InfoPath

SharePoint 2010 Post Conference Takeaways

Wayne Larimore — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:16:28 GMT

I have had some time to ponder the ton-of-stuff at the 2009 SharePoint Conference. Overall, I really like what Microsoft has done with this version. They seem to have addressed the majority of pain points. Here are some of the highlights of what comes to mind...

Service Applications - Previously, we were forced to use the SSP service for all services (Search, BDC, Profile, Excel). Now, the Service Application approach is providing a Service Model. AC gave a level 400 session on this and built a cleverly simple load-balanced calculator that was indeed an independent service.

The Ribbon - consistency is always a good thing. The Ribbon provides a consistent place where the end-user knows where his / her actions can be acted upon.

Sandboxing / Visual Studio 2010 templates - Developing for SharePoint has always been a confusing effort. Once the developer became familiar with creating the solution structure and with the repetition of doing it lots of times, it was second nature. Deployment? eck! Now, with VS 2010, the necessary structure and files are generated via SharePoint project templates and even builds the wsp file for deployment. Sandboxing provides a way to deploy your solution with a subset object model and deployed to a special gallery, a more secure environment and allows admins to upload instead of IT/Ops. Visual Web Part templates now have a built-in Designer also.

Lists - Lists and libraries are pretty much the bread and butter to SharePoint. I use Custom Lists a lot in my day-to-day activities. New in SP 2010, they have introduced a way to prevent Duplicate Values, provided Column Validation (via Excel formulas) and More Robust Metadata defining.

LINQ Support - The need to write / build CAML seems to be nearly eliminated with the introduction of Microsoft.SharePoint.LINQ ; at least that is what we were told. It will now translate LINQ into CAML for us!

SharePoint Designer / InfoPath / No Code approach - I sat in on a session demonstrating a no code approach to an end-to-end business case. I was pretty impressed by it, but still leary of it in real life business situations. However, I am real eager to start working with SPD and InfoPath to see if no code solutions are really possible in SharePoint 2010. They have addressed some short falls that were in InfoPath 2007. Here are some of the new features I remember: Web Part creation, SP list/library form creation, ability now to do filtering in browser forms, and the rules manager. Lastly, workflow management has been improved significantly in both SharePoint Designer and InfoPath 2010.

My Own SharePoint Resource Page

Wayne Larimore — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:45:26 GMT

I have started a SharePoint resource page. I have been recommending (and still do) some of the great ones out there. However, I have found that some of my experiences and needs differ in a lot of ways. As with others, my resource page has started out as something I use to personally reference in my day-to-day work routine. If it helps others that would be great too. Here's the beginnings of my MOSS SharePoint InfoPath Workflow .NET Resource Page. It will be growing significantly over the coming days.

Waynester's SharePoint Resource page

InfoPath 2007 features that are unavailable in InfoPath Forms Services

Wayne Larimore — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:26:02 GMT

[via office.microsoft.com]

If you have access to a server that is running InfoPath Forms Services, you can design a single form template that can be used by two kinds of users — those who have Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 installed on their computers and those who do not have Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 installed on their computers. In the latter case, users fill out forms in a supported Web browser, not in InfoPath. If users have InfoPath installed on their computers, they can open the form in InfoPath and use the full range of form features. Users who fill out the form in a browser have access to a more limited set of features, but these users benefit from being able to use the form even though they do not have InfoPath installed on their computers.

InfoPath Forms Services Resource Reference

Wayne Larimore — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:31:01 GMT

Need a good InfoPath Resource Reference?

Here's the InfoPath Forms Services Resource Center ...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/cc337903.aspx

Sharepoint Developer Training for Newbies

Wayne Larimore — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:07:21 GMT

[via AC]

If you can, and it's free, hook into these upcoming SharePoint developer training series:

SharePoint Developer MSDN Web Cast Series

InfoPath SharePoint Integration: VSTO Code Behind

Wayne Larimore — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:22:38 GMT

This is in the code behind of the InfoPath 2003 Visual Studio 2005 Template. When calling the web service (covered in a previous posting) it looks like the following:

Private Sub RefreshCategories()

'Set the Credentials of the web services proxy
My.WebServices.Service.Url = getCurrentServiceEnvironment()
My.WebServices.Service.Credentials = getUserCredentials()

Dim myTempwsNode As Xml.XmlNode = My.WebServices.Service.GetCategories()

Try

                RemoveAllFromDropDownList(thisXDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode("//my:groupCategory/my:categorycollection"))
                PopulateDropDownList3(myTempwsNode, _
                "//my:groupCategory/my:categorycollection", _
                "//my:categorydescription", _
                "//my:categoryid", _
                "//my:categorystatus", _
                "Category", _
                "CatID", _
                "Active")

Catch ex As Exception

thisXDocument.UI.Alert(CommErrorMessage)

End Try

End Sub

Private Sub RemoveAllFromDropDownList(ByVal node As IXMLDOMNode)

Try

                Dim ParentNode As IXMLDOMNode = node.parentNode
                'exit routine if only one (empty) child exists
                If ParentNode.childNodes.length < 4 Then Exit Sub
                Dim ItemNode As IXMLDOMNode = ParentNode.firstChild

Dim currentItemNode As IXMLDOMNode = ItemNode
Dim nextItemNode As IXMLDOMNode = ItemNode

                    If IsNothing(currentItemNode) Then Exit Do
                    nextItemNode = currentItemNode.nextSibling
                    If Not currentItemNode.xml.Trim.Equals(String.Empty) AndAlso _
                        Not currentItemNode.firstChild.nextSibling.text.Equals(String.Empty) Then
                        ParentNode.removeChild(currentItemNode)
                    End If

currentItemNode = nextItemNode

                Loop
            Catch ex As Exception
                'thisXDocument.UI.Alert("removeall errmsg:" & ex.Message)
            End Try
        End Sub

Private Sub PopulateDropDownList3(ByVal wsXmlNode As Xml.XmlNode, ByVal XmlDSCollection As String, _
ByVal mainDSName As String, ByVal mainDSValue As String, _
ByVal secondaryDSValue As String, ByVal wsFieldName As String, _
ByVal wsFieldValue As String, ByVal wsFieldValue2 As String)

Dim xmldata As IXMLDOMNode = Me.ConvertNodeToMsXML(wsXmlNode)

For Each xmlitem As IXMLDOMNode In xmldata.childNodes

Dim row As IXMLDOMNode = thisXDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode(XmlDSCollection)

If Not row Is Nothing Then

row = row.cloneNode(True)

Try

                        row.selectSingleNode(mainDSName).text = xmlitem.selectSingleNode(wsFieldName).text
                        row.selectSingleNode(mainDSValue).text = xmlitem.selectSingleNode(wsFieldValue).text
                        row.selectSingleNode(secondaryDSValue).text = xmlitem.selectSingleNode(wsFieldValue2).text

Catch ex As Exception

End Try

                    '*** Special Business Rules
                    Dim blnContinueWithAppend As Boolean = CheckBusinessRulesDDL(mainDSName, xmlitem)
                    If blnContinueWithAppend Then
                        Dim parent As IXMLDOMNode = thisXDocument.DOM.selectSingleNode(XmlDSCollection).parentNode
                        parent.appendChild(row)
                    End If

End If
Next

End Sub

In order to increase performance, I placed a button on the InfoPath form to allow the user to Refresh the data from SharePoint upon their discretion. This could take anywhere from 5 seconds to 20 seconds, depending on the size of the list. As you can see, it populates a local datasource within the InfoPath Form. This results in the InfoPath control(s) to be re-populated.

InfoPath SharePoint Integration: Add List Item

Wayne Larimore — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:44:24 GMT

Let's say you would like to add an item to a SharePoint List. This is where CAML (Collaborative Application Markup Language) comes in. It may seem whacky at first glance, but once you get the hang of it you'll feel comfortable. Use the following code as a template and apply your personal needs:

<WebMethod()> _
Public Function SubmitSharepointListItem(ByVal ListLocation As String, ByVal SharepointListID As String, _
ByVal id As Integer, ByVal title As String, ByVal owner As String, _
ByVal category As String, ByVal topic As String, _
ByVal projecttype As String, ByVal areaofresponsibility As String, _
    ByVal purpose As String, ByVal takenote As String, ByVal documentstate As String, ByVal reasonforarchival As String, _
    ByVal reasonfordeletion As String, ByVal documenttext As XmlNode) As String
        If ListLocation Is Nothing Or ListLocation.Length = 0 Then
            ListLocation = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("SharepointListLocation")
        End If
        If SharepointListID Is Nothing Or SharepointListID.Length = 0 Then
            SharepointListID = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("SharepointListGUID")
        End If
        Dim myDoc As New MyDocument
        myDoc.ID = id
        myDoc.Title = title
        myDoc.Owner = owner
        myDoc.Category = category
        myDoc.Topic = topic
        myDoc.ProjectType = projecttype
        myDoc.AreaOfResponsibility = areaofresponsibility
        myDoc.Purpose = purpose
        myDoc.TakeNote = takenote
        myDoc.DocumentState = documentstate
        myDoc.ReasonForArchival = reasonforarchival
        myDoc.ReasonForDeletion = reasonfordeletion
        myDoc.DocumentText = documenttext
        Dim returnString As String
        Try
            'determine batch type based on id value
            Dim CamlMethodString As String
            If id > 0 Then
                'Customize the building of the Caml Batch String here
                CamlMethodString = myDoc.BuildSharePointBatch(MyDocument.SPDocType.UpdateDoc)
            Else
                CamlMethodString = myDoc.BuildSharePointBatch(MyDocument.SPDocType.NewDoc)
            End If
            Dim xmldoc As New System.Xml.XmlDocument
            Dim elBatch As System.Xml.XmlElement = xmldoc.CreateElement("Batch")
            With elBatch
                .SetAttribute("OnError", "Continue")
                '.SetAttribute("ListVersion", ListVersion)
                '.SetAttribute("ViewName", ViewID)
                .InnerXml = CamlMethodString
            End With
            Dim url As Uri = New Uri(New Uri(ListLocation), "_vti_bin/Lists.asmx")
            Dim list As New com.fnfis.cssddev.Lists()
            list.Url = url.ToString()
            list.Credentials = getUserCredentials()
            Dim ndReturn As System.Xml.XmlNode = list.UpdateListItems(SharepointListID, elBatch)
            If id > 0 Then
                'Existing entry - look for any errors returned from SharePoint
                If ndReturn.InnerXml.IndexOf("<ErrorText>") > 0 AndAlso _
                Not ndReturn.SelectSingleNode("/").FirstChild.InnerText.Equals("0x00000000") Then
                    returnString = String.Concat("<br/>Error:" & ndReturn.InnerXml)
                Else
                    'Return back the existing id
                    Return id.ToString()
                End If
            Else
                'return back the newly established unique identifier from SharePoint
                returnString = ndReturn.FirstChild.LastChild.Attributes("ows_ID").Value
            End If
        Catch ex As System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException
            Dim xd As XmlDataDocument = New XmlDataDocument
            xd.LoadXml("<?xml version='1.0' ?>" & _
                "<listitems xmlns:s=""uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:dt=""uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:rs=""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset""
xmlns:z=""#RowsetSchema""
xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/""> " & _
                "<ErrorMessage>Message:" & ex.Message & " Detail:" & ex.Detail.InnerText & " StackTrace:" & ex.StackTrace & "</ErrorMessage>" & _
                "<rs:data ItemCount=""0""> </rs:data></listitems>")
            returnString = xd.InnerText
        End Try
        Return returnString
    End Function
The following method is found inside a seperate class called myDocument.
The class also includes all necessary attributes.
    Public Function BuildSharePointBatch(ByVal spDocType As SPDocType) As String
        Dim sbCamlMethod As New System.Text.StringBuilder
        'method ID only needed if sending more than one command
        Dim DocTypeString As String = "None"
        Select Case spDocType
            Case MyDocument.SPDocType.NewDoc
                DocTypeString = "New"
            Case MyDocument.SPDocType.UpdateDoc
                DocTypeString = "Update"
            Case MyDocument.SPDocType.DeleteDoc
                DocTypeString = "Delete"
        End Select
        sbCamlMethod.AppendFormat("<Method ID=""1"" Cmd=""{0}"">", DocTypeString)
        'Cmd=new indicates adding an item
        'Cmd=update indicates updating an item
        'ID field required when updating or deleting a document
        If spDocType = MyDocument.SPDocType.UpdateDoc Or _
        spDocType = MyDocument.SPDocType.DeleteDoc Then
            sbCamlMethod.AppendFormat("<Field Name=""ID"">{0}</Field>", Me.ID)
        End If
        'These Field Names are VITAL to get correct
        'They MUST MATCH the exact GUID representation within Sharepoint
        'You can find it by going into the Modify Settings and Columns section of
        ' the Custom List
        If Me.Title.Length > 0 Then
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Title""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.Title)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.Owner.Length > 0 Then
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Owner""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.Owner)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.Category.Length > 0 Then
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Category""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.Category)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.Topic.Length > 0 Then
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Topic""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.Topic)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.ProjectType.Length > 0 Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Project_x0020_Type""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.ProjectType)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.AreaOfResponsibility.Length > 0 Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Area_x0020_of_x0020_Responsibili""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.AreaOfResponsibility)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Not IsNothing(Me.Purpose) Then
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Purpose""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.Purpose)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Not IsNothing(Me.TakeNote) Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Take_x0020_Note""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.TakeNote)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.DocumentState.Length > 0 Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Document_x0020_State""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.DocumentState)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.ReasonForArchival.Length > 0 Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Reason_x0020_for_x0020_Archival""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.ReasonForArchival)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Me.ReasonForDeletion.Length > 0 Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Reason_x0020_for_x0020_Deletion""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.ReasonForDeletion)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        If Not IsNothing(Me.DocumentText) Then
            '_x0020_ represents a space (Unicode)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name=""Document_x0020_Text_x0020_Block""><![CDATA[")
            sbCamlMethod.Append(Me.DocumentText.InnerXml)
            sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        End If
        'for date related fields here is an example
        'dates are in UTC format. Where time is not used, set to midnight
        'sbCamlMethod.Append("<Field Name='Date'><![CDATA[")
        'sbCamlMethod.Append(Format(Me.DocDate, "yyyy-MM-dd") & "T00:00:00Z")
        'sbCamlMethod.Append("]]></Field>")
        sbCamlMethod.Append("</Method>")
        Return sbCamlMethod.ToString
    End Function

InfoPath SharePoint Integration: List Services

Wayne Larimore — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:22:38 GMT

In order to pull specific column data from a SharePoint List you must structure the XML query properly. In this example, I am querying for the Category column. I have defined the SharePoint List Location and List GUID inside the Web.config file. Here is how the web method is laid out:

<WebMethod()> _
Public Function GetListItemCategories(ByVal ListLocation As String, ByVal ListName As String) As XmlDataDocument
        If ListLocation Is Nothing Or ListLocation.Length = 0 Then
            ListLocation = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("SharepointListLocation")
        End If
        If ListName Is Nothing Or ListName.Length = 0 Then
            ListName = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("SharepointListGUID")
        End If
        Dim url As Uri = New Uri(New Uri(ListLocation), "_vti_bin/Lists.asmx")
        Dim list As New com.fnfis.cssddev.Lists()
        list.Url = url.ToString()
        list.Credentials = getUserCredentials()
        Dim Doc As New XmlDocument()
        Dim Query As XmlNode = Doc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Query", "")
        Dim ViewFields As XmlNode = Doc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "ViewFields", "")
        ViewFields.InnerXml = "<FieldRef Name='Category' />"
        Dim QueryOptions As XmlNode = Doc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "QueryOptions", "")
        Dim node As XmlNode = Nothing
        Try
            node = list.GetListItems(ListName, Nothing, Query, ViewFields, Nothing, QueryOptions)
        Catch ex As Exception
        End Try
        Dim xd As XmlDataDocument = New XmlDataDocument
        If node Is Nothing Then
            xd.LoadXml("<?xml version='1.0' ?>" & _
            "<listitems
xmlns:s=""uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:dt=""uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:rs=""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset"" 
xmlns:z=""#RowsetSchema"" 
xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/""> <rs:data ItemCount=""0""> </rs:data></listitems>")
        Else
            xd.LoadXml("<?xml version='1.0' ?>" & node.OuterXml)
        End If
        Return xd
        '--- example of how to access xml node values
        'For Each n As XmlNode In node.FirstChild.ChildNodes
        '    Dim node1 As TreeNode = New TreeNode(n.Attributes("Title").Value)
        '    Dim node2 As TreeNode = New TreeNode(n.Attributes("Body").Value)
        'Next
    End Function

InfoPath SharePoint Integration: Web Services

Wayne Larimore — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:01:02 GMT

When pulling data into InfoPath 2003 you must build it to be in a compatible format. Here's an example of a web service method providing said format from a MS SQL Server Source.

 <WebMethod()> _
Public Function GetCategories() As XmlDataDocument
        Dim conn As New SqlConnection(GetConnectString)
        Dim ds As New DataSet
        Dim cmd As New SqlCommand()
        cmd.Connection = conn
        cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
        cmd.CommandText = "sl_Category"
        Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
        Dim result As Boolean = False
        Dim previousConnectionState1 As ConnectionState = conn.State
        Dim errMessage As String = Nothing
        Try
            If conn.State = ConnectionState.Closed Then
                conn.Open()
            End If
            adapter.Fill(ds)
            result = True
        Catch ex As SqlException
            result = False
            errMessage = ex.Message
        Finally
            If previousConnectionState1 = ConnectionState.Closed Then
                conn.Close()
            End If
        End Try
        If result Then
            Dim XmlDataDoc As XmlDataDocument = New XmlDataDocument(ds)
            Return XmlDataDoc
        Else
            Dim XmlDataDoc As New XmlDataDocument()
            XmlDataDoc.LoadXml("<?xml version='1.0' ?>" & _
"<GetCategories
xmlns:s=""uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:dt=""uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882""
xmlns:rs=""urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset""
xmlns:z=""#RowsetSchema""
 xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/""> <rs:data ItemCount=""0"" errmsg=""" & errMessage & """> </rs:data></GetCategories>")
            Return XmlDataDoc
        End If
    End Function

InfoPath 2003 SharePoint Integration

Wayne Larimore — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:55:37 GMT

I was rummaging through some old InfoPath SharePoint 2003 integration code and thought I'd share. I have moved onto MOSS 2007. Revisiting this brings back bad memories. My HOPE is that it will HELP those with the misfortune of working in those miserable conditions :o)

There will be seperate blog postings covering different aspects of what I learned.

The breakdown of code snippets are:

Building Web Services
- SQL Server
- SharePoint Lists
  - Add List Item
Developing InfoPath within Visual Studio 2005 and VSTO

Click on the topics above to follow each in detail.