Some of my latest MOSS Implementations
// November 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
Some of my latest work… the last one i cannot claim, as it is the work of Tim Wragg but i am involved in the project (Click on the thumbnail)
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Archive for Sharepoint
Calendar Webpart: The Expert Calendar up for sale
// November 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
After much consideration, and a beer with my mate ben hodgson and tim wragg, i have decided to put my webpart The Expert Calendar up for sale. So there’s still a free version available here, but I have made some tweaks and added support and support notes to my webpart and made it available for purchase here
Okay so the real deal is that im trying to save for my round the world trip, and I really want to generate some extra bucks for my back pocket! okay!!!!! so now you know!
New release of my baby project: The Expert Calendar
// November 13th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
Hey guys,
ive just done an update to my Expert Calendar tool. Its available here.
Im now supporting:
To read more about it click here
Unfortunately i hardly have time to support it due to my current workload, but if you do face a problem, pop me an email, ill really try to help you.
Solution: Filtered views on Lists can’t see folders
// November 4th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
So i came up with a intsy witsy problem today. when you use a filtered view in a document library with folders, the folders disappear depending on what you add as a filter.
Solution: Add a second filter which is where “Content Type” = Folder
Workflow OnTaskChanged does not fire after a while
// October 30th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Sharepoint
Wow, it really takes me a long time to just blog! Everyday i go to work, i fire up some version of WSS or MOSS somewhere at some client, and everyday i come accross interesting topics/problems to blog about. Except, i never do. I suppose i could play the im busy card, but thats not quite warranted since you need to find time.
An interesting little problem i came across yesterday was the following:
Im busy developing a custom “expense claim” workflow for a client for MOSS. Using Visual Studio 2008 i was pretty proud of myself for developing a multistage approval workflow which also logged all items to a SQL table, which reported through a dataview in MOSS. Due to numerous debugging items, i had deployed the workflow a number of times from Visual Studio using the deploy button and attached it to the w3wp.exe process so i could debug. A number of times the workflow errored out and i would just stop debugging.
Suddenly on random attempts to debug, the OnTaskChanged stopped firing. When i changed the task it would not debug nor would the workflow run. It would just hang. I searched all blogs and solutions but nothing was quite what i needed.
THE SOLUTION
After much searching i found this blog which allowed me to uninstall the workflow and reinstall completely. I made a little uninstall.bat file which looks like this:
<br />
@SET STSADM="c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadm"</p>
<p>@echo off</p>
<p>%STSADM% -o deactivatefeature -filename {name of feature}\feature.xml -url http://yourportal.com -force</p>
<p>%STSADM% -o uninstallfeature -filename {name of feature}\feature.xml</p>
<p>IISRESET<br />
Essentially everytime i was finished with the debugging process and i was ready to make changes and redeploy i would run this bat file. All it does is completely remove the “feature” or workflow and hit an IISRESET for safety.
Also remember to remove the assembly from the GAC (c:\windows\assemblies) and then redeploy. This ends all running instances of the workflow and starts fresh.
Custom List Forms and Redirecting after Update
// July 29th, 2008 // 4 Comments » // Sharepoint
One of my clients required a custom edit form for their editing screen where it would show certain fields and then redirect to a new page after the OK button was clicked. I had done this before at another client except i’d never found a way to actually redirect the page after the save. Here is an article on how to do that to.
1. In Sharepoint Designer take your EditForm.aspx and copy it.
2. Rename it
3. Open this new form and click on the PlaceHolderMain (leave your ListFormWebPart on the page)
4. In the ListFormWebPart scroll down the properties in the xml which describes the webpart and change
4. Click on Insert->Sharepoint Controls->Custom List Form
5. Choose the appropriate List and select Edit Form
6. Sharepoint generates the form for you.
To customize the save button, find the following control on the page Sharepoint:SaveButton
1. Delete the SaveButton
2. Add
input type="button" value="Save" name="btnSave" onclick="javascript: {ddwrt:GenFireServerEvent('__commit;__redirect={}')}"
instead
3. This button allows the form to be saved and redirects to back to that page. See this article for more info
Hope it helps!
UPDATE:
If you wish to update after redirecting this is how i did it:
add in
ParameterBinding Name=”Source” Location=”QueryString(Source)”
to your paramterbindings list then add
xsl:param name=”Source”>0 /xsl:param>
xsl:variable name=”RedirectLoc”> xsl:value-of select=”$Source”/> /xsl:variable>
to your stylesheet
then the button should be:
input type=”button” value=”Save” name=”btnTopSave” onclick=”javascript: {ddwrt:GenFireServerEvent(concat(‘__commit;__redirect={‘,$RedirectLoc,’}'))}”/>
SPBands – rocking tunes to listen to working
// July 1st, 2008 // No Comments » // My Life, Sharepoint
Ive always been a music lover, but recently with my move to a new country ive found cheaper broadband and thus more free music!
some bands ive really been enjoying recently:
zebra and giraffe
the thrills (saw them live)
camera obscura
newton faulkner
the black keys
the zutons
the duke spirit
one night only (thanks nic)
the fratellis
the hives
The Expert Calendar
// July 1st, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
The first release of my first add-on for MOSS 2007 has been added to codeplex here.
From codeplex:
The Expert Calendar is a MOSS 2007 webpart which allows to connect to a Event Item List and display event items in a small design customizable calendar with links to the events. Handy for a “quick-win” event display.
I plan to bring out a new ajax enabled calendar, or just move straight onto Silverlight. Future developments include:
*Connect to Custom List, define Event Dates, Start Time columns
*Calendar Skins
*AJAX Enabled
*Add to Outlook functionality
So I wanna be a Sharepoint MVP too!!
// June 26th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Sharepoint
Its been on and off of my mind for so long… i burn for it. yet somehow im not taking an active step forward.
Ive been involved in Sharepoint since December 2005, and when i say involved i mean from writing iffy little webparts to bastardizing Sharepoint 2003 look and feel with webcustomcontrols which spew out reams of html! When MOSS 2007 came out i was playing with Beta 1, Beta 1TR and Beta 2 and involved in some pretty radical projects.
Yet, i have focussed on personal development, finding the ideal work environment and being happy in my personal life. I think i have found that with a move to sydney, and a wonderful company to work for and now i want to take it a step further. I set this as a goal for myself this year. Its not the rockstar status of Sharepoint MVP, nor being recognized in the industry, its just that i really feel i have something to offer the Sharepoint World. Every time i help a customer acheive a process which was otherwise unattainable in their current business system, i feel good. i feel like ive done a job. A great job. The growth of MOSS globally is mind-blowing, the need for it is endless. Im willing to say that i believe MOSS is the type which will change the way an organisation manages every business process there is. I know how, and i want to tell the world.
Ive been reading up on the MVP status every now and again, posts by Joel are most helpful and reading posts from Moss Lover are inspiring. I have something to give, knowledge to share and theres no time like now to impart that.
Heres to that goal!
back to work 
Surveys: Starting a workflow
// May 27th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sharepoint
Had an interesting little problem today: My manager asked me to collect feedback from a user on the new instance of a survey item. After creating the workflow etc etc, i got the following error:
The status of a workflow appears as “Failed to Start” when you try to start a workflow from a survey response in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Well to my dismay i googled around and found that Microsoft do not support workflow on survey lists. Microsoft, is this a bug or is it permanent? obviously there is a workaround, but surely this MUST be resolved ASAP!
