Solution: Specify manually the proxies Directory

The problem is apparently that the process wasn’t able to find the directory for deploying the proxies. So I specified the directory manually and pressed the second Generate button on the form (in group File System Directory) and everything ran fine.

In most cases the proxies directory will look like this: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80\App_Code\Proxies.

SharePoint – General

• Tom Van Gaever – Blog: another Belgian SharePoint blog. 

SharePoint - Design and Customization

• Color Coding – Formula Generator: Formula Generator to build calculated colored columns on a SharePoint list.

Dynamics AX

• Supply Chain Management in Dynamics AX: This blog is about the supply chain management area in Microsoft Dynamics AX. It will primarily focus on the product functionality shipped in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. The target audiences are partners and customers, who want to extend their knowledge within this product area.
• Dilip’s blog on Dynamics AX: Dynamics AX and related MS technologies blog.
• Dianne Siebold’s WebLog: News and ramblings on the Dynamics AX SDK documentation.
• FourOne Developer – How to read the Data Dictionary in Axapta
• Lean Manufacturing for Microsoft Dynamics AX: Lean Manufacturing for Microsoft Dynamics AX will help mid-sized organizations to implement and utilize lean tools such as Kanban, lean order schedules, Heijunka board scheduling and much more.  This will enable them to embark on the “Lean journey” - helping streamline and optimize their manufacturing processes, and to take their business to new levels of profitability and growth.
• Changing AOT properties from code

Freeware

• Xobni – Outlook Plugin to Search People, Email, and Attachments Instantly

Preparation

Suppose you have created a Subsite for all your projects (called Projects) under the top level Web Site. For each project, you’ve created a specific Subsite under the Projects Subsite.

What we’ll need first, is that we can link this Subsite to a Dynamics AX ProjId. To achieve this, set the URL name of eacht Project Subsite to <ProjId>_<dataAreaId>. So the url should look like http://<webapplication>/projects/<ProjId>_<dataAreaId>.

Adapt the Field Rendering Control

In the Field Rendering Control DAXProjActivityTxtFieldControl.cs we’ve created a method PopulateDAXProjActivityTxts. In this method, we used two arguments, being the ProjId and the dataAreaId, which we gave a hardcoded value. We are going to make this values depending on our url.

1. First of all we need to add an additional using statement to be able to use the SPWeb Class.:
   

   using Microsoft.SharePoint;

   
   



2. In the method PopulateDAXProjActivityTxts, look for the lines where we set a value for the arguments passed to our SQL query (args[0] = …). Replace those lines with the following code:
   
   
   
   
   

   //return the Web site of the current request
   SPWeb web = SPContext.Current.Web;
   // url of the Web site
   string path = web.Url;
   Uri uri = new Uri(path);
   // get part of url where ProjId and dataAreaId are stored
   string proj = uri.Segments.GetValue(2).ToString();
   char[] splitter = { '_' };
   string[] splittedproj = proj.Split(splitter);
   // ProjId
   args[0] = splittedproj[0];
   // dataAreaId
   args[1] = splittedproj[1];

   
   



3. Build your Visual Studio project: the post-build events added previously will install everything needed to your SharePoint environment.

Result

When you create or edit an item in the list, your drop down column will be loaded with values from your Microsoft Dynamics AX source: but now those values will be variable: they’ll depend upon the part of your url where you created the link with your ProjId and dataAreaId.

SharePoint - Design and Customization

• SharePoint’s Branding Limitations, Part 1 | SharePoint Magazine

Dynamics AX

• Microsoft Dynamics AX: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Quick reference Guide - Arijit Basu | Dynamics AX MVP
• Dynamics AX Development Blog by Kshperuk Ivan: blog with information about Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta): most of it development topics.

Solution: open the document via PowerPoint directly

1. Start Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 on your desktop.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button in the upper left of the screen.
3. Choose Open.
4. Enter the url of the SharePoint document library in the File name box. (Remark: make sure it is the url of the library and not the url of the PowerPoint filename which fails to open, because this won’t fix the problem)
5. All files stored in the document library will be shown in the right part of the Open file pop-up window.
6. Choose the PowerPoint file: it will open in your PowerPoint application.
7. Close your PowerPoint application.

If you now go back to the SharePoint document libary with Internet Explorer, you’ll be able to open PowerPoint files stored in it, by merely clicking their Name in Internet Explorer.

I really don’t know why the problem suddenly arises, nor why it is solved by following the procedure described above, but it solves the problem…

I experienced also that you have to do this procedure for each SharePoint document library having the problem. But you have to do it only once per library: if you do it for one PowerPoint slideshow in the library, all others will open again without error.

SharePoint - Design and Customization

• Free Sharepoint Online Master Pages – BPOS Branding Templates

SharePoint – Business Data Catalog

• Create an Application Definition File for the Oracle E-Business Suite Artifacts: step-by-step guide to create an application definition file that Microsoft Office SharePoint Server can consume.

Dynamics AX

• Dynamics AX 2009: Write to eventlog entry
• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Management Pack for Systems Center Operations Manager 2007: The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Management Pack monitors the availability of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Application Object Servers (AOS) and provides information about the AOS instances in your environment.
• Microsoft Dynamics AX: AX EP Role Centre inside Outlook
• Microsoft Dynamics AX: AX Email & URL Validation

Blogging – Blogging Tips

• Interesting Code Highlighters for blogs and websites: useful tools to present code snippets on your blog.

Preparation

1. In Visual Studio, select External Tools from the Tools menu.
2. In the External Tools dialog, click Add and enter Get Assembly Public Key for the Title.
3. Fill the Command textbox by browsing to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin\sn.exe.
4. In the Arguments textbox, type the following (case sensitive) –Tp $(TargetPath).
5. Enable the Use Output window checkbox.
6. Click OK. The new command is added to the Tools menu.

See also: Prepare for Development of Custom Field Rendering Controls.

Create a Visual Studio project

1. Create a Class Library project with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

   

2. Create a folder structure in your project.

   

3. Add a reference to the System.Web dll (add it by selecting it in the .NET tab page) and the dlls: Microsoft.Office.Server, Microsoft.SharePoint and microsoft.sharepoint.portal (add them by browsing to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ISAPI to find it).

   

4. Right-click the project name in Solution Explorer and select Properties.
5. On the Application tab of the Properties dialog, enter MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields as the Default namespace and MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.DAXProjActivityTxt as the Assembly name.
6. Open the Signing tab and the select Sign the assembly.
7. Choose <New…> from the Choose a strong name key file drop-down list box.
8. In the Create Strong Name Key dialog, type MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.DAXProjActivityTxt in the Key file name box, and then be sure that the Protect … check box is not checked. Click OK.
9. Open the Build Events tab and type the following in the Post-build event command line box.
   

   cd "$(ProjectDir)"
   "%programfiles%\microsoft visual studio 8\sdk\
       v2.0\bin\gacutil" /i "$(TargetPath)" /nologo /f
   %systemroot%\system32\iisapp.vbs /a 
       "SharePoint_App_Pool" /r
   xcopy *.ascx 
       "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\
        web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\CONTROLTEMPLATES\" 
       /y
   xcopy 12\Template\xml\fldtypes*.xml 
       "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\
        web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\XML\" /y



10. SharePoint_App_Pool with the actual name of the Internet Information Server (IIS) Application Pool that is assigned to your Windows SharePoint Services Web Application.

See also: To set up the custom field project.

Create the Field Rendering Control

1. Create the Field Rendering Control, to render your custom field in New mode or Edit mode (see Field Rendering Controls). Rename the Class1.cs file to DAXProjActivityTxtFieldControl.cs.


2. Edit the DAXProjActivityTxtFieldControl.cs and change the namespace to MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.


3. Add the necessary using statements:
   
   

   using System.Web.UI;
   using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
   using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
   using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;
   using Microsoft.Office.Server.ApplicationRegistry.MetadataModel;
   using Microsoft.Office.Server.ApplicationRegistry.SystemSpecific.Db;

4. Replace the Class declaration with the following code:
   
   

   public class DAXProjActivityTxtFieldControl : TextField
   {
   }

5. Add following code lines to define the controls:
   

   private DropDownList DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList;
   private HtmlTable table;

6. Add the following override of the CreateChildControls method.
   
   

   protected override void CreateChildControls()
   {
       base.CreateChildControls();
       this.table = new HtmlTable();
       HtmlTableRow row = new HtmlTableRow();
       table.Rows.Add(row);
       HtmlTableCell cell = null;
       DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList 
           = TemplateContainer.FindControl(
             "DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList") 
           as DropDownList;
       if (DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList == null)
           throw new ArgumentException("Activity 
           dropdown list not found. 
           Please check if your control 
           template is valid.");
   
       if (this.ControlMode == SPControlMode.Edit ||
           this.ControlMode == SPControlMode.New)
       {
          row = new HtmlTableRow();
          cell = new HtmlTableCell();
          this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList = 
              new DropDownList();
          DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.ToolTip = 
              "Enter Activity";
          DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.Width = 255;
          PopulateDAXProjActivityTxts(Guid.Empty.ToString());
          string currentValue = (string)this.ItemFieldValue;
   
          if (currentValue != null & 
              currentValue != string.Empty)
          {
              this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.SelectedValue 
                  = currentValue;
          }
          else if 
             (this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.Items.Count 
              > 0)
          {
              this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.SelectedValue 
                  = "";
          }
   
           cell.Controls.Add(this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList);
           row.Cells.Add(cell);
           table.Rows.Add(row);
   
       }
   
       LiteralControl literalControl = new LiteralControl();
       cell = new HtmlTableCell();
       cell.ColSpan = 4;
   
       if (this.ControlMode == SPControlMode.Display)
       {
           literalControl.Text 
               = "<p id='SPFieldChoice' 
                   style='visibility:visible; 
                   font-size:11; margin-bottom:-3; 
                   margin-top:-3'>" 
               + this.ItemFieldValue + "</p>";     
       }
   
       cell.Controls.Add(literalControl);
       row.Cells.Add(cell);
       table.Rows.Add(row);
       base.Controls.Add(table);
   }

7. Add the following code to update the underlying value of the field to the latest user-set value:
   
   

   public override void UpdateFieldValueInItem()
   {
       this.EnsureChildControls();
   
       try
       {
           this.Value = 
               this.DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.SelectedValue;
           this.ItemFieldValue = this.Value;
       }
       catch
       {
           ;
       }
   }

8. Add a method which uses the Business Data Catalog object model to populate the dropdown list with activities:
   
   

   private void PopulateDAXProjActivityTxts(string partName)
   {
       //connect to the LobSystemInstance that represents 
       //the DAX Activities business application in the BDC
       NamedLobSystemInstanceDictionary instances 
           = ApplicationRegistry.GetLobSystemInstances();
       LobSystemInstance instance = instances["Your_Instance"];
   
       // Connect to the DAX Activity entity
       Entity entity 
           = instance.GetEntities()
               ["[Your_DB].[dbo].[PROJACTIVITY]"];
   
       Method method 
           = entity.GetMethods()
               ["FindByProjId_[Your_DB].[dbo].[PROJACTIVITY]"];
   
       MethodInstance methodinstance 
           = method.GetMethodInstances()
               ["FindByProjId_[Your_DB].[dbo].
                 [PROJACTIVITY]_Instance"];
       Object[] args 
           = methodinstance.GetMethod().
             CreateDefaultParameterInstances(methodinstance);
       args[0] = “your projid”;
       args[1] = “your dataareaid”;
       DbEntityInstanceEnumerator daxprojactivitytxts 
           = (DbEntityInstanceEnumerator)entity.Execute(
                 methodinstance, instance, ref args);
              
       // loop through the activities 
       // and populate the activities dropdown
       while (daxprojactivitytxts.MoveNext())
       {
           DbEntityInstance daxprojactivitytxt 
               = (DbEntityInstance)daxprojactivitytxts.Current;
           DAXProjActivityTxtDropDownList.Items.Add(
               new ListItem(
               daxprojactivitytxt.GetFormatted("TXT").ToString()));
       }
       daxprojactivitytxts.Dispose();
   }

9. Add the following override of the Render method.
   

   protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter output)
   {
       this.table.RenderControl(output);
   }

Create the Custom Field Class

1. Add a new class to the root of the project called DAXProjActivityTxtField.cs.
   

   

   
   
2. Edit the DAXProjActivityTxtField.cs and change the namespace to MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.
3. Add the necessary using statements:
   
   

   using Microsoft.SharePoint;
   using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;

4. Let the class derive from SPFieldText.
   
   

   public class DAXProjActivityTxtField : 
       Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldText

5. Implement two required constructors:
   
   

   public DAXProjActivityTxtField(
       SPFieldCollection fields, string fieldName)
       : base(fields, fieldName)
   {
   }
   
   public DAXProjActivityTxtField(
       SPFieldCollection fields, string typeName, 
       string displayName)
       : base(fields, typeName, displayName)
   {
   }

6. Override the FieldRenderingControl as follows:
   
   

   public override BaseFieldControl FieldRenderingControl
   {
       get
       {
           BaseFieldControl control = 
               new DAXProjActivityTxtFieldControl();
           control.FieldName = this.InternalName;
           return control;
       }
   }

Create the Field Type definition

1. Add a new XML File in the folder XML of your project folder structure, called fldtypes_daxprojactivitytxt.xml.
   

   



2. Edit the file by entering following lines:
   
   

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
   <fieldtypes>
       <fieldtype>
           <field name="TypeName">DAXProjActivityTxt</field>
     <field name="ParentType">Text</field>
     <field name="TypeDisplayName">DAX ProjActivityTxt</field>
     <field name="TypeShortDescription">DAX project activity cust fld.</field>
     <field name="UserCreatable">TRUE</field>
     <field name="FieldTypeClass">
               MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.DAXProjActivityTxtField,
               MyCompany.SharePoint.DAX.CustomFields.DAXProjActivityTxt, 
               Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cf2f0bd24cc4b888</field>
       </fieldtype>
   </fieldtypes>

3. Replace MyCompany with the same value as done in the replacement of the namespaces. Replace the value for the PublicKeyToken with the value you receive by executing the previously created External Tool in Visual Studio (Tools > Get Assembly Public Key)

Build the Visual Studio project

Build your Visual Studio project: the post-build events added previously will install everything needed to your SharePoint environment.

Add column to list

Add a SharePoint column to one of your SharePoint lists or create a site column: you’ll have a new type of information option. Choose it for the column you are creating.

Set Permission

You need to give the appropriate permissions to the SharePoint users who need to be able to edit the values in this column. Open SharePoint Central Administration, go to your Shared Service Provider and choose View applications in the  Business Data Catalog section. Select your previously created Application and choose Manage Permissions. Give the SharePoint users Execute Right on the Application.

Result

When you create or edit an item in the list, your drop down column will be loaded with values from your Microsoft Dynamics AX source and should look like below:

Interesting resources

• Walkthrough: Creating a Custom Field Type


• Walkthrough: Creating a Custom Field Rendering Control for Mobile Pages


• Developing a SharePoint custom field type for displaying CRM 4.0 data | SharePoint Magazine


• Field Rendering Controls

SharePoint - Design and Customization

• Create Dynamic Bar and Pie Charts in WSS with any RSS feed: no code required: Create charts using the Google Charting API against a SharePoint RSS that is then displayed within a Content Editor Web Part.

Dynamics AX

• Code Snippets—Sample Jobs: some Dynamics AX code snippets (simple select statement example, difference between the while and while select, how to pop up a new form through code, execute query with filter, create a dialog radiobutton, …)

SharePoint – General

• SharePoint Comics – Sharing The Point (SharePoint): see some great comics about SharePoint.

SharePoint – Development and Programming

• Sharepoint Tips and Tricks: Common (and simple) coding tasks in sharepoint:  small code snippets for beginning SharePoint developers.
• Walkthrough: Creating a Custom Field Type:  This topic provides a step-by-step guide to creating a custom field type in the most common situation: the rendering of the field on a list view and in Display mode is handled by a RenderPattern in the field definition file, while field rendering in both New and Edit modes is handled by a single rendering template that works together with the CreateChildControls method.

SharePoint – Business Data Catalog

• Creating a Database Connection by Using the Business Data Catalog Definition Editor: Learn how to create a database connection for the Business Data Catalog in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 with the Microsoft Business Data Catalog Definition Editor tool for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Create a Business Data Catalog application definition file

To be able to communicate with the Dynamics AX database, you need to create a Business Data Catalog Application Definition File, which defines the entities and associations used by the Business Data Catalog (more information: see Business Data Catalog Application Definition File).

The Microsoft Business Data Catalog Definition Editor helps you to author application definition files for the Business Data Catalog. For more information, see Install the Business Data Catalog Definition Editor Tool and Creating a Database Connection by Using the Business Data Catalog Definition Editor.

I want my dropdown SharePoint custom field type get its values from the PROJACTIVITY table in Microsoft Dynamics AX. The next steps describe how to make the link to this table in BDC.

1. Add LOB system database connection and enter the following text for Connection String:

   Server=<DATABASE_SERVER_NAME>\<INSTANCE_NAME>
   ;Database=<DAXDatabase>;Integrated Security=SSPI;

   
   Replace <DATABASE_SERVER_NAME>\<INSTANCE_NAME> with the name of your database server and <DAXDatabase> with the name of the database used by Microsoft Dynamics AX.


2. Drag and drop the PROJACTIVITY table to the left.


3. Set the AuthenticationMode to RevertToSelf for your Instance.
   

   



4. Add a new Method: we will use this method to retrieve all Activities of a given Project. I’ll call this method in this example FindByProjId_<>.
   

   



5. Give the Method a Name and a DefaultDisplayName. Enter the RdbCommandText to retrieve all fields from the PROJACTIVITY table for a given Project.
   

   



6. Create a new Parameter for this newly created Method of type Direction In and enter @PROJID as Name and DefaultDisplayName.
   

   



7. Add a second Parameter of type Direction In: @DATAAREAID.


8. Add a third Parameter of type Direction Return and enter a Name and DefaultDisplayName.
   

   



9. Create Root TypeDescriptor for both added Parameters and Add TypeDescriptors for your Return Parameter (you can copy-paste most of the properties from one of the other Methods).


10. Add a Method Instance of type Finder.  Enter a Name and DefaultDisplayName.
    

    



11. Enter a value for the Title property on the Entity. This column will be used to display the action menu.
    

    



12. Enter a LOB System Name.


13. Your tree of your application definition file should look like this by now:
    

    



14. Export your application definition file.


15. Go to your Shared Service Provider in SharePoint Central Administration. Choose Import application definition in the Business Data Catalog section and import your exported file.

Test your Business Data Catalog application definition file

1. Go to your Shared Service Provider and choose View entities in the Business Data Catalog section.


2. Choose your created Entity.


3. In the Actions section, you’ll find a View Profile line with a url next to it: copy this url in your clipboard.


4. Paste the url from your clipboard in Internet Explorer and replace the parameter values ({0}, {1}, ..) with actual values from your Dynamics AX table and hit the Enter key: you should see the detail of your Dynamics AX record in your browser now if everything works.

Remarks

• The system account of your SharePoint application pool user might need read access to your Dynamics AX database.