Icons in Datasheet view for lists in SharePoint does not display correctly with office 2003

Office 2003 has so many limitations as compare to advanced version i.e. Office 2007. Microsoft recommended that if we want to use SharePoint 2007 in feasible manner then the best version is Office 2007.

I have two Virtual machines for testing from the client perspectives: One with Office 2003 and second with office 2007.

Issue is: When i tried to open a sharepoint list in datasheet view then the icons didn't render properly
Note: This is my Office 2003 with SP3 machine

Standard view is working correctly, problem is only with Datasheet view

Troubleshooting Did:
-Installed the windows sharepoint services support component by means of Office options
-checked the number of characters in the URL & that's fine (256 character limitation)
-checked with Office 2007, works perfectly

Now the questions arises: what is the problem with Office 2003. Not able to find out the root cause behind this but seems to be a Design Limitation with Office 2003.

Conclusion:
This issue is a design limitation for integration between Microsoft Office 2003 and SharePoint, and is only present for List's Datasheet view.
As a result, you cannot browse the folders from this view.

If you open a Document Library in Datasheet View, the Icons are rendered correctly.
If you open a List in Datasheet View with Microsoft Office 2007 the Icons are rendered correctly.

Upgrade to Office 2007 or later in order to avoid this behavior with SharePoint.


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...

This file is not in a recognizable format

Excel files are the most commomly used in day-to-day office works.. 
There are so many complex functions, Daily/Monthly Reports, Graphs,pie diagrams etc..that can be easily managed by Excel.. But what you will do if this excel stopped functioning ?? Big Question-RIGHT !! 


While working on the excel, I have encountered some messages which took some time to resolve but finally heaved a sighed of Relief :-)

When you start Microsoft Excel, Excel attempts to open multiple documents and you may receive one or more of the following error messages. 
OR

If the computer is not updated and you did not install the Office Compatibility Pack, you will receive one of the following error messages when you try to open the file, depending on the program that you are using.

This file is not in a recognizable format /


Windows cannot open this file/ 


PowerPoint can't open the type of file represented by filename

What you have 2 do? Don't Worry here are the steps to resolve this above mentioned error messages.

Resolution:

To resolve this issue, install the Office Compatibility Pack and each update for your version of the Office program.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

One more thing that i would like to mention some differences that i found out while researching on this issue..

If you are using office 2003 and using SharePoint Server 2007 then some functionalities will not going to work.

Now the questions arises which are going 2 work and which are not !!

Please refer the following information regarding the same:

Application / Feature	Office 2003	Office 2007
Saving and editing Office 2003 files from SharePoint sites	supported	supported
Viewing Office 2007 files from SharePoint site	supported	supported
Editing Office 2007 files from SharePoint sites	not supported	supported
Check-out/in, version history	supported	supported
Start a workflow	not supported	supported
Publishing Excel files as web pages	not supported	supported
Working with Slide Library	not supported	supported
Synchronize document libraries to Outlook	not supported	supported
Inserting document properties for (DOC/DOCX)	not supported	supported
Updating properties	supported	supported
Write a blog post	not supported	supported
Synchronize tasks/discussion boards to Outlook	not supported	supported
Synchronizing calendars to Outlook	Onw Way Sync Only	supported
Synchronizing contacts to Outlook	Onw Way Sync Only	supported
Compare versions of a SharePoint document	not supported	supported

Please let me know in case of any queries/questions/confusion regarding the above mentioned steps.. 
I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues..

A DDE error has occurred, and a description of the error cannot be displayed because it is too long. If the filename or path is long, try renaming the file or copying it to a different folder.

When you try to open a Microsoft Office 2003 file in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, the document does not open, and you receive the following error message:

A DDE error has occurred, and a description of the error cannot be displayed because it is too long. If the filename or path is long, try renaming the file or copying it to a different folder.

This issue occurs because of a 259-character limitation on creating and saving files in the Office products. Also, you receive an error message when you save or open a file if the path of the file meets the following condition for the appropriate program.

Microsoft Word: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft PowerPoint: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft Access: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension exceeds 259 characters.

Microsoft Excel: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 218 characters.

This limitation includes the three characters that represent the drive, the characters in folder names, the backslash character between folders, and the characters in the file name.

Workaround:

Make sure that the path of the file contains no more than the maximum number of characters. To do this, use one of the following methods.

1.   Rename the file so that it has a shorter name.

2.   Rename one or more folders that contain the file so that they have shorter names.

3.   Move the file to a folder that has a shorter path name.

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, Thank you.

How to configure Document expiration policy

As per microsoft-An information management policy is a set of rules that govern the availability and behavior of a certain type of important content. Policy enables administrators to control and evaluate who can access information, how long to retain information, and how effectively people are complying with the policy.
                    In SharePoint Server 2010, each policy is a collection of instruction sets for one or more policy features. Each policy feature provides a specific kind of content management functionality. You can assign a policy to a content type or to a list.


Major improvements in SP2010 as compare to SP2007 are:


-We can apply expiration policy in sevral stages as Deleting draft versions,deleting previous version,deleting the record, deleting the content type,deleting the folder,deleting the list\library etc...


How to set this expiration policy:
1. To create an Information Management Policy, login as someone with administrator permissions.
2. Navigate to your document library (in my case,suppose-Shared Documents)
3.Navigate to library tab
4. Library settings
5. Information Management Policy Settings


Note: make sure what excately your requirements are as the document library are based on content types so if you apply any policy then it will be applicable for all the content types which are of similar type.


6. Based on 'Note',if you have any doubts then click on 'Change Source' and you will understand as what i am talking about.


Still thinking right ??? What does that mean ??? Don't Worry-Here we go


When you will open that configuration page then you you will see the retention schedule.  Select the libraries and folders radio button. You will receive a warning alert stating the content type retention policy will be ignored. Click ok...


7. now configuration options are available
8. add a retention stage link
9. Now set the policy period as per your requirements and click ok
10. As per the policy that we will set, the documents will be expired without any problems...


Most Important: There is one policy collection per site collection; this collection can contain any number of policies. Each policy contains any number of policy items, and each item encapsulates settings information for and points to a single policy feature. Multiple policies can contain a policy item that points to the same policy feature. Each policy feature can employ any number of policy resources to assist its operation. Each policy feature employs its own collection of policy resources; policy resources are not shared between policy features.


You can assign only one policy to a given content type or SharePoint list. However, that policy can contain any number of policy items.


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

Closed Web Parts

The Closed Web Parts gallery is a collection of Web Parts that are available to a specific Web Part Page but not visible on the page, whether you are browsing through or designing the page. Each Web Part Page has its own Closed Web Parts gallery. Through this gallery, a Web Part Page author can, for example, create a collection of recommended Web Parts for users to add to the Web Part Page.

Ticket submitted: One of my user was playing with the webparts :-) Dont know why ? In that playing, he closed all the webparts that were present on that page..and now the request is-How to get those webparts back ??

Note: web parts can be removed from a site home page by using two methods:
-Webpart can be closed by clicking the X button
-Deleting the web part

How to open a closed Web Part/ How to Restore Closed Web Parts
1. Site Actions- Edit Page
2. Click Add a Web Part
3. Click Advanced Web Part gallery and options
4. Click Closed Web Parts
5. Drag closed web part onto the page

One thing- I would like to share over here is performance.When we closed any webparts/n-number of webparts- we assume that those are closed/removed from the page but actually they are not...When we try to hit the page, page will take some time to reder the webparts which are open as well as which are closed. So now the webparts comes into the picture which are customized. if we closed any such webparts (example-content query webpart) everytime the page was opened it wouldn't display but it would still run its query.

I would like to share good information on this which is explained by Wictor Wilen(http://www.wictorwilen.se/Post/Why-you-should-not-allow-users-to-Close-Web-Parts.aspx)

One more thing-if you wants to Remove a webpart completely from a page then here are the steps:
1. Site Actions - Edit Page
2. Click the edit button in the chrome dropdown
3. Choose Delete - Ok

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...