoint custom web site project you already have created.
Normally, your ASPX page content would be similar to the following:

We want those 'hardcoded' strings to be localization enabled.
1. Create your default resource file.
You can create a subfolder 'Resources' in your project and put it there. Give it a specific name, in our case it is SampleLocalization.resx
2. Extract the strings we want to localize, into a resource file.
Let's assume we want to have the page title, button text and greeting message localized. We need to create a resource entry for each one of them. Your resource file should look similarly to:

3. Modify the Page attribute to contain Culture and UICulture tags.
It should be similar to:
<%@ Page="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/_layouts/application.master" %>
Inherits="SampleCode.Localized, SampleCode, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=[Public Key Token]" Culture="auto" UICulture="auto" %>
4. Modify your page to refer to the resources, rather than the hardcoded strings

5. Make a copy of your resource file. This will be our second language. Let's make it Bulgarian.
Name it 'SampleLocalization.bg.resx'. Open it for editing and translate the text. For your convenience, here are the strings:
Button_Text - Бутон текст
Greeting - Здравейте, това е тест
Page_Title - Това е заглавието на страницата
Make sure you store it in the Resources folder, next to your SampleLocalization.resx file.
6. web.config modification
Open the web.config of the website that hosts your template page. Find (or add) your globalization node and modify it to contain Culture and UICulture attributes, equaling 'auto'.

7. Deployment
Do a full deploy of your project. Also, don't forget to copy your *.resx files (both of them) into the WSS VirtualDirectories App_GlobalResources. The path usually is:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\[Port Number]\App_GlobalResources
Open the web page in the browser and see the result. You can set language preference through the settings of your browser.
For IE:
Tools -> Internet Options -> General Tab -> Languages -> Add / Move Up / Move Down
For FF:
Tools -> Options -> Content tab -> Languages (bottom) Choose button -> Add / Move Up / Move Down
Add Bulgarian. Try how it works when Bulgarian is a first preference, or when it is last.
In English:

In Bulgarian:

Hope this is helpful,
Hristo Yankov
Read more on this article...
Sample SharePoint project localization Part 1 of 2
Hello,
This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a localized SharePoint custom web application. In this first part, we will discuss the creation of the sample web application itself, while the second one, will emphasize on the localization.
Prerequisite is a Visual Studio 2008 with WSS extensions 1.3. You can also work with Visual Studio 2005, but you will have to do part of the deployment manually.
1. Start Visual Studio and create new project of type SharePoint.

I entered 'SPLocalization' as name for the project.
2. Select "Full Trust"

Note: Check debug tab of Project Setting to ensure it contain correct path to your SharePoint server.

3. Add new item to our project

4. Select 'Template' element in SharePoint section. Change file name to 'LocalizedPage.aspx'

5. Now you should see project structure like this:
6. Create subfolder LAYOUTS under Template folder
7. Create subfolder SPLocalization under LAYOURS folder
8. Move LocalizedPage.aspx to SPLocalization folder (I use drag and drop the file). Now you should have the following structure:
9. Now let's create a class that extends SharePoint layout pages. Add new class to your project.

11. Now few other steps ...
First add references to SharePoint and SharePoint.WebControls
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;
Secondly make your class public, partial and derived from LayoutsPageBase
You should see something like this:

Now, since we have chosen GAC deployment model, we need to deploy our solution to Global Assembly and determine Public Key.
12. In Visual Studio Menu, Selection, Build -> Quick Deploy Solution -> Copy Binary(s)

This will compile our SharePoint project into DLL and deploy it to GAC. After deployment Output window will show that Deployment was successful:

13. Let's go to Windows Assembly folder and find our library

If you open Properties of our assembly, you will be able to copy its public key token. In my case it was 7a1fde53a908a4fe.
We will need Public Key Token for our aspx.page.
Now, let's return to our ASPX page.
14. Remove default text and add Page registration tag
<%
@
Page
Language
="C#"
MasterPageFile
="~/_layouts/application.master"
Inherits
="{ClassName}, {Assembly}, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken={PublicKeyToken}"
%>
Now let's replace {ClassName} with SPLocalization.LocalizedPage {Assembly} with SPLocalization {PublicKeyToken} with Public Key Token we obtained from GAC.
Now you should see something like this:
Now let's add some content to the page and test if everything works.
15. Add ASP tag Content with ContentPlaceHolderID equals to PlaceHolderMain. Here is complete code
<
asp
:
Content
ID
="Main"
ContentPlaceHolderID
="PlaceHolderMain"
runat
="server">
Test message
asp
:
Content
>
Your Localized.aspx page should look like this:
<%
@
Page
Language
="C#"
MasterPageFile
="~/_layouts/application.master"
Inherits
="SPLocalization.LocalizedPage, SPLocalization, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7a1fde53a908a4fe"
%>
<
asp
:
Content
ID
="Main"
ContentPlaceHolderID
="PlaceHolderMain"
runat
="server">
Test message
asp
:
Content
>
16. Let's make a full deploy. Visual Studio menu Build -> Deploy Solution.
After deployment is completed, Output window will show that Deploy was successful.

17. Now let's go and check manually if LocalizedPage.aspx was deployed.
Browse to 12 directory (by default it is "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12") then browse to TEMPLATE, then to LAYOUTS, then to SPLocalization. You should see our LozalizedPage.aspx was successfully deployed.

Now let's try to access this page through SharePoint
18. Open SharePoint url of your site with prefix "_layouts/SPLocalization/LocalizedPage.aspx".
In my case, it is "http://itech-vm-spdev/_layouts/SPLocalization/LocalizedPage.aspx"
When page is loaded you should see empty area but with our magic text: Test message

Now, let's add SPLinkButton SharePoint control
19. Change your ASPX page to include Register of Microsoft.SharePoint assembly and replace static text with SPLinkButton control.
Your ASPX page should look like this:
<%
@
Page
Language
="C#"
MasterPageFile
="~/_layouts/application.master"
Inherits
="SPLocalization.LocalizedPage, SPLocalization, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7a1fde53a908a4fe"
%>
<%
@
Register
Assembly
="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" Namespace
="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls"
TagPrefix
="cc1"
%>
<
asp
:
Content
ID
="Main"
ContentPlaceHolderID
="PlaceHolderMain"
runat
="server">
<
cc1
:
SPLinkButton
Text
=""
runat
="server"
ID
="myLink"
/>
asp
:
Content
>
20. Update your LocalizedPage class to include myLink definition. We will also assign Text value in OnLoad method. You class should look like this:
public
partial
class
LocalizedPage
:
LayoutsPageBase
{
protected
SPLinkButton
myLink;
protected
override
void
OnLoad(
EventArgs
e)
{
myLink.Text =
"Our test link"
;
}
}
21. Let's do full deploy again
22. Once it is successfully deployed. Open LocalizedPage in the browser again. You should see that now you have a link on the page. This link is provided by SharePoint SPLinkButton control.

In the next article, we will discuss localization of the sample application we created...
Read more on this article...