My 2p about ERP Solutions, Information Worker Solutions and other software products (mainly Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft SharePoint).

25 September 2008

How to trigger a workflow based on a non-empty Comments field?

At an installation where I created a helpdesk functionality based on the Help Desk template, one of the Application Templates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, I was asked to create a workflow which sends out an email automatically when a comments is added to a service request. The email may not be sent out if the comments added was empty.
I thought this wouldn't cause much of a problem and started creating the workflow with Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007. The condition checked to evaluate if an email should be sent out was If Comments is not empty.


I created a service request, next edited it and entered a value for the Comments column. I received an email triggered by my workflow for this change, which was expected. I edited the same service request again, without entering a value for the Comments column. I received an email triggered by my workflow, which I didn't expected, as my Comments added was empty. I edited the service request again, entering a value for the Comments column, resulting in the expected reception of an email.


So apparently, the Comments column wasn't empty, even if you didn't enter a value for it upon editing the service request. I thought this had something to do with the fact that the Comments field was a Multiple lines of text type of information field with the property Append Changes to Existing Text set to Yes. But I had no idea why the workflow reacted on each change of a service request as if the Comments field wasn't empty. So I created another workflow which copied the value of the Comments field into another field. This other field had as type of information Single line of Text. I immediately understood why the workflow sent out an email each time: apparently there are <div> tags placed around each Comments field change. Not entering a value for the Comments field, nevertheless resulted in a value of <div></div>. So I changed my workflow to take this into account, and hey, no mails were sent out anymore if the end-user edited a service request without entering a value for the Comments field.


Continue reading......
by Patrik Luca 7 comments

24 September 2008

7 crucial points to check upon document conversion failure

Problems which may arise with document conversion


Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 includes document-to-Web page conversion utilities that can convert Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents (with and without macros) into standard Web pages that can be published to an internal or external Web site.

Some problems or difficulties may arise though while setting or trying to use this document conversion functionality:

  • While converting a Microsoft Office Word 2007 document, you receive following error: Converting the document to a page failed. The converter framework returned the following error: CE_OTHER.
  • The Convert Document option is not available in the contextual menu for a document stored in a SharePoint Document Library.


7 crucial points to check


If you run into these difficulties, I recommend to run through underneath checklist to verify if everything is set up as it should.
  • Go yo SharePoint Central Administration -> Application Management -> Document conversions (under the External Service Connections section) and verify if document conversions is enabled for the Web Application and if there is a Load Balancer Server defined.
  • Check in Administrative Tool -> Services if the Office Document Conversion Launcher Service is running and is running under the Local System account.
  • Check in Administrative Tool -> Services if the Office Document Conversions Load Balancer Service is running and is running under the Local Service account.
  • Check if Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is not installed on a domain controller: document conversion is not supported in such a configuration (you could have this problem if you are trying out some stuff on a local VPC for example).
  • Check if the Microsoft Word document is saved in the 2007 version (extension .docx). The document conversion won't work for Microsoft Word documents saved in a previous version.
  • Check if the publishing features are enabled for the SharePoint site on which you try to use the document conversion functionality.
  • Verify the configuration of the content type of your Microsoft Word document: it should be configured properly for document conversion. (Manage document conversion for this content type).

If you have other checks to perform, feel free to post them as comment to this blogpost.

Some interesting resources around the SharePoint document conversion functionality:


Continue reading......
by Patrik Luca 2 comments

18 September 2008

Getting rid of logon prompts when opening Office documents

Problem description: You are prompted to enter your credentials each time you open a Microsoft Office document stored in a SharePoint document library


Each time you open a Microsoft Office document, you are prompted to enter your credentials again, even if you check the box remember my password. For non Microsoft Office documents, such as PDF files, you are not prompted to enter your credentials. The credentials prompt is not taken into account apparently: if you choose Cancel in the prompted window without entering your credentials, the Microsoft Office document is still opened.

Solution: Modify the registry


There is a fix for Microsoft Vista: you should have service pack 1 installed of Microsoft Vista as the hotfix is automatically included in service pack 1.
The next step is to modify your registry as described in the Microsoft KB You are prompted to enter your credentials when you access an FQDN site by using a Windows Vista-based client computer that has no proxy configured.


Continue reading......
by Patrik Luca 2 comments

01 September 2008

Setting the trust level for newly installed Web Parts

Problem description: Request for the permission of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Security.
SharePointPermission, Microsoft.SharePoint.Security, Version=1


After installing a new SharePoint Web Part, it is not working and you get an error like Request for the permission of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Security.SharePointPermission, Microsoft.SharePoint.Security, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' failed.

Solution: Change the trust level for your SharePoint Web Part


This means the trust level of your newly installed SharePoint Web Part is not set correctly. To fix this, follow these steps:
  1. Start the Visual Studio Command Prompt (in the program group Visual Studio Tools).
  2. Go to the directory where the dll is installed (typically c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80\bin).
  3. Run the command gacutil /i newwebpartdll.dll.
  4. Run iisreset.


Your newly installed SharePoint Web Part will be added to the global assembly cache (GAC) and everything should work fine now.


Continue reading......
by Patrik Luca 2 comments

Patrik Luca, Ieper, BELGIUM
Feel free to use or spread all of the content on my blog. In return, linking back to my blog would be greatly appreciated. All my posts and articles are provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

Subscribe feeds via e-mail
Subscribe in your preferred RSS reader

Subscribe feeds rss Most Read Entries

Categories

Recommended Books


Subscribe feeds rss Recent Comments

This Blog is part of the U Comment I Follow movement in blogosphere. Means the comment field of this blog is made DOFOLLOW. Spam wont be tolerated.

Blog Archive

My Blog List

Followers

Links