Retain look up column values in export list template

It is known issues that on exporting list items, look up column values are lost.

If the list is very big, it might not be possible to fix that manually. This problem occurs since list template does look up on a table using GUID, on creating a list template and exporting to a different site, this GUID changes, hence it is no longer able to retain the values.

Steps to retain look up column values in export list template

Suppose I have a list “Category” which has a look up column “sub category” which refers to list “Sub Categories”. I assume you have already created a look up list “Sub Categories” in the destination web.

1. Browse to the source Web’s lookup list “Sub Category” and choose Modify settings and columns.
2. Copy the source lookup list GUID from the URL.It should be a sequence of numbers and letters similar to:  %7BFFA47BF8%2D849C%2D4F20%2D9C50%2D173D2F5B6725%7D
3. Browse to the destination Web’s lookup list and choose Modify settings and columns.
4. Copy the destination lookup list GUID from the URL.Similar as point 2.
5. Delete %2D from the string and replace with a dash sign (-). There should be no dash sign (-) at the start and the end. GUID should be in the following format: FA47BF8-849C-4F20-9C50-173D2F5B6725
6. Save the source Web’s list that contains a lookup column “Category” to the lookup list as a list template called category.stp.
7. Export the list template STP from the source list template gallery to the file system.
8. Rename the category.stp file to category.cab so Windows can open it.
9. Open the file, right click on the manifest.xml file and export it to the file system.
10. Edit the manifest.xml file; find the source Web’s lookup list GUID and replace it with the destination Web’s lookup list GUID.
11. Save the manifest.xml file.
12. Open a VS.NET command prompt.
13. Run the makecab command as: makecab manifest.xml category.stp
14. Import the new STP into the destination Web’s list template gallery. You will need to delete it if it has previously been imported.

Duplicate items appear when viewing items in Datasheet view in SharePoint

ISSUE:

Duplicate items appear when viewing items in Datasheet view in SharePoint.  This also happens when using the Export to Spreadsheet (Excel).  If duplicates appear in Datasheet view, they will also appear during Export to Spreadsheet and vice versa.

DESCRIPTION:

The list has got versioning switched off, and views fine in standard list view. However, when you switch to either datasheet view or Excel Export it shows the same rows up to three times in sequential rows.

WORAROUND/SOLUTION:

The affected lists have a REQUIRED lookup field which allows multiple values.

If you have a view that does NOT include this field and it is either a datasheet or you "Switch to Datasheet" then datasheet shows duplicate items depending on how many multi-values are selected. 

Our work-around was to create a specific Datasheet view with the field included.  The multi-value field does not show in datasheet, because multi-value lookup fields don't seem to work in datasheet.  However, it's important to include the field in the view to avoid duplicates.

Unfortunately, if you have a view that does not include the field and then "Switch to Datasheet" you will encounter the same problem.

The duplicates appear also when you try to Export to Excel.  If you have a view that would be affected by the "Switch to Datasheet" duplicates problem, when you try to Export to Excel, it will also appear.

How to Create a New SharePoint Group

Use the following steps to create a new SharePoint Group:

·         Choose Site Settings from the Site Actions and Click Modify All Site Settings.

·         Click Advanced Permissions from the Users and Permissions column

Caution: Check if the site you are adding the group to is inheriting permissions from its parent site. The site is inheriting permissions from its parent if you see the following message: “This Website inherits permissions from its parent Web site. To manage permissions directly, click Edit Permissions from the Action menu.”

·         To break Inheritance from parent site and give this site unique Permissions, click Edit Permissions from the Actions menu.

Note: You can switch back and forth between these settings as needed by selecting Inherit Permissions from the Actions Menu. However, it is important to realize that whenever a site is switched to inheriting permissions from the parent site, all unique permission settings within the site are discarded.      

·         Click OK on the confirmation pop-up.

·         Click New to open the new menu, and select New Group.

·         Type a Name and Description the new group.

Important: Use the following naming conventions.

SiteName_Designers

SiteName_Contributors

·         Enter the group owner information. The group owner will have complete control over this group, including modifying settings as well as adding or removing group membership. There can only be one group owner.

·         Enter Group Settings, Membership Requests.

Caution: If you select yes for the Auto-accept requests option, any user requesting access to this group will automatically be added as a member of the group and receive the permission level associated with the group.

·         Specify the permission level for the Groups.

·         Click Create to create the new group.

How to Add Users to a Group in SharePoint

Use the steps below to add a user into a SharePoint Group:

1.   Choose Site Settings from the Site Actions and Click People and Groups present below Modify All Site Settings.

2.   Click Advanced Permissions from the User and Permissions column.

3.   Click the Groups heading on the left Quick Launch bar.

4.   From the “People and Groups: All Groups” page, click the name of the group to add users or groups to. This opens a page listing the current membership of the group.

5.   Click New to open new menu, and select Add Users.

6.   From the Add Users page, type domain name (i.e. domain name\userid) and click the check name icon or click the phone book icon and search for the name.

7.   Select which group to add the users to.

8.   Click OK.

Backup-Restore by using SharePoint Designer 2007

Steps to create the Backup of a SharePoint site using SharePoint Designer 2007 is provided below:

1.   Open site you want to Migrate in SharePoint Designer 2007

§  Copy the URL of the site.

§  Open SharePoint Designer 2007.

§  Go to File > Open Site.

§  Paste the URL of your site in Site Name.

§  Click Open. Designer will attempt to open the Web.

2.   Go to Site > Administration > Backup Web Site.

3.   Check “Include Sub Sites in Archive” if needed.

4.   Type a name for the backup file and save it to your desktop or somewhere that is easy to locate.

5.   Click “OK” – backup will begin.

6.   A message will appear when backup is complete.

Migrating Site to a New Site

1.   Create New Site under parent

·         Open SharePoint Designer 2007, and open the root parent site where you want to create your subsite.

·         Go to File > Open Site.

·         Type in the URL of the SharePoint web in the folder field.

·         Click OK; the designer will try to open your web.

2.   In the Folder List column, right-click on the top folder, e.g. "http://mosstest/sites/WSSsitename"

3.   Select New > Subsite...

4.   In the Web Site Templates window that appears, select the 'Empty Web Site' template.

5.   On the right-side of the Web Site Templates window you will see a box titled 'Specify the location of the new Web site'. In this box you should see a URL like http://mosstest/sites/WSSsitename/subsite

6.   Change subsite to the name you want your new site to use

7.   This will build a new empty site, and should open a new Designer session showing the empty site.

8.   Restore WSS site using the Restore site steps.

Restore the SharePoint site

Warning: Using the Restore feature in Designer can overwrite existing content or data in a site if not used properly. You should always restore the .cmp file to an empty site

·         With your web open, go to Site > Administration > Restore Web Site....

·         Navigate to the backup file you created in Step 1

·         Click Open.

·         Designer will ask you to press OK to restore the template to your site. Click OK. The Site will proceed to restore.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. Thank you.

SHAREPOINT LIBRARIES 2010

Library:

·         Container for creating, organizing, managing different document types (Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms etc).

·         To store files, Meta information about the files.

·         Used among different team members.

·         By default a Shared Library is created when a site is created.

·         Additionally any number of different types of libraries can be created.

Specialized library types in SP 2010

To store specific content  types.

·         Asset Library:

To create a rich media library.

To create, browse, share, organize and manage images, audio and video files.

·         Data Connection Library:

To create, browse, share, organize and manage files that contain information about connecting to external data connections.

Document Library:

To create, browse, share, organize, and manage documents or other files.

For creating folders, versioning of documents and check-in/check-out of files.

Form Library:

To store and manage Microsoft Office InfoPath forms/ XML files for use with Microsoft Office InfoPath(business forms like a status report, purchase orders, etc).

Picture Library:

To upload, share pictures with others.

Includes a built-in image viewer.

Report Library:

To create web pages, reports to track business metrics, goals, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and business intelligence information.

Slide Library:

To create a library for storing and sharing Microsoft PowerPoint slides.

Wiki Page Library:

To create, store customizable pages of content that are linked together and can be edited by several people

Cannot read from source file or disk error while using explorer view

The Explorer View is an excellent feature that is integrated with windows SharePoint Services that allows a user to access a document library as if you were accessing a file system through a Windows Explorer window.

Being end users, everyone might feel that this is very easy to use. But there are multiple complex interactions happening with different technologies to make documents which are not present in file systems to viewable using explorer.

Problem Description:

While trying to cut and paste files or folders from one document library to another using windows explorer view, the following error message may occur:

“Cannot read from source file or disk”.

This issue cannot be reproducible in a Windows XP environment; however this can be reproducible in Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 2008 / Windows 2008 R2. Here are some Scenarios when you do cut and paste of files / folders:

- MOVE between sites collections in the same web application works with XP

- MOVE between sites collections not in the same web application works with Vista and 7

- MOVE between two mapped drives (using net use command where one connected to site col1, and the second one connected to site col2) works with Vista and 7 (within a same web application, or between two webs application)

Resolutions:

Two workarounds are available so select anyone as per the flexibility.

1: COPY and PASTE the required data; then DELETE the files instead of using CUT and PASTE.

2: Create two mapped drives using "net use" command. Then complete CUT/PASTE between the mapped drives.  

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. Thank you.

Documents in this folder are not available. This folder may have been moved or deleted, or network problems may be preventing a connection to the server.

Guys,

Today I am going to share the issue that we had resolved yesterday and I hope the following troubleshooting steps will help you to resolve the same problem J

Issue:

While trying to open the document library in explorer view or using “Open with Windows Explorer” option and was getting following error

Documents in this folder are not available. This folder may have been moved or deleted, or network problems may be preventing a connection to the server.

Troubleshooting:

·         Confirmed that it’s a machine specific issue by login user to other workstation.

·         On user workstation, checked and found that the web Client service was not running.

·         From services.msc, changed service startup type to Automatic and started the service.

·         Performed IE Reset.

·         Run Office diagnostics.

·         Rebooted the workstation after every step to verify.

Resolution:

·         Backed up the registry folder "Software".

·         Deleted a folder “Software” under “HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT -> Software -> Microsoft -> MasterAggregatorForIPP -> OleDbHandlers”

·         Run Office Repair

·         Restarted workstation.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues J J

The SOAP message cannot be parsed

Guys

I am back again to share some valuable information with all of you. This time the issue was with InfoPath forms.

Problem Description: I was getting the following error message while trying to publish the InfoPath form to a SharePoint site.

Error Message: The SOAP message cannot be parsed.

Started research on this and found important article that resolved my issueJ. That article is published by Microsoft and we (my complete team) wants to thanks Microsoft for sharing this vital information.

Troubleshooting done:

·         Checked the compatibility by means of form options

·         Checked the trust level by means of form options

·         Checked the VB scripting and deprecated code

·         Checked the submit options and browser compatibility

Resolution: 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923521

References:

·         http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922204

·         http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/ar/sharepointinfopath/thread/b16926ed-8c8d-4b91-8ebe-60c8da79fb95

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues J