Cannot retrieve the URL specified in the XML Link property. For more assistance, contact your site administrator

You can use the XML Web Part to display Extensible Markup Language (XML) and apply Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) to the XML before the content is displayed.  The content displayed in the XML Web Part cannot contain an HTML <FORM> element. If you need to use the <FORM> element, consider using the Page Viewer Web Part or the Form Web Part.  This is little bit tricky issue and took lot of time to investigate and research to find out the root cause behind this issue.

Problem Description:
Microsoft out-of-box XML web part returns an error when connecting to any SharePoint Web Service - owssrv.dll, lists.asmx, feed.rss. Works fine with static XML data file.

Error message:

Cannot retrieve the URL specified in the XML Link property. For more assistance, contact your site administrator

What exactly I am doing:

Use of the 'XML Web Part' to display the RSS feed from a List.

When I entered the URL to the feed into the 'XML Link' field I receive the message "Cannot retrieve the URL specified in the XML Link property. For more assistance, contact your site administrator."

Troubleshooting Done:

1)   If I click the 'Test Link' a new window opens and correctly shows the feed. 

2)   When I checked the SharePoint logs and found out that no credentials are being supplied with the GET request to listfeed.aspx

3)   Web parts settings are ok as i checked the XSL as well as XML properties.

4)   As the credentials are not being supplied then i had checked the web application pool account is a part of ISS_WPG and WSS_WPG (Worker process groups) and found out that the app pool account is already added inside the mentioned groups

5)   Along with above mentioned groups, there is one more group exist in Active directory called as "WSS_ADMIN_WPG". Now the questions arises-Does the application pool account is a part of this group or not? I checked and found out it's not a part of that group (i.e. WSS_ADMIN_WPG), added the same web application pool account inside the group and check the results but still no success.

6)   Now the final step which is a vital one is "Anonymous", Allowing anonymous access to that web application (Central Administration > Application Management > Application Security > Authentication Providers section). now let’s go to the site collection and allowed anonymous access to a specific list where the problem resides ( Open the site collection-site actions-site settings-advanced permissions-settings-anonymous access-select list and libraries only)

That’s it-as soon as I applied the above mentioned steps and comes back to the home where the xml web part resides-it works without any issues.

Conclusion/Resolution steps:

1)   Web application pool account should be a part of WSS_WPG, ISS_WPG and WSS_WPG

2)   Anonymous access for the web application and list & libraries section at the site collection

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.

Error opening MS project .mpp file

MPP documents are Microsoft Project files. Microsoft Project is a software program that helps program managers to define project scopes and plans, assign tasks and keep track of project progress. One user has opened a ticket with our team and mentioned then following details:

Problem description: - MS project files are stored in a document library. After check out the file and tried to edit- I am getting the error.

Error message: The document could not be opened for editing. A Microsoft SharePoint foundation Compatible application could not be found to edit the document.

Machine configuration:

1.     OS-Windows XP

2.     Internet Explorer: IE 7.0

3.     Office Installed: Office 2007

4.     Project application Installed: Project professional 2007

Important points to consider while troubleshooting:

1.  All Office files which consist of Microsoft word excel and PowerPoint files are opening fine without any issues so the problem is with the .MPP files only i.e. Project files.

2.  If we try opening the project files by means of Desktop i.e. user’s machine then file opens fine without any problems

3.  This is vital point which can be consider  as workaround:

v Go to the document library in which project files resides

v Hover your mouse to any project file and select ‘edit in Microsoft Office Project’

v It will give you a pop up by selecting the ‘SharePoint drafts’ option

v Click ok / you can do a check out also by selecting the ‘SharePoint draft’ option

v Now the document is in check out condition so go to the SharePoint drafts location on your machine (Location: \My Documents\SharePoint drafts)

v Open the document by means of draft location, do the changes and save it.

v Go back to the SharePoint site and check in the document.

v Changes will be successfully saved without any problems.

Now, let’s come back to main problem-If you don’t check the “SharePoint drafts’ check box while editing the document then you will get the generic error message as mentioned above i.e. “this component is not compatible …..”

Resolution: Please refer the article which has been posted by Mr. Pratik Vyas-http://sharepointpratik.blogspot.com/2010/07/document-could-not-be-opened-for.html  

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 youJ

How to find out the site collection ID

A SharePoint Site is a collection of pages, lists, and libraries configured for the purpose of achieving an express goal. A site may contain sub-sites, and those sites may contain further sub-sites. Typically, sites need to be created from scratch, but sites can also be created according to pre-defined templates that provide packaged functionality. Examples of Site templates in SharePoint include: Blogs, MySites, collaboration (team) sites, document workspaces, groupwork sites, and meeting workspaces.

Sites have navigation, themes/branding, custom permissions, workflows, and have the ability to be configured or customized in a number of ways. In order to achieve a greater degree of maintainability, sites typically inherit site-level settings from their parent sites.

While working on one SharePoint issue in collaboration with the SQL, I need to run a SQL query against a specific site collection by using its ID. So you must be aware how to find out the ID of a site collection. Its takes some time to find out the answer but would like to share with all of you so that you can take the benefit of the same and your time will be saved, Thank you

Here is my analysis regarding the same:
1. Open the Central Administration
2. Application Management
3. SharePoint Site Management
4. Site collection quotas and locks
5. Select the appropriate site collection and you will get the ID of that specific site collection on top of the browser.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the 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 find out the ID of a subsite

A subsite is a single SharePoint site within a site collection. A subsite can inherit permissions and navigation structure from its parent site or these can be specified and managed independently. Creation of subsites can be delegated to users of a site collection, but creation of site collections must be performed by a service administrator. A sub-site can also have sub-sites of its own. Because every site below the top-level site is actually a sub-site, each sub-site is generally called simply a site.

There might be a situation arise in which you need to find out the ID of the subsite. I had spend some time on this to debug and got the solution. Please refer the following steps and use your subsite ID to fulfill your project requirements, Thank youJ

How to find out the ID of a subsite

1. Save the current site as site template [.STP extension]

2. Save it to disk somewhere.

3. Now, navigate to that location and rename the file to .CAB extension.

4. Extract the CAB file and find the manifest.xml file.

5. Now, in the file check for the site ID/TemplateID string and get the value.

6. Navigate to end of this post for the TemplateID to Name mapping.

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

Reference:

1. Determining Between SharePoint Site Collections and Sub-Sites

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sgoodyear/archive/2009/07/25/determining-between-sharepoint-site-collections-and-sub-sites.aspx

2. What is a SharePoint site or subsite?-

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/create-a-sharepoint-site-HA010131447.aspx

3. Videos-How to create subsites in SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 207-

How to create subsites in SharePoint 2010 and 2007 - YouTube

How to find out site ID

How to find out the ID of a site collection, subsite and list

While working on one ticket, I did some research and fetched some things regarding ID’s.

Site collection, Subsite and List are important entities which are widely used on day to day basis.

There are times when you need to find out the Id/Guid of a site collection, subsite or list as per the project requirements, analysis of guids will be very useful to resolve many issues in SharePoint environments.

Here is my analysis regarding this as How to find out the ID/GUID of the above mentioned entities:

How to find out the ID of a site collection:

1.     Open the Central Administration

2.     Application Management

3.     SharePoint Site Management

4.     site collection quotas and locks

5.     Select the appropriate site collection (Please refer the following screenshot) and you will get the ID of that specific site collection.

How to find out the ID of a subsite:

1.     Save the current site as site template [.STP extension]

2.     Save it to disk somewhere.

3.     Now, navigate to that location and rename the file to .CAB extension.

4.     Extract the CAB file and find the manifest.xml file.

5.     Now, in the file check for the site ID/TemplateID string and get the value.

6.     Navigate to end of this post for the TemplateID to Name mapping.

How to find out the List ID:

1.     Navigate to the SharePoint list using the browser.

2.     Select the Settings + List Settings menu command.

3.     Copy the URL from the browser address bar into Notepad. It will look something like:

https://SharePoint2007/MOSSADMIN/_layouts/listedit.aspx?List=%7B47F2F5E2%2D6474%2D4929%2DB986%2D64BBE801C97A%7D  

Delete everything before and including “List=”.

Change “%7B” to “{”

Change all “%2D” to “-“

Chnage “%7D” to “}”

You are now left with the Id:

{47F2F5E2-6474-4929-B986-64BBE801C97A}

List of MOSS 2007 Template ID Information

0 - GLOBAL (SetupPath=global) - "Global template"

1 - STS - "windows SharePoint Services Site", "Team Site", "Blank Site", "Document Workspace"

2 - MPS - "Basic Meeting Workspace", "Blank Meeting Workspace", "Decision Meeting Workspace", "Social Meeting Workspace", "Multipage Meeting Workspace"

3 - CENTRALADMIN - "Central Admin Site"

4 - WIKI - "Wiki Site"

7 - BDR - "Document Center"

9 - BLOG - "Blog"

20 - SPS (OBSOLETE) - "SharePoint Portal Server Site"

21 - SPSPERS - "SharePoint Portal Server Personal Space"

22 - SPSMSITE - "Personalization Site"

30 - SPSTOC (OBSOLETE) - "Contents area Template"

31 - SPSTOPIC (OBSOLETE) - "Topic area template"

32 - SPSNEWS (OBSOLETE) - "News area template"

33 - SPSNHOME (SubWebOnly) - "News Home template"

34 - SPSSITES - "Site Directory area template"

36 - SPSCOMMU (OBSOLETE) - "Community area template"

38 - SPSREPORTCENTER - "Report Center Site"

39 - CMSPUBLISHING (SetupPath=SiteTemplates\PUBLISHING) - "Publishing and Team Collaboration Site"

40 - OSRV (SetupPath=SiteTemplates\OSRV) - "Shared Services Administration Site"

47 - SPSPORTAL - "Corporate Intranet Site"

50 - SRCHCEN - "Search Center"

51 - PROFILES - "Profiles"

52 - BLANKINTERNETCONTAINER - "Internet Presence Web Site"

53 - BLANKINTERNET - "Publishing Site", "Press Releases Site", "Publishing Site"

54 - SPSMSITEHOST - "My Site Host"

90 - SRCHCENTERLITE (SetupPath=SiteTemplates\SRCHCENTERLITE) - "Search Center Lite"

6221 - PWA (SetupPath=SiteTemplates\PWA) - "Project Web Access Site"

6215 - PWS (SetupPath=SiteTemplates\PWS) - "Project Workspace"

14483 - OFFILE - "Records Repository", "Records Repository"

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 Thank you