I am moving my blog to Geeks with Blogs, which I have pointed to the domain http://www.mosslover.com. I have signed up with http://www.sharepointfeeds.com and I am going to try and contact Dustin Miller to get my new blog mirrored here. I will also try and import all my old entries to the new space. The comments, however may not stick, so if you have any new ones please feel free to post on the new area. I hope that you guys come visit me in my new space.
Becky's Blog
Just another VSPUG – Virtual SharePoint User Group weblog
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- February
- 18
- 2008
WPF, WCF, and WF and SharePoint Cert Classes/Books/Reference Materials
Posted by mosslover
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I am looking around on the net for some classes for WPF, WCF, and WF plus any type of certification classes for the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Tests. I want to try and pass at least one certification exam for MOSS by the middle of the year. I would also like to learn more information and start writing my own work flows. I know barely anything about WPF, except that it looks really nice. I bet that I could make some really snazzy webparts implementing this technology. I'm not the most awesome developer. In fact I am about one third administrator, one third developer, and one third designer. I have played around with Flash and Photoshop in my time and I think WPF looks appealing. I am sure that I could implement it somehow in my everyday work. I really don't know much about Windows Communication Foundation or Cardspace and would like to know a whole lot more. Overall this would help my development skills out by ten fold learning .Net 3.5. I am getting a lot better after taking that Asp .Net 2.0 refresher course. I am a whole lot more confident in my abilities. If anyone out there has any good book, class, or other reference material suggestions for the certification exams or .Net 3.5 I'm all ears.
So I figured this might be a bit better than a card for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure how anyone in the development community will take this entry, but here goes. The past year has been one of the best, even though there were points in time where I wanted to kill you. I love you despite all the obvious flaws with stinky socks and horrible breath. I love how you get the weird qualities that I have and all my geeky ways. I love how everyday I get to see you come home, rather than wait to see you every other week. In fact I look forward to the time that you come home everyday. It never gets old, even if we have lived together since June. Even if you joke about murdering my cats I still know you are kidding just to get a rise out of me. I love that too. There really isn't anything that completely breaks the deal that I have learned about you in the past four years. I think that you are one of the bes things that has happened to me (aside from Gambit). I hope that you have a Happy Valentine's Day my love:)
I have a lull at work as it happens every once in a while, so of course you see me post at least once a day. I am kind of ADHD when it comes to having nothing to do at work. Today I went through SharePointFeeds.com about 800 times refreshing the OMEA Reader, looked up some Silverlight creation tools, played around with a few PowerShell Tools, and now I find myself at this blog yet again. I am half waiting for a book proposal to get pushed through a publishing company that contacted me. I just sent out a family tree that I updated and created through Ancestry.com last night. Also, in March I will be presenting again at the Kansas City Office Developer Group and I have signed up for this event: http://geekswithblogs.net/dbutscher/archive/2008/01/31/coders-4-charities–kansas-city-non-profit-charity.aspx. So basically I have a little bit of exploratory time and then it's going to hit me like no other in a week or so. I hate sitting around and doing nothing, but it's awesome to be able to do so. There are no metaphorical stacks of papers falling on top of me devouring my whole being. So does anyone have any good suggestions on technologies that are new and emerging while I wait or in general know of a need to fill some gap in SharePoint that you want me to work on?
Also, does anyone know a good resource for training materials on the four SharePoint Exams that MS Offers?
- February
- 12
- 2008
Using SharePoint Designer Workflows to Check-In an Item
Posted by mosslover
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At EndUserSharePoint I noticed that he encountered a bug when checking in files, so I responded with a little fix I created that involves a SharePoint Designer Workflow. Here is a link to his blog post: http://www.endusersharepoint.com/?p=127. It looks like a few people want to know how you would use SharePoint Designer to Check-In Items. So here is a little walk-through (I could not attach screen shots, this blog system is a little limited):
- For starters you need to open up Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer
- Now click on File–>Open Site and type in the url of the document library you want to add the workflow
- After you type in the url click Open
- Now on File–>New Workflow as in the image below NewWorkflow.png
- The Workflow Designer window will pop up
- There should be a textbox where you can name the workflow whatever you would like and a drop down that says What list should this workflow be attached to?
Choose the document library from the drop down menu. If it was chosen right site in step 2, then it should appear. - The next item says Select workflow start options for items in Documents:
At this point choose Automatically start this workflow when a new item is created and Automatically start this workflow when an item is changed
What these options will do is set off the event that will be added a few steps later anytime the Properties are changed or anytime a document is added or changed. - Click on the Next button
- A screen should appear that says Specify details for Step '1', then Choose and conditions and actions that define the steps of the workflow. and below that you will see Conditions and Actions
In this workflow only one action will be needed and no Conditions, because the document needs to be checked in every time an item is changed or addedCli - Click the Actions button and you will see many options, such as Send an E-Mail or Pause for Duration. These are all actions that you could fire when an item is added or changed in the document library. For today we want to choose Check In Item. If you do not see this option on the menu, then click More Actions and a window will appear.
Scroll down the list until you find this option, then highlight it and click Add. - An item will now appear next to Actions that says Check in a item in the list with comment: comment
- Click on this list and a box should pop up that says Current Item. This will choose the current item that is changed or added to the document library by the user. Click Ok.
- Now click on Comment and an area to type in some text will appear. It does not matter what is typed into this field. It is only for the record of the workflow.
- At the bottom of the screen there will be a Finish button. Click on this button. A progress bar should appear quickly and then close out. The workflow is now ready and should check in documents within your library.
If anyone has any comments or questions about this post please let me know and I will try to get back to you when I can.
After experiencing numerous issues with random bolding and the inability to add screenshots in an easy manner I am considering mirroring this blog to another hosting company. I hope you guys enjoy this post have a nice day all.
- February
- 11
- 2008
Calling all people involved in a SharePoint User Group for Any Kind of Help
Posted by mosslover
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So I am somewhat involved in a user group that was started a couple months ago by Jeff Julian. This user group was created due to a lack of a SharePoint User Group that deals with more developmental and administrative aspects of SharePoint in the Kansas City Area. (Please stop posting comments about the user group that Daniel Webster hosts. I have no beef with him or his user group it is great for project leads and business analysts. I am not trying to spread hate towards anyone.) So we have some problems getting people to attend our user group meetings as only 2 people are showing up per meeting. I know that there a couple more SharePoint Admins and Developers in the area. I have no idea how to coerce these people out of there houses without food or sponsor or a huge hook. I have no idea what that hook could be. Maybe it's the way we are advertising. Maybe it's the design of the site at www.kcoffice.org. I really have no idea, but I would like some input from anyone who has anything to do with a SharePoint User Group, especially those of you who created one from the ground up and know how it feels to start from scratch. I appreciate any help in advance. I am probably going to post something on facebook to see if I can get anyone to respond.
Re-Posted from Old Blog
Technorati Tags: MOSS,User Group
I must admit that I know only the most basic things about javascript (how to create a slideshow, how to redirect items, and how to write basic functions). I am debugging someone else's code and I still have no idea what I am doing. Basically on every one of these sites we have one default master page with a script inside to check every list and document library to see if a yes/no "Flag" field is checked and also checks the "Flag Expiration" to see if it is expired. If the field is checked and it is not expired, then a Flag Picture shows up (rather than yes or no) and the Flag Expiration Field is hidden. Well there is a problem with wiki articles, because the ListIteratorView Webpart only shows columns in text without a picture. I understand that to get these to push out on all the sites that were created the template would need to be overrode or someway to override the ListFieldIterator part on just the wiki pages would need to be implemented (possibly a custom template). If anyone has a great idea for me I'm all ears and maybe some awesome linking. Here is the code for the convert to flag function:
function convertFlagColumn(listName, columnName, pictureURL){
//alert('test2');
var error;
try{
//alert('test3');
var permList;
//alert('test4');
var tables = document.getElementsByTagName('table');
//alert('test5');
for(var i = 0; i < tables.length; i++){
//alert('test6');
if(tables
.summary.indexOf(listName) != -1){
//alert('test7');
webpartZone = tables.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode;
//alert('test8');
var error;
//alert('test9');
try{
//If regular list without full toolbar
permList = webpartZone.children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[1].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children;
}
catch(error){
var error2;
try{
//If regular list with full toolbar
permList = webpartZone.children[0].children[0].children[0].children[1].children[1].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children;
}
catch(error2){
var error3;
try{
//If document library with full toobar
//alert('test1.1');
permList = webpartZone.children[0].children[0].children[0].children[1].children[2].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children;
}
catch(error3){
//If document library without full toolbar
var error4;
try{
permList = webpartZone.children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[2].children[0].children[0].children[0].children[0].children;
}
catch(error4){
//If no Items
var error5;
try{
permList = webpartZone.children[0].children[0].children[0].children[2].children[0].children;
}
catch(error5){
//alert(permList.length);
//for(var i = 0; i < permList.length; i++){
// WriteToFile("permList"+i, permList.innerHTML);
//}
//alert('break');
break;
}
}
}
}
}
//alert('test15');
var colNum = -1;
var columns = permList[0].getElementsByTagName('th');
//alert("Columns: "+columns.length);
for(var o = 0; o < columns.length; o++){
if(columns
.innerText == columnName){
colNum = o;
//alert(columns[o+1].innerText);
columns[o+1].style.display = "none";
break;
}
}
//alert('test20');
if(colNum > -1){
for(var q = 1; q < permList.length; q++){
var Flag = permList[q].children[colNum];
var FlagExpiration = permList[q].children[(colNum+1)]
if(FlagExpiration){
var expired = checkExpiration(FlagExpiration.innerText);
FlagExpiration.style.display = "none";
if(Flag.innerText == "Yes" && !expired)
Flag.innerHTML = "<img src='"+pictureURL+"'>";
else
Flag.innerHTML = "";
}
}
}
//alert('test25');
break;
}
}
}
catch(error){
alert(error.message);
}
}
function grabTitle(){
return document.getElementsByTagName('title')[0].innerText;
}
function runUIMods(){
var error;
try{
var EditMode = false;
var hyperlinks = document.getElementsByTagName("a");
for(var t = 0; t < hyperlinks.length; t++){
if(hyperlinks[t].innerHTML == "Exit Edit Mode"){
EditMode = true;
break;
}
}
//if edit mode clear all titles
if(EditMode == false){
//hideNC_Number(grabTitle());
//alert('test1');
convertFlagColumn(grabTitle(), 'Flag', 'redflag2_jpg.jpg')
}
}
catch(error){
alert(error.message);
}
}
runUIMods();
Thanks for the help in advance to anyone out there that is willing to help out.
Here is some sample code:
while(document.getElementById('zz2_QuickLaunchMenu'+i) != null)
{ //&& i < divsArray.length){
var menu = document.getElementById('zz2_QuickLaunchMenu'+i);
var hyperlinks = menu.getElementsByTagName('a'); //looks for the hyperlink tags using the quicklaunch tag
hyperlinks[0].href = hyperlinks[0].href.replace(URL, URLToReplace); //replaces the URL text
hyperlinks[0].target = "_blank"; //allows for opening the link in a new window
i+=1;
}
This tag for the quicklaunch: zz2_QuickLaunchMenu you can find by right clicking on your list and looking for the quick launch menu. It will probably include the name "QuickLaunchMenu" and some text in the same format as zz2_. The code is pretty straightforward. If you have any comments or questions let me know. Have a very good weekend!
- February
- 4
- 2008
KC Office Developer Group and Rockband (Harmonix) Needs Beta Testers in Boston
Posted by mosslover
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There will be a meeting Thursday, February 7th of the KC Office Developer Group at Centriq Foss here is the link: http://kcoffice.org. I may offer to present again next month, because it seems like Jeff is mainly the only one presenting. I may ask for him to assign me a random topic too, which could be interesting.
Now for the very interesting thing I just found out that Harmonix is looking for beta testers who have never played there games. You need to be within a one hour drive of Cambridge. Here is the link: http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23250. I am very sad, because I live over 1,000 miles from Boston and don't think they would make a special consent (especially since they claim someone from Poland was turned down). Hopefully, one of you monkeys out there will enjoy this link and I can live vicariously through you.
I don't like writing about too much personal stuff in this blog. I usually save it for my anonymous blogspot entries where I usually free style write. I wanted to throw out a good reason why I don't post as often as I would like. My dad has been having a really hard time the past few months.
A month ago I got this really bizarre call from my mom that entailed her speaking with an EMT and not directly at the voicemail. I gave her a call on her cell, but she didn't answer. Finally my dad answers, but he's shaking. He was giving a speech in front an Interfaith Dialogue Group in front of his friends and he started shaking. I was really worried. Luckily it turned out to be a urinary tract infection that was caught in enough time. Apparently, this is the same problem that killed Jim Henson, but he was in front of a group of friends (some who happened to be doctors), so he was quickly rushed to the Emergency Room. That was an incredible miracle.
About a month earlier he was having some other issues financially and emotionally related to my mom. She has been Bipolar since I was 3 years old. She was going out and wracking up huge debt. It had finally gotten to the point where he could no longer handle the situation financially and emotionally. Eventually my brother, myself, and other family members helped him get her into a program and start on a path that would help him out a little better.
Now coming upon about a week ago…I wasn't paying attention to my phone. I checked my voice mail and I find out my parents car was totaled, but they are fine health wise. When I called up my dad he told me the story of what happened. He was coming off the highway onto Kingshighway South in St. Louis and he got into the right hand lane to turn. There is a no right turn on red sign, so he came to a full stop. In the middle lane a huge semi with a trailer came up on him and decided to ignore the sign and turn right. The entire side that my dad was sitting on was side swiped by the trailer of the truck. There were no people willing to stop and take witness, so the cops just wrote a report. I guess the truck driver decided he wanted to lie about the accident, because honestly who could do anything if there were no witnesses? So the insurance company called the 2000 Outback that my dad owned totaled and they gave him half of what a compact car might cost. Well if you were paying attention you have to realize that my dad can barely afford a moving vehicle. I had a really nice 2006 Hyundai Sonata LX, which I never quite felt suited me. My dad had helped me pick it out a few years ago, so I told him if he bought me a 2006/2007 Focus with the money he got from the settlement and my grandmother that I would give him my car. We finished the transaction this weekend. I'm glad I could finally do something for my dad and I will continue to help him as much as I can give back. He doesn't ask for much, but I feel like he deserves a lot more than he has received in the past few months. He is a great man and I hope that his 54th birthday this weekend goes off without a hitch. I am going to try and get into town and hook him up with a really nice dinner. For the past 25 birthdays he has never once missed a phone call or buying me a cake. Happy 54st Birthday Boingy! (don't bother asking…it's a ridiculous story as to why we call him this name and it involves Animaniacs way too much)