Problem publishing Workflow to WSS 3.0 From Visual Studio 2008

I ran into a problem publishing then after some googling came across this article on how to fix it.
I thought I would provide the info here and a link to the original article.
Hope you find this helpful.

http://blogs.msdn.com/kaevans/archive/2008/08/08/creating-sharepoint-workflows-for-wss-with-visual-studio-2008.aspx

Creating SharePoint Workflows for WSS with Visual Studio 2008

I just ran across one of those nuisance things with Visual Studio 2008
that I haven't seen before. Create a SharePoint workflow (Sequential or
State, doesn't matter) for a WSS site (not MOSS). Build the project,
you'll get an error similar to the following:
Error
3 Feature '739f61bf-5616-427a-80d6-ed30fdc04b1f' could not be
installed because the loading of event receiver assembly
"Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" failed: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could
not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature, Version=12.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' or one of its dependencies.
The system cannot find the file specified.
Turns out that VS2008 is only
supported on MOSS. Tucked away in the comments in Nikhil's blog, he shows how
to use Visual Studio 2008 to create workflows for Windows SharePoint Services
3.0.
To get it to work on WSS there is a workaround. Remove the reference
to Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Tasks from project assembly references. This
assembly is only available in the MOSS version of SharePoint and will not be
resolved on a machine with WSS installed.
Also, open the feature.xml in the
project and remove the ReceiverAssembly="Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature,
Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" and
ReceiverClass="Microsoft.Office.Workflow.Feature.WorkflowFeatureReceiver". This
feature receiver is required for MOSS related functionality (InfoPath forms) and
should not affect your WSS workflow development.

If you have any tips, tricks, resources or articles you think would be useful to the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them or you can simply post them as comments.

Installing Sharepoint 2010 on Vista

I am going to attempt an install of Sharepoint 2010 on Vista tonight. They are telling me its possible so I am going to test it out.

If you have any tips or tricks to doing it let me know. I will keep you posted on what issues I run into.

PROBLEM:You must have Internet Information Services installed in order to use the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard.
SOLUTION: Under Turn On Windows Features, navigate to IIS. Under Web Management Tools make sure IIS 6 Compatibility is turned on.

Please leave me comments on this post if you run into issues or have solutions to issues other are having. You can also email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Save Conflict

Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Save Conflict Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Save ConflictYour changes conflict with those made concurrently by another user. If you want your changes to be applied, click Back in your Web browser, refresh the page, and resubmit your changes.

If you get this error you will want to read this article on the solution:
http://www.theartofsharepoint.com/2007/05/microsoftsharepointspexception-save.html

Hopefully Microsoft fixes this issue in 2010. You shouldn't have to re-get the web pointer and list pointer and tell the list you want to allowunsafeupdates for every item you want to update.

If you have any tips, tricks or links to articles you would like shared with the guild please email them to susan@clinchportal.com or post them as a comment.

Interesting Article on using sharepoint webcontrols properly

I came across this article and found it extremely useful. It eliminated many lines of code
by using this simple method of rendering the proper control for a field.

http://www.hezser.de/blog/archive/2007/04/29/how-to-use-the-sharepoint-web-controls.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, or resources you would like to share with the group either comment on a posting or email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them.

Code blocks are not allowed in this file.

I got this error then came across this article to fix it. Sharepoint turns off code blocks by default.

This link explains the whole story:
http://blogs.msdn.com/kaevans/archive/2007/04/26/code-blocks-are-not-allowed-in-this-file-using-server-side-code-with-sharepoint.aspx

The fix is to add this web.config key. In the configuration/SharePoint/PageParserPaths configuration section add something like this:

VirtualPath="/pages/test.aspx" CompilationMode="Always"
AllowServerSideScript="true" />

WARNING: There is a reason why Sharepoint does this so only use it when you need it. It can be dangerous to give designers access to the file and accidentally have them edit your code.

Setting up Sharepoint for Silverlight web parts

When trying to install Silverlight on Sharepoint 2007 or wss 3.0 its not an easy task.
The first step is following the web.config tweeks in this article.

http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/moss-install-aspnet-ajax-35.html

The second step is copying the System.web.silverlight.dll into either the bin folder for the site or registering it with the GAC.

The third step is making sure the scriptmanager is loaded properly. Here is an article that will help you place it in the right spot.

http://blogs.prexens.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=7a299699%2Df8da%2D4559%2D920c%2Dbda481608691&ID=3

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you would like to share with the group either post them as comments or email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them.

System.IO.FileNotFoundException error when opening SPSite outside IIS

PROBLEM:

When developing against the SharePoint object model in an application outside of IIS (service, console, Winforms etc..) you receive the error “FileNotFoundException” when creating an instance of the SPSite object.

ERROR MESSAGE:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The Web application at http:// could not be found. Verify that you have typed the URL correctly.
If the URL should be serving existing content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the intended application.\n
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite..ctor(SPFarm farm, Uri requestUri, Boolean contextSite, SPUserToken userToken)\n at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite..ctor(String requestUrl)\n

SOLUTION:

The user running the application needs to have the following permissions and group membership set:

· The user is a server farm administrator.

· The user has Read and Write permissions on the content database.

· The user is a site collection administrator.

· The user has permissions to access the Windows SharePoint Services site or the SharePoint Server 2007 site through which the code iterates.

REFERENCE LINK:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/sharepointdevelopment/thread/5834679b-482b-4924-b881-fa2146840d05/

Sharepoint Custom Timer Jobs

For those working with Custom Timer Jobs here are a few links to help you out.The first two are right from Andrew Connell so you know they have what you need.

Creating Custom Timer Jobs in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc406686.aspx#WSSCustomTimerJobs_DebuggingCustomTimerJobs

Creating Custom Sharepoint Timer Jobshttp://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/articles/CreatingCustomSharePointTimerJobs.aspx

Debugging Sharepoint Timer Jobs
http://sharethelearning.blogspot.com/2007/12/debugging-sharepoint-timer-jobs.html

If you have any tips, tricks, resources you would like to share with the guild please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Shared Service Providers Part 1

Shared Service Providers

I hear a lot of questions and comments about shared service providers which I hope to address in this 3 part blog. In this “mini series” we will cover everything you need to know to get started using the functionality provided by SSP (Shared service providers)

Today I will introduce you to SSP and the functionality they offer. Tomorrow I will cover the installation process and on Friday we will cover some common pit falls that might come up and how to fix them.

So what is a SSP?

Basically SSP hosts a combination of services that we would want to share across the server farm(s).

SSP itself is a independent component of MOSS 2007. It does not get installed automatically when you first install MOSS as it needs special planning and configuration. Each farm should have at least one SSP but can have many if the situation calls for it. In my 5 years of Sharepoint development I have never had the need to create more than one SSP for my installation but I have heard stories and situations where you would need multiple ones. (A good example of this is a global installation with many farms).

The services that SSP handles includes

· Search

· My Sites

· User profiles

· Audiences

· Excel Services

· Business data catalog

· Advanced usage analyst reports

You will need an SSP Installed and configured to take advantage of any of these services

In all honestly if you have MOSS and don’t Have a SSP installed: you might as well be using SharePoint services 3.0 for your installation because you are really missing out on the meat and potatoes of MOSS

I had a client a few months back that was using MOSS2007 and was not utilizing a SSP infact they did not know what an SSP was. They called me in to figure out why when they typed in a serach term, SharePoint would return errors. The simple answer was you cannot use search without an SSP.

Once I explained to their developers what a SSP was and how they could use it they really stared to take advantage of all the services MOSS can provide.

That just about does it for part one. Please see below a list of references regarding SSP.

Please feel free to email me at any time with any questions or comments on Sharepoint,

mccannblogs@gmail.com

McCann Out

Using Nested Master Pages in SharePoint

I had a hard time finding info on this one but someone pointed out the article that shows you how to do it:

http://ari.provoke.co.nz/archive/2007/04/10/using-nested-master-pages-in-sharepoint.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you think the guild would find useful please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Deploying to Sharepoint

The recommended way to deploy to sharepoint seems to be using Solutions. I found this article that describes how to do this.


http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3672646

If you have any additional tips, tricks, resources related to deployment then please post comments on this article or email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Moss vs Wss: What's the difference?

For those unsure on what the difference is between Moss (Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server) and Wss (Windows Sharepoint Services) I found this good article explaining it:

http://dotnetaddict.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/moss_vs_wss.htm

If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

SharePoint ConnectStrings and WebParts

Everybody is wondering where to store the connectstrings for your webpart.

Some say to make it a property, some say to place it in the web.config for your application.

This article offers an alternative that will allow you to change the connectstring without needing to bring down your application. Here is the link to the article:


http://www.sharepointu.com/forums/t/107.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Debugging Sharepoint WebParts

For those trying to debug sharepoint web parts. I will start to post tips and tricks for doing so.
For now I will just supply you with a link to the microsoft article on how to do it:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms916837.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Beyond Search: Best Bets and Keywords (MOSS Only)

Sometimes search is not good enough and you need to ensure documents get found. Here is an article on a SharePoint feature that will help:

http://www.thesanitypoint.com/archive/2008/12/15/best-bets-and-keywords-in-sharepoint-and-search-server.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

SharePoint Search and editing the Thesaurus

For those familiar with other search engines, you are probably looking for a keymatch files or some kind of synonym file. In SharePoint it is called the Thesaurus. Here is a link that describes how to customize it:

http://blogs.msdn.com/enterprisesearch/archive/2008/09/23/how-to-customize-the-thesaurus-in-sharepoint-search-and-search-server.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Transferring a site from WSS 3 to MOSS 2007

Since most dev boxes are probably running WSS and not MOSS these articles I found would probably be quite useful to read. The first walks through some of the things you should do to prepare for the export.

Transferring a site from WSS 3 to MOSS 2007 - Part 1
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/joe/archive/2008/11/22/transferring-a-site-from-wss-3-to-moss-2007-part-1.aspx

The second article is for times when, even though we prepared for it, we get error messages during import and don't know what to do.

Transferring a site from WSS 3 to MOSS 2007 - Part 2
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/joe/archive/2008/11/22/transferring-a-site-from-wss-3-to-moss-2007-part-2.aspx

Hopefully these articles will save you some time in doing your migrations. If you have any tips, tricks, resources that you think would help the group please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.