IT Pro Ramblings

20 August 2008

Bulk update of a field for existing SharePoint list items

Business requirement: Bulk update of a field for existing SharePoint list items.

Suppose you have created a SharePoint list or document library with some metadata columns. End-users start adding list items to this SharePoint list. After a while, they want to change the value for a particular column of already created list items. They could do this manually through the Edit in Datasheet mode, but suppose they have already created hundreds of list items in the SharePoint list... It would save a lot of time if an option would exist to bulk update a SharePoint field from one value to another in all list items for a particular SharePoint list.

An ideal scenario is off course a SharePoint column created with as type of information Lookup. Changing the value of the item where the Lookup column is getting its information from would update in mass all already existing SharePoint list items. But if this isn't the case, there is no real out-of-the-box SharePoint functionality to bulk update a field (except the Edit in Datasheet mode).

Solution: Use the SharePoint SUSHI application to bulk update SharePoint list fields.

Joseph Fluckiger created a solution called SharePoint SUSHI. SUSHI (SharePoint Utility with a Smart, Helpful Interface) is a user-friendly SharePoint application enabling you to accomplish SharePoint administrative and development tasks.

The following step-by-step description is a guide how you can do a mass update on a SharePoint list field with the SharePoint SUSHI application.

Create an Issue Tracking list.
Create several list items in the Issue Tracking list and make sure there are different values present for the field Issue Status, as this is the field we are going to use to do the bulk update.
Your Issue Tracking list should look like this:
Suppose the end-users now want to change value for the Issue Status column. They want the Issue Status Active to be called Started from now on. And off course, they want to change the column value for all existing issues as well to have a consistent look and feel over all issues.
Edit the column Issue Status: change the choice value Active to Started. As such, upon creation of new Issue Tracking list items, end-users will have to choose the value Started in stead of Active for the Issue Status column. However, for existing list items, the value Active isn't changed towards Started. The next steps describe how this can be achieved.
Download the SharePoint SUSHI application from CodePlex and install the executable on your SharePoint server. Start up the application.
Select Meta Data in the left menu and enter the url of your SharePoint site containing the Issue Tracking list to the right.
Click Retrieve Lists and choose the Issue Tracking list in the Target Document Library drop down box.
Choose the Issue Status column in the Metadata Column Name drop down box.
Choose Active in the Current Value drop down box.
Type Started in the text box New Value.
Click Update values in column to new value.
Go back to the Issue Tracking list on your SharePoint site: all values are updated.

by Patrik Luca 13 comments

11 August 2008

Add a SharePoint Web Part to multiple sites at once

Business requirement: Add a SharePoint Web Part to multiple sites at once

You might have created a set of similar SharePoint sites, all based upon the same site template, just like me. After some time, business requirements change, and the end-users want to have a new Web Part on all the home pages of each of these SharePoint sites. If there are a multiple SharePoint sites, you might want to avoid, just like me, to edit each of the home pages of those SharePoint sites one-by-one.

Solution: use the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack

Ishai Sagi developped a great package of utilities which can be downloaded from CodePlex: SharePoint Tips Utility Pack. I described in a previous post Hide list fields upon creation of a SharePoint list item how these utilities can be used to modify some SharePoint field settings which cannot be changed in the regular SharePoint interface.
However, Ishai's utilities offer also the possibility to push Web Parts to several SharePoint sites at once.

Add your new Web Part to one of your SharePoint sites and configure it.
Export theWeb Part and save it to your local disk.
Start the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack.
Choose Web Parts Management, Push Web Parts.
Enter the parent site url in Site under which your sites are created on which you want to add the previously exported Web Part.
Enter the Page on which the Web Part should be added.
In the Select Web Part section, enter the path to your previously exported Web Part in the Web Part File field. Configure the Chrome, Zone and Zone Index for the Web Part you are going to add.
Push Start.

As a result, your exported SharePoint Web Part is added to the SharePoint page you selected on all SharePoint sites under a particular SharePoint root site at once: no need to add the SharePoint Web Part on each SharePoint site individually.

by Patrik Luca 4 comments

01 August 2008

Hide list fields upon creation of a SharePoint list item

Business requirement: Hide list fields upon creation / modification of a SharePoint list item

Suppose you want to hide a SharePoint list field upon creation of a list item and to show it upon modification of that same list item. Suppose you want to hide another SharePoint list field upon modification of a list item and to show it upon creation of a list item in that same SharePoint list.
This is something which cannot be achieved by using merely the out-of-the-box administration tools of SharePoint.

Solution: use the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack

Ishai Sagi developped a great package of utilities which can be downloaded from CodePlex: SharePoint Tips Utility Pack. With this tool you can modify some of the field settings of a SharePoint list which cannot be modified in the regular SharePoint interface.

To start using the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack, you need to install it on your SharePoint server, as the tool will only run if installed directly on your SharePoint server. The installation is very straight forward, as it comes with a Microsoft Installer package (MSI).

To show the strength and functionality of the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack, create a Custom List (call it Custom List) in your SharePoint environment and add to it following Single line of text fields with default settings:

ShowOnlyUponCreation
ShowOnlyUponModification

If you created the SharePoint Custom List correctly, it should look like this:

By default, both fields ShowOnlyUponCreation and ShowOnlyUponModification will appear on both the NewForm.aspx and the EditForm.aspx pages.
We are going to modify in the next steps the SharePoint field settings as such that the ShowOnlyUponCreation field will only be visible upon creation of a new SharePoint list item. The ShowOnlyUponModification will only be visible upon modification of an existing SharePoint list item.

Start the SharePoint Tips Utility Pack.
Choose Lists Management, Change Field Settings.
Enter the Site Url of your SharePoint server and choose Load.
In the Choose List dropdown field, choose the value of our previously created SharePoint Custom List, being Custom List.
In the Choose Field dropdown field, choose our previously created ShowOnlyUponCreation SharePoint field.
Uncheck the checkbox Show In Edit Item Forms.
Press the button Set Values.
In the Choose Field dropdown field, choose our previously created ShowOnlyUponModification SharePoint field.
Uncheck the checkbox Show In New Item Forms.
Press the button Set Values.

When you create a new SharePoint list item in the Custom List, you will notice that the ShowOnlyUponModification SharePoint field is not visible anymore.