Tony DalPezzo's Blog

Seven Words You Can’t Swype

2010-04-08T18:40:00.001-04:00

What if the great George Carlin would have used the Swype keyboard to write one of this most famous jokes? The joke would go something like this:

Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television

Sit

Poos

Duck

Count

Chaucer

Mother

Tuts

George would have been out of a job…

Now I’m not saying that those words are necessary, but there are times when they are a requirement. Let’s just say the bank is issuing you yet another ATM card (since they did not link the past 7 to your account) and you want to text your displeasure to your wife, brother or some friends. This is a case where it would be helpful to have such words available to Swype. This is what your message looks like when Swyping your discuss.

“Duck those Mother, ducked up my card again. What the duck!”

What the duck, that’s what I say.

Other then this minor non-issue the Swype keyboard on my HTC HD2 ROCKS!

If you read this and you don’t know what Swype is, go check it out: http://www.swypeinc.com/

Parsing SharePoint delimited Multiple Value Lookup field values from web service results

2009-07-22T23:40:00.001-04:00

When you query a list that contains a Lookup Column that allows multiple select values the value is returned like the following:

ows_MyMultipleSelectLookupField="1;#Foo;#2;#Foo Bar"

Yes, there’s that delimiter (;#) again.

The following two methods can help you get the Lookup values selected in the item.

/// <summary>
/// Remove the nasty delimiter
/// This can be used when returning multiple select lookup field values from a SharePoint list via a web service
/// Ex: ows_MyMultipleSelectLookupField="1;#Foo;#2;#Foo Bar" 
/// returns Foo, Foo Bar
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sFieldValue"></param>
/// <returns>List of string values</returns>
public static List<string> GetDelimitedLookupValuesList(string sFieldValue)
{
    List<string> results = new List<string>();
    
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex regexMultiValueField = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(@"(?<id>(\d+));[#](?<value>[(\w*)+\s]+)",
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Compiled);
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match choice = regexMultiValueField.Match(sFieldValue);

    while (choice.Success)
    {
        results.Add(choice.Groups["value"].Value);
        choice = choice.NextMatch();
    }

    return results;
}

/// <summary>
/// Remove the nasty delimiter
/// This can be used when returning multiple select lookup field values from a SharePoint list via a web service
/// Ex: ows_MyMultipleSelectLookupField="1;#Foo;#2;#Foo Bar" 
/// returns {1,Foo} {2,Foo Bar}
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sFieldValue"></param>
/// <returns>Dictionay of id,value pairs</returns>
public static Dictionary<string, string> GetDelimitedLookupValuesDictionary(string sFieldValue)
{
    Dictionary<string, string> results = new Dictionary<string, string>();

    System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex regexMultiValueField = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(@"(?<id>(\d+));[#](?<value>[(\w*)+\s]+)",
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Compiled);
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match choice = regexMultiValueField.Match(sFieldValue);

    while (choice.Success)
    {
        results.Add(choice.Groups["id"].Value, choice.Groups["value"].Value);
        choice = choice.NextMatch();
    }

    return results;
}

Usage:

//returns Foo, Foo Bar
List<string> myValues = GetDelimitedLookupValuesList("1;#Foo;#2;#Foo Bar");
                                    
//returns 1,Foo 2,Foo Bar
Dictionary<string,string> myValues = GetDelimitedLookupValuesDictionary("1;#Foo;#2;#Foo Bar");

Getting SharePoint’s Explorer View in IE8 on Windows Server 2003

2009-06-18T15:04:00.001-04:00

If you get this error when viewing a Document Library in SharePoint 2007:

“Please wait while Explorer View is loaded. If Explorer View does not appear, your browser may not support it.”

Most likely your WebClient service is not running on your local machine. Simply crank it up using the following steps.

Go to START >> RUN
Type services.msc
Locate the WebClient service
Open the Properties

Start up type to Automatic (otherwise on the next boot you will have this issue again)
Click Apply
Click Start
Click OK

Getting a client side created InfoPath 2007 form in to a InfoPath Visual Studio project

2009-06-10T22:54:00.001-04:00

Do you have an InfoPath form that was created in the InfoPath client and now you want to add it to a Visual Studio InfoPath project?

Here are the basic steps.. Follow along kids.

Extract the source files from your client side form in to a directory called ClientSource. (you should know how to do this)
Create a new InfoPath project in Visual Studio
Close the open xsf file in Visual Studio
Delete all the files under InfoPath Form Template directory in the Visual Studio solution
In the ClientSource directory, edit the manifest.xsf file in NotePad++ or your favorite text editor and make the following changes.
1. Delete the attributes "publishUrl and "trustLevel" (if exists) of the xsf:DocumentClass element
2. Delete the properties xsf:property name="componentId" and xsf:property name="xmlToEditName"
3. Add the sibling <xsf2:managedCode projectPath="path to and including csproj" language="CSharp" version="2.0" enabled="yes"></xsf2:managedCode> under xsf:extensions/xsf:extension/xsf2:solutionDefinition/xsf2:offline
  1. Path to and including csproj, ex: "C:\infopathForms\myIPFormProj\myIPFormProj.csproj”
  2. language value could also be VisualBasic, if you have create a VB project.
4. Add the attribute scriptLanguage="managedCode"as the first attribute of xsf:applicationParameters/xsf:solutionProperties
5. Save your changes
Open template.xml in a text editor and make the following change
In your Visual Studio project, right click on InfoPath Form Template folder and choose Add >> Existing Item.
Navigate to your ClientSource directory
Change the object type dropdown to ALL Files (*.*)
Select ALL the files in the directory and click ADD
1. NOTE: you want to bring in all the files so that you bring in all your data connections, resource files, view styles…
In Visual Studio double click on manifest.xsf
When/If prompted to save changes and publish, blah blah blah… click OK
Build your project

That’s it…

Sync with SharePoint calendar causes Outlook to crash

2009-04-16T14:34:00.001-04:00

This issue is caused when there is an "Exceptions to Recurring Event"

Root Cause:
Older calendar items brought over from SharePoint 2003 that had exception on the recurrence.

Workaround:
Delete all the calendar items that have an "Exception to Recurring Event", except Recurring Events that have an Exception and are Prefixed with "Deleted:" Like as follows:

NOTE: you must follow the instructions below to delete the items with the exception. If you try to delete the items without the instructions below you will get the following error.

How:

Create a view that groups by Recurrence
Look for items where the Recurrence icon has a slash through it
Click on the items edit menu and select Edit Item
The Recurrence section should look like the following (it will have Custom selected)
Select Yearly, you will be prompted by SharePoint
Click Ok
Click Ok on the EditForm.aspx page and you will be prompted, again.
Click Ok
Open the items menu again and select Delete Item
If you are prompted to send the item to the recycling bin, click OK
Repeat these steps for all items that have an exception to a recurring event.

If you have cleaned up all the corrupt items, you should be able to sync your SharePoint calendar to Outlook .

Cannot connect to SharePoint list from link in email

2009-03-23T10:06:00.001-04:00

I am going to describe the issue using a Task List as an example, but this issue affects all lists in SharePoint that you can connect to Outlook.

After clicking on the “Connect to this Task List” link in an email you receive the following error:

Task 'SharePoint' reported error (0x800401F3): 'Unknown Error 0x800401F3'

Let’s look at the problem:

Click on the “Connect to this Task List” link in the email that was sent from the task list.
In the opened prompt, click "Yes"
You will get the following error
Click the close button (The red X) and Navigate to Tools >> Account Settings…
In the Account Settings windows, click on the SharePoint Lists tab, select the list you are getting the error with and click on Remove.
Click Yes, when prompted to remove the Task List from the Account Settings list
Click Close to exit the Account Settings window.

Workaround:

Navigate to the SharePoint Task List
Click Actions >> Connect to Outlook
When prompted “Connect this SharePoint Task List to Outlook”, Click Yes
The Task List will now be displayed in Outlook

The Issue:

When you click on the “Connect to this Task list” link in the email you are presented with the following prompt:

When you click on “Connect to Outlook” from SharePoint you are presented with the following prompt:

Notice the missing trailing whack in the prompt from the link in the email, that is the issue.

How to add,update,delete site columns by using SharePoint's Webs WebService

2009-01-05T15:12:00.001-05:00

I have found examples on how to do this, unfortunately none of them worked. The missing attribute of ID from the newFields node was the issue with the examples. The following should give you the idea.

            //webs webservice
            wsWebs.Webs websService = new SiteColumnTester.wsWebs.Webs();

            //url for the webservice
            websService.Url = "http://localhost/sites/Tony/_vti_bin/Webs.asmx";

            //credential
            websService.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

            //xmldocument object
            XmlDocument xDoc = new XmlDocument();

            //Fields to be added
            XmlNode newFields = xDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Fields", "");

            //Fields to be updated
            XmlNode updateFields = xDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Fields", "");

            //Fields to be deleted
            XmlNode deleteFields = xDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Fields", "");

            //When adding a new field, make sure to give it an ID or it will not create the field
            newFields.InnerXml = "<Method ID='1'><Field ID='{1C8452A0-F3BD-4a70-85D7-B35BF5EC8CE8}' Name='fieldName' DisplayName='fieldDisplayName' Hidden='FALSE' Type='Text'/></Method>";
            //Update a field
            updateFields.InnerXml = "<Method ID='2'><Field Name='fieldName' DisplayName='fieldDisplayName' Type='Text' Group='Tony'/></Method>";
            //Delete a field
            deleteFields.InnerXml = "<Method ID='3'><Field Name='fieldName'/></Method>";

            XmlNode UpdateColumnsResponse = websService.UpdateColumns(newFields, updateFields, deleteFields);

            MessageBox.Show(UpdateColumnsResponse.OuterXml);

Happy Coding!

Error - Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object. SPListItem and RunWithElevatedPrivileges

2008-09-05T15:46:00.001-04:00

When trying to update a SPListItem inside a SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges block, you will received the following error: Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object.

So if you are doing something like this:

SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
               {
                   using (SPWeb web = new SPSite(sURL).OpenWeb())
                   {
                       SPList list = web.Lists["MyList"];
                       //add a folder
                       SPListItem listItem = list.Items.Add(list.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl, SPFileSystemObjectType.Folder, sFolderName);

                       listItem.Properties["Name"] = sFolderName;

                       listItem.Update(); //and boom goes the dynamite!
                   }
               }
        );

You will now have to switch it up and do something like this:

SPWeb web = null;
        try
        {
            SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
             {
                 using (SPSite site = new SPSite(sURL))
                 {
                     web = site.OpenWeb();
                 }
             }
            );

            SPList list = web.Lists["MyList"];
            //add a folder
            SPListItem listItem = list.Items.Add(list.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl, SPFileSystemObjectType.Folder, sFolderName);

            listItem.Properties["Name"] = sFolderName;
            listItem.Update(); //update is successful
        }
        catch
        {
        }
        finally
        {
            web.Dispose();
        }

Only setting the SPWeb object in the RunWithElevatedPrivileges block will avoid this error from happening.

SharePoint 2003 and 2007 OOB lists/columns

2008-05-22T15:29:00.001-04:00

This is a list of the OOB lists and their columns. It show the DisplayName, Name and Type for each column. Highlighted are the items that changed between 2003 and 2007. Note the hidden columns are not displayed here.

List

2003

2007

Display Name

Name

Type

Display Name

Name

Type

Document Library

Title

Single line of text

Title

Single line of text

Picture Library

Title

Single line of text

Title

Single line of text

Date Picture Taken

ImageCreateDate

Date and Time

Date Picture Taken

ImageCreateDate

Date and Time

Description

Multiple lines of text

Description

Multiple lines of text

Keywords

Multiple lines of text

Keywords

Multiple lines of text

Created By

Author

Person or Group

Modified By

Editor

Person or Group

Checked Out To

CheckoutUser

Person or Group

Issues List

Title

Single line of text

Title

Single line of text

Assigned To

AssignedTo

Lookup

Assigned To

AssignedTo

Person or Group

Status

Choice

Issue Status

Status

Choice