Archive for December, 2007

Canucks beat Flames 5-3 (Dec. 27)

Had the opportunity to watch the Canucks vs Flames, Dec. 27 2007, at the Garage (GM Place). And Im blogging because the Canucks won ? What an awesome awesome game (in my opinion anyway)!!!

This has got to be one of the bestEST perks in my job :)

Three star selections:
1st: DANIEL SEDIN (you should see the crazy the spin-o-rama! Watch it here)
2nd: MASON RAYMOND
3rd: TAYLOR PYATT

Plus, stars in my list will always include #1 Roberto Luongo, Captain Markus Naslund, Trevor Linden, Willie Mitchell and Matt Cooke :)

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v2 and v3 Web Parts in Site Definitions (onet.xml)

I am creating a site definition that involves both v2 and v3 web parts. Going through standard tutorials on creating site definitions, I copied and used the sts folder – which had only v2 web parts.

A v2 web part in onet.xml has the following format:

<alluserswebpart webpartzoneid="Right" webpartorder="1"><![CDATA[     <webpart xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2">      <assembly>Microsoft.SharePoint, Version= 12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</assembly>      <typename>Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.MembersWebPart</typename>      <title>$Resources:wp_Members;</title>      <description>$Resources:wp_Members_Desc;</description>      <frametype>Standard</frametype>      <isvisible>true</isvisible>   </webpart>]]></alluserswebpart>

I needed to add a v3 (custom web part) to the site definition. Of course the format above will not work (and I learned this through some trial and error).

So a v3 webpart looks in onet.xml looks like the following:

<AllUsersWebPart WebPartZoneID="LeftNavBar" WebPartOrder="1"><![CDATA[    <webParts>      <webPart xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v3">         <metaData>            <type name="YourCompany.SharePoint2007.SideNav.SiteNav, YourCompany.SharePoint2007.SiteNav, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=e2c0c4fc62593f5e" />         <importErrorMessage>Cannot import this Web Part.</importErrorMessage>         </metaData>         <data>            <properties>               <property name="Title" type="string">Site Navigation</property>            </properties>         </data>      </webPart>   </webParts>]]>                  </AllUsersWebPart>
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Troubleshooting SQL Server 2005 "No global profile is configured…"

Error in logs:

Executing the query "EXECUTE msdb.dbo.sp_notify_operator @name=N'ds',@body=N'deleted files'" failed with the following error: "No global profile is configured. Specify a profile name in the @profile_name parameter.". Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, "ResultSet" property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly.

This means the Default Mail Profile in the Profile Security Section is not set.
To fix:
1. Open Management Studio
2. Expand Management
3. Right click on Database Mail
4. Select Configure Database Mail
5. In the Welcome to Database Mail Configuration Wizard, click Next
6. In Select Configuration Task window, select Manage Profile Security

7. In Manage Profile Security window, make sure you have a profile that is selected as default.

8. Click Finish
9. Retest

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My Co-Workers on a Bad Sharepoint Day

Just discovered Live Writer and am testing it. So far it’s pretty good. Biggest selling point for me is the “Insert Code” plugin, because I’ve had so much problems trying to format my source code so it’s readable in Blogger :)

Anyway, here are my co-workers on a bad Sharepoint day.

Yup, some Sharepoint days can get really ugly. Yaro and Shereen get really grumpy. So do I, sometimes.

By the way, the “Really Grumpy Shereen” drawing is Shereen’s own doodling – that’s her expressing herself ?

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Master Page Picker for WSS 3.0

We have a WSS deployment, and I was about to write a “master page picker feature”. Turned out I didn’t have to do it, though, because Renaud Comte already posted one on CodePlex:

Stramit SharePoint 2007 Master Picker
(http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=SPMasterPicker)

This comes with a nifty feature and web part.

Downloaded it, extracted it, changed the .bat file – and within 5 minutes I have a master page picker. Worked like a charm!

Thanks Renaud! Saved me hours of work :)

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LoadWithPartialName Deprecated

Apparently LoadWithPartialName is deprecated in v3
#replace this
#[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint")

#in WSS/v3, this should be
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c")

#in MOSS/v3, this should be
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c")

Have to say though, I’m loving Powershell.

Found another couple good Powershell/Sharepoint blogs:

Colin Byrne’s Adventures in SP Wonderland (http://blogs.flexnetconsult.co.uk/colinbyrne)
Darrin Bishop’s Blog (http://darrinbishop.com/blog/category/1.aspx)

Darrin has a cool demo code that:

  • Installs a feature
  • Creates sub sites from a configuration file
  • Adds the feature to the sub sites
    Finds the sub sites with the feature
  • Removes the feature from the sub site
  • Deletes the sites
  • Uninstalls the feature.
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Getting Acquainted with Powershell

Had a question today:
Can the users from a specific AD group be imported into a contact list in Sharepoint

I looked around, and asked around, and there is no “out-of-the-box” way of doing this. They could potentially:
1. Enter the information manually, if there are only a few users
2. Export from AD and import to the Sharepoint list (or copy over using the DataSheet view)
3. Use C#/.NET to programmatically query AD and import the values to Sharepoint

.. or ..

perhaps Powershell can do it?

I am on a quest to take this challenge on, just for the heck of discovering how easy or hard this is.

My Sharepoint/Powershell crash course starts with the following links:

Windows Powershell Owner’s Manual – very good from-the-ground-up documentation from Microsoft.
Windows Powershell Graphical Help File – doesn’t hurt to have the chm documentation handy, with colors and pictures and all
Powershell Quick Reference – 2 page must have cheat sheet
Hey Scripting Guy! – just visit it, you’ll see what I mean
Jessie Hamrick’s PowershellPro! – very well organized, well laid out site that gets you started on Powershell right away
Marc van Orsouw’s The Powershell Guy – lots of good Powershell tidbits
Karine Bosch’s Powershell for Beginners – especially useful because of her tidbits on using Powershell with Sharepoint Lists

So I will be doing a bit of reading, and hoping I can do some experiments later… and discover if Sharepoint and Powershell will work together, or wreak havoc together. I have to say my optimistic side is prevailing right now.

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Plan to read Jim Brosseau’s "Software Teamwork" or else …

… I guarantee you’re risking to miss out on nuggets of wisdom that can help you become a more rounded IT professional. If you don’t read it, someone else might come along who have read the book – and s/he will be doing your job better than you. You don’t want that, do you?

Here’s the book written by Jim Brosseau:


Taking Ownership for Success

Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success (Paperback)
by Jim Brosseau (Author)
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (Oct 31 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0321488903
ISBN-13: 978-0321488909

Jim Brosseau was my instructor when I was taking my Bachelor’s degree from BCIT. Back then he taught us the software development and software management courses. I thought at first these courses will be the usual canned courses:
– read the book
– count your lines of code
– memorize the COCOMO software model.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. He taught us the important practical stuff:
– How do you really manage projects?
– How do you really manage risks?
– How do you plan to go to the moon and back in 5 days – with all contingencies in place?

What is there to learn from Jim’s book? I haven’t read the book yet (flipping page 2 right now, Jim!), but knowing him, I know he will remind you that we may be programmers/developers/technologists/<insert buzz word or energizer bunny synonyms here>, but we are still human. We kind of forget that. And we forget that there will always be a human factor in any software project that should never be overlooked or we risk failing the project and shortchanging everyone who put their stakes in it.

Matthew Heusser has put it perfectly:

If your desire is to effect change or have more influence on a software team,
you could either stumble around in the dark for a few years, experimenting with
different techniques, or you could buy, read, and apply the techniques in this
book. This choice, of course, is up to you

Not yet convinced? Take a test drive. Jim offers a preview of the book from his Clarrus site. Please take advantage of it: http://www.clarrus.com/resources/software_teamwork.htm

If you still feel you’re taking the plunge with this book, start with baby steps. You still have hope. Start with Compendium. People tips anyone? Maybe start with Patient Team Building (Compendium 4.13). Just remember to be patient.

On a side note, we had lunch today, and he gave me a copy of his book. I “begged” him to sign it for me. He does, and his *note reads:


Donabel,
 
This is to get back at you for all those huge assignments.
 
Jim Brosseau

 
Wow, this is how he will always remember me. Oh well. Lessons learned. At least I made an impact then ?


Jim Brosseau is one of my best instructors, an acquaintance, a friend, and a mentor.

*Update:
Finally am able to upload a picture of Jim’s message.

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