Last chance to register for BIWUG on SharePoint 2010

Today is the last chance to register for the BIWUG session about SharePoint 2010 – with 90 people registered there are only 10 seats available….

PS I will do the Introduction to SharePoint 2010 …

Technorati Tags: sharepoint+2010,sps2010,community,biwug

Solving ThreadOptions error in the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell

I noticed that when I tried to open the SharePoint 2010 Management Shell on my machine I got an error stating:

Exception setting "ThreadOptions": "This property cannot be changed after the Runspace has been opened." At C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\CONFIG\POWERSHELL\Registration\SharePoint.ps1:2 char:48
+ if ($ver.Version.Major -gt 1)  {$Host.Runspace. <<<< ThreadOptions = "ReuseThread"}    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyAssignmentException

Thanks to Bill Baer for providing me with a solution in the SharePoint 2010 forums –installing Update KB968930 which contains the Windows Management Framework Core package fixed the error.

Technorati Tags: sharepoint+2010,sps2010,microsoft,sharepoint,powershell,administration

SharePoint 2010 – Client Object Model

The SharePoint 2010 Client Object Model feature is definitely in my top 10 list of SharePoint developer enhancements. It basically provides an abstraction layer so that client apps can interact with SharePoint – there are basically 3 flavors of Client Object Models:

1. For .Net managed clients – uses the Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll in the “14\ISAPI” folder
2. For Silverlight clients – uses the Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Silverlight.dll from the “14\LAYOUTS\ClientBin” folder.
3. For Javascript client code – using the SP.js file from the “14\LAYOUTS” folder.

These 3 client models all talk with SharePoint through the client.svc WCF service and all provide complete access to SharePoint artifacts such as site collections, sites, lists, items, files, folders, webparts, security, content types, etc …

If you need to retrieve data you will typically have 3 steps you need to perform:

1. Create a connection using the ClientContext object
2. Create a select statement and provide it to the ClientContext.Load method – you might want to take a look at how to create LINQ queries with Lambda expressions since you will need this in more advanced scenarios e.g. ctx.Load(w.Lists, lists => lists.Include(prop => prop.Title, prop => prop.Id, prop => prop.Hidden));
3. Execute the query using ClientContext.ExecuteQuery

There is a great series of blog postings from Steve Peschka about practical use of the Client OM:

• Using the SharePoint Client Object Model Part 1 – Introduction
• Using the SharePoint Client Object Model Part 2 – Retrieving data from a list
• Using the SharePoint Client Object Model Part 3 – Creating and using filters when querying for data via het client OM
• Using the SharePoint Client Object Model Part 4 – Creating a list and managing fields
• Using the SharePoint Client Object Model Part 5 – creating additional ECM menu items

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,sps2010,sharepoint+2010,client+OM,microsoft,development

SharePoint 2010 development – don’t forget to change the target platform

This is something which will probably bite you in the **s, when you start developing against SharePoint 2010. Don't forget to change the “Platform target” to x64 or AnyCPU
SharePoint 2010 only support 64-bit OS so your apps should do the same. So if you don't change it you will see some strange errors – even something as simple as creating a new SPSite object will throw an error stating:

"The Web application at http://intranet.contoso.com could not be found. Verify that you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing content, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the intended application."

So the error message is not very helpfull in this case ...

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,sps2010,microsoft,sharepoint+2010

Solving UI problems with Visual Studio 2010 Beta2 in VMWare

I’m using VS2010 Beta2 on Windows Server 2008 R2 within VMWare Workstation and noticed that some parts of Visual Studio were not rendering or rendered in the wrong location – see for example the “New project dialog” which seemed to be missing some stuff.

This KB provided the solution for these issues – Disable SVGA drivers installed with VMWare Tools on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2…

Technorati Tags: visual+studio,vs2010,windows+server,w2008R2,vmware,troubleshooting,microsoft

Installing SharePoint Server 2010 Dev Box

I finished installing my new SharePoint Server 2010 Dev box a couple of weeks ago … and forgot to publish this post. So here it goes. Installing a SharePoint Server 2010 is not that difficult since there is a lot of guidance out there. It’s really amazing how detailed the documentation is – especially since we are only at Beta 2. So what documentation did I use:

• Determine hardware and software requirements for SharePoint Server 2010 – it has a list of the prerequisites (also listed below)
• Deploy a single server with SQL Server (SharePoint 2010)

So here’s my software configuration:

• Using VMWare Workstation on Windows Vista SP1
• Windows Server 2008 SP2 – I downloaded Service Pack 2 Windows Server 2008 separately although the SharePoint preparation tool would have installed it for me. Don’t forget  FIX: A hotfix that provides a method to support the token authentication without transport security or message encryption in WCF is available for the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (KB971831)
• Before installing SQL Server 2008 – I needed to install .NET Framework 3.5 and a hotfix for Windows Installer 4.5
• SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 – again don’t forget the Cumulative Update Package 2 for Service Pack
• All the other prerequisites
  • Microsoft Server Speech Platform
  • Speech recognition language for English
  • Microsoft "Geneva" Framework
  • Microsoft Sync Framework v1.0 
  • Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166504)
  • Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
  • Windows Powershell V2 CTP3
  • Silverlight 3 download
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client – if you install SQL Server 2008 with client integration you can skip this one
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services ADOMD.NET – not required  for SharePoint Foundation
  • ADO.NET Data Services v1.5 CTP2 for Windows Server 2008 SP2

All the above prerequisites are the same for SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 (except for the ADOMD.NET which is used for Excel Services and PerformancePoint Services – thanks Spence for the clarification). So if you plan to create both – this is the moment to create a snapshot. Next just follow the steps as outlined in Deploy a single server with SQL Server (SharePoint 2010)

On to the installation of language packs – I definitely want to check out the new MUI experience. For documentation take a look at Deploy language packs (SharePoint Server 2010) – same applies as for SharePoint Server 2007 - you must first install the SharePoint Foundation 2010 language packs before you install the SharePoint Server 2010 language packs. However I did not see the step with “On the Modify Server Farm Settings page, click Do not disconnect from this server farm, and then click Next.”

Afterwards I installed Visual Studio 2010 beta 2 as well as the Visual Studio 2010 SDK – this is something which you should probably install before installing SharePoint because the first time everything froze during install and I had to restart.

PS I’m using a Dell Precision M4400 with 8 GB RAM and SSD hard disk to run this stuff … works like a charm.

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,sharepoint+2010,sps2010,microsoft

Activating the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard

The Developer Dashboard is a great feature for developers in SharePoint 2010 which enables us to troubleshoot and debug SharePoint pages – take a look at Using the Developer Dashboard in SharePoint 2010 for some great info.

So you can activate the Developer Dashboard in 3 ways:

• Using stsadm: stsadm -o setproperty -pn developer-dashboard -pv On or stsadm –o setproperty –pn developerdashboard -pv  OnDemand. You should probably use the OnDemand mode which will add a VERY LITTLE icon in the top right corner of your pages where you can switch the Developer Dashboard on and off




• Using Powershell

$snapin = Get-PSSnapin | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell'}
if ($snapin -eq $null)
{
    Write-Host "Loading Microsoft SharePoint Powershell Snapin"
    Add-PSSnapin "Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell"
}
$dash = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]::ContentService.DeveloperDashboardSettings;
$dash.DisplayLevel = 'OnDemand';
$dash.TraceEnabled = $true;
$dash.Update()

• Using the SharePoint Object Model

SPWebService.ContentService.DeveloperDashboardSettings.DisplayLevel = SPDeveloperDashboardLevel.Off;
       SPWebService.ContentService.DeveloperDashboardSettings.Update();

Technorati Tags: sharepoint+2010,sharepoint,sps2010,microsoft,development

Office 2003 Service Pack3 fixes problem with SharePoint content types in combination with a central document library of templates

It is considered best practice to create a central document library with all of the document templates you are using in your different SharePoint content types in SharePoint Server 2007. This way you can easily update your document template without the need to redeploy or change your SharePoint content type. Unfortunately this caused problems with Office which did not seem to be able to find the centrally located template. Fortunately installing Office 2003 Service Pack 3 fixed the problem.

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,office+2003,content+types,sharepoint+2007,moss+2007,moss,microsoft

Solution for converting virtual image files between Hyper-V and VMWare

I just converted a Hyper-V image back to a VMDK to use it in VMWare Workstation using StarWind V2V Convertor. Works like a charm and it is free …

Technorati Tags: vmware,hyper-v,microsoft,vmdk

SharePoint 2010 Partner Ignite training for developers (Belgium)

I will be teaching the SharePoint 2010 Partner Ignite training for Developers from December 14th to December 16th. Topics I will be covering:

• SharePoint 2010 Developer Roadmap
• SharePoint Development with Visual Studio 10
• SharePoint UI Advancements
• Designing Lists and Schemas
• LINQ to SharePoint
• Client Object Model
• SharePoint 2010 Workflow
• The SharePoint 2010 Services Architecture
• External Data in SharePoint (BCS)
• Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
• Extending Search
• BI Solutions

This is a Classroom Training session for Microsoft Partners. You can subscribe for this event if you are as an individual associated to a Company registered in the Microsoft Partner Program. Go to the Phttps://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=559841artner Learning Center to register

Technorati Tags: sharepoint,sharepoint+2010,training,development,microsoft,sps2010

BIWUG on SharePoint 2010

BIWUG is back with our first session about SharePoint 2010. Our next session is the 17th of december in the new Ordina offices in Mechelen. We have a great line up amongst which 3 Belgian SharePoint MVPs presenting. Here’s the agenda:

• 18:00 - 18:30: Welcome
• 18:30 - 19:00: Introduction to SharePoint Server 2010 (Karine Bosch – SharePoint MVP)
• 19:00 - 19:30: LINQ to SharePoint (Stephane Eyskens – SharePoint MVP)
• 19:30 - 20:00: Client Object Model (Jan Tielens – SharePoint MVP)
• 20:00 - 20:15: Break
• 20:15 - 20:45: Business Connectivity Services (Frank Cleynen
• 20:45 - 21:15: Workflow (Peter Plessers)

Please register on the BIWUG site.

Technorati Tags: sps2010,sharepoint,biwug,community