Webpart security + disable web part connections– SharePoint 2010

One of our developers has reported that he is trying to setup connection between two webparts but somehow the connection option is disabled.

There might be a possibility that you will not get a connection menu also.

By using Web Part connections, you can create or enhance your Web Part Pages. You connect Web Parts so that when you perform an action in one Web Part, it changes the contents of another Web Part.

Now the next question will arise as:

1)   Why the connection option is disabled?

2)   Why the connection menu is greyed out?

3)   Why the connection menu is not available?

4)   Is there any setting at the site collection level or at the web application level by which we need to turn on any feature/activate something…

Let me tell you guys there is a setting which is present at the web application level so need to whether its enabled or not.

How to enable this option?

1)   Open the central administration

2)   Application management

3)   Web applications

4)   Manage web applications

5)   Select the web application for which you would like to enable the option

6)   On the top-Ribbon-You will find an option as ‘webpart security’

7)   Click on it and you will get one frame window which specifies ‘security for web pages

8)   Here you will find the option of Web part connections

9)   Select the option “Allows users to create connections between Web Parts”

Click OK and that’s it. You are done. 

After doing this, still not able to setup connection between two webparts?

Let me refer you this article: http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/sharepoint-server-help/connect-data-in-web-parts-HA010024105.aspx

In which Microsoft has specified several reasons in which web part menu may not be enabled or visible on your web part page / The Connections submenu is hidden or unavailable:

1)   You are not using the correct browser. You must use Internet Explorer version 5.5 or later to create, modify, or delete a connection between Web Parts.

2)   The Web Part you are trying to connect from does not allow connections. You can try to find or import another Web Part that does what you want and that allows connections.

3)   The zone that contains the Web Part does not allow connections.

4)   The Web Parts were connected in shared view and so the connection cannot be changed in personal view. If you can, switch to shared view.

5)   You do not have permission to make Web Part connections.

6)   Web Part connections are not supported at the site.

Some other possibilities:

Only compatible Web Parts are available from the Connections submenu. This situation can occur for one or more of the following reasons:

The Web Part you are trying to connect to does not support making connections. Not all Web Parts are designed to be connected.

1)   The Web Part you are trying to connect from is not compatible with the Web Part you are trying to connect to because it has an incompatible Web Part type. This can occur for the following reasons:

2)   You are in personal view, the Web Part you are trying to connect from is a shared Web Part or personalized Web Part, and the Web Part you are trying to connect to is a private Web Part on the same Web Part Page.

3)   The Web Part you are trying to connect from is a private Web Part, and the Web Part you are trying to connect to is a shared Web Part or personalized Web Part on the same Web Part Page.

4)   The Web Part you are trying to connect to or from allows only one connection. To create a new connection, you must first remove the current connection from that Web Part.

5)   The Web Part you are trying to connect to is already connected to the Web Part you are trying to connect from through a different connection type. Web Parts can have more than one connection, but each connection must be to a different Web Part.

6)   The Web Part you are trying to connect to is not compatible with the Web Part you are trying to connect from because the Web Part is required to run on either a client or server. There are two situations that can apply:

7)   The Web Part you are trying to connect to currently runs on the client, and the Web Part you are trying to connect from runs on the server.

8)   The Web Part you are trying to connect to currently runs on the server, and the Web Part you are trying to connect from runs on the client.

In this case, the Web Parts you are trying to connect must both run either on the client or on the server.

For assistance, contact the site administrator.

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.

Datasheet view is disabled SharePoint 2010

Client machine attributes:

OS- windows 7

Explorer- IE9, 64-bit

SP version- SP2010

One of my users has reported an issue that he is facing some problems while using datasheet view. Further probing, we know the truth that he has created a custom list and then trying to click on ‘datasheet view’ but the option is disabled i.e. datasheet view is greyed out.

Error message:

This control is currently disabled.

Resolution:

Million thanks to Microsoft for publishing this KB and make it available to us to understand the background as well as resolution on this issue.

Link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2266203

As per this article:

You can install the 2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components to enable the Datasheet component. These components are available from the Microsoft download center:

2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components

Concrete Fix:

Go for a 32-bit office version, rather than 64 bit.

The list cannot be displayed in DataSheet view – SharePoint 2010

One of my team mate working on the server where windows server 2008 R2 was installed, he tried switching the view from standard to datasheet and he got the following error:

The list cannot be displayed in DataSheet view for one or more of the following reasons:

- A datasheet component compatible with Miicrosoft Sharepoint Foundation is not installed.

- Your web browser does not support ActiveX controls

- A component is not properly configured for 32- or 64-bit support.

If you are facing the above mentioned error message then I would request you to check the installed office version first.

If you have any confusion as how to check the version then please refer the following link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/24259/beginner-discover-if-youre-running-the-32-or-64-bit-version-of-office-2010/

Why we are checking the office version? Is it necessary?

Yes, it’s very necessary to know the office version we are using whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit.

Microsoft strongly recommends the use of 32-bit (x86) versions of Office 2010, Project 2010, and Visio 2010 applications as the default option for all platforms.

Resolution:

Make sure you use 32 bit version of office.

FAQ: can we install 32 bit office on 64 bit OS? – Yes, absolutely no probs.

Once you install the 32 bit office in such problematic scenarios then I am pretty sure that your issue will be resolved. Thank you.

In case of any issues/queries then please feel free to contact, I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues.

Product applies to:

SharePoint Server 2010

SharePoint Foundation 2010

Unable to process create message + User Profile + Connection problems + Event ID:6306

Today my client has requested me to setup a new environment for SharePoint which will be used for deployment purpose.

Here is the farm entity:

§  2 WFE’s

§  2 APP servers

§  Windows server 2008 R2

§  SQL Server 2008 R2: active-passive clustering

While trying to create a synchronization connection in the user profile management then we were getting the following error:

Error#1:

Unable to process create message

Error#2:

No exact match was found

Event log contains the following event id:

6306

ULS logs throwing the following error:

Microsoft.ResourceManagement.Service: System.InvalidOperationException: Retrieve schema failed

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.Create(String typeName, IList`1 createParameters, Guid creator, Guid cause)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.SyncConfigActionProcessor.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.ActionProcessor.ActionDispatcher.ProcessInputRequest(RequestType request)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction(RequestType request)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.ExecuteAction[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request, Guid requestIdentifier, Object redispatchSingleInstanceKey)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest[ResponseBodyType](RequestType request)

   at Microsoft.ResourceManagement.WebServices.ResourceManagementService.Create(Message request)

Resolution:

Thanks to this following articles (Author- Balasubramanian Murugesan) who helped me to resolve this issue:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/balasm/archive/2013/07/18/sharepoint-2010-user-profile-sync-connection-creation-failed-unable-to-process-create-message.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/balasm/archive/2012/05/18/user-profile-application-unable-to-process-create-message.aspx

Reference:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2490381

http://blogs.technet.com/b/steve_chen/archive/2011/03/04/february-2011-cu-for-sharepoint-2010.aspx?Redirected=true

http://www.harbar.net/articles/sp2010ups.aspx

Product applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

World Clock and Weather Web Part - SP2013

SharePoint is collaborative software intended to bridge the gap between remote locations within an organization or a network of people. This web part delivers a nice GUI display of time and weather and it helps keep all users connected to each others’ environments.

The Bamboo Solutions World Clock & Weather Web Part allows users to display local time and weather for selected major cities around the globe. It addresses a pretty basic need that SharePoint does not have out of the box.

In addition to supporting multiple presentation interfaces and look & feel options, the World Clock Web Part allows you to specify the size of each clock, direction (vertical or horizontal), and whether to display seconds for each clock. You can also re-order the clocks to match your requirements.

Happy to share some good news as Bamboo has released the world clock and weather webpart for SharePoint 2013.

Download: http://store.bamboosolutions.com/sharepoint-world-clock-and-weather-web-part.aspx

Enjoy and Happy SharePoint to all of you…

Million Thanks 2 Bamboo Solutions!!

Failed to start workflow. This server is not licensed + Nintex 2010 + SP2010

Problem description:

Some users reported that there are workflows with errors. This error occurs it looks like there is some issue with the license on a farm’s server.

Error message:

Failed to start workflow. This server is not licensed.

Probable Possibilities:

The server admins are incorrect; the Nintex licenses are not configured correctly.  If this were true, I would expect the error to occur more frequently, and not just when multiple workflows start.  For example, I would expect a workflow manual start to occasionally throw the error.

There is a problem with the way Nintex checks for licensing when workflows are distributed among front-end servers or queued up for execution.

Resolution:

If you are facing this error then request you to see the following thread and you will get the answers that you are looking for:

http://connect.nintex.com/forums/thread/4357.aspx

Thank you.

Product applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   Nintex 2010

3)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer + IE10 + Windows 7

The title of this article itself suggesting the exact problem description, still here are the details:

The machine on which windows 7 is running along with internet explorer 10 throws an exception when you select “Open with Explorer” in SharePoint Server 2010.

Error Message#1: Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer.

Error Message#2: We're having a problem opening this location in File Explorer. Add this web site to your Trusted Sites list and try again.

Another Symptom:

You try to map a network drive to the SharePoint Document Library and the operation fails with the following error:

The mapped network drive could not be created because the following error has occurred:

Access Denied. Before opening files in this location, you must first add the web site to your trusted sites list, browse to the web site, and select the option to login automatically.

Resolution:

Let me provide you some update on this / let me give you some good news as Microsoft has released a fix for this issue by means of KB: 2846960

Fix can be downloaded from: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2846960

Millions thanks to Microsoft Windows team to find out the root cause behind this and comes up with a concrete fix.

Happy SharePoint to all of you…

How to Open PDF files in a web browser -SharePoint 2010

One of my clients has reported an issue that they are facing some problems while opening PDF files. Further probing reflected the fact that PDF files are opening but they are getting the prompt of Open, Save and Cancel. In contradictory, the actual requirement is PDF files has to open in browser mode directly rather than saving it to the desktop.

Problem description: SharePoint 2010 prompts to save PDF documents when opening.

Now the question is: Is there a way to open a PDF in a web browser, just like Office Web Apps?

This problem is quite annoying as every time we need to save the documents to the desktop!

Started my troubleshooting to explore the options in central administration

Let me tell you the fact why this is happening? In SharePoint 2010, browser handling has been classified into 2 types:

1)   Strict

2)   Permissive

So the next obvious question will be- what are the differences between these above mentioned types? Here are the details:

Strict specifies the MIME types which are not listed in a Web Application’s AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes property (more on this in a bit) are forced to be downloaded.

Permissive specifies that the HTML and other content types which might contain script are allowed to be displayed directly in the browser. In other words, no matter what the type of content, if it lives within SharePoint, the file will open in your browser.

By default, the option is strict in Central administration so that’s why getting prompt is quite obvious.

Resolution#1 / now the question is how to change this?

1)   Open the central administration

2)   Application management

3)   Under web applications- Manage web applications

4)   Select the web application for which you want to change the settings

5)   General Settings (Top-Ribbon section)

6)   This will be open web application general settings

7)   There is a section named as ‘Browser File Handling’

8)   You will see two radio buttons as Strict and Permissive

9)   Change it to Permissive and Click OK

 No needs to do any iisreset so please go ahead and check the results!

-You should be able to open the PDF files directly in browser-

Resolution#2 – Same functionality as Resolution1, only thing is by means of Power Shell:

$webApp = Get-SPWebApplication http://webapplication_URL

$webApp.BrowserFileHandling = "permissive"

$webApp.update()

If you have some security concerns and don’t want to change the option from strict to permissive then here is the resolution:

By means of Powershell:

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(“Microsoft.SharePoint”)

$webapp = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebApplication]::Lookup(“http://web application_URL”)

If ($webApp.AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes -notcontains “application/pdf”)

{

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Adding Pdf MIME Type…”

$webApp.AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes.Add(“application/pdf”)

$webApp.Update()

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Added and saved.”

} Else {

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Pdf MIME type is already added.”

}

Now your PDF documents will be displayed in the browser even if Browser File Handling is set to Strict.

One last point, in fact important point is you may face the problem with the list or site templates. How? – We are all aware that site as well as list/libraries can be saved as templates to transfer from one location to another.

I would like to thanks to Nico Martens for publishing this article for all of us:

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Change-Browser-File-e60b46c9

Thank you.

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.

Happy SharePoint to all of you…

Product Applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

Open PDF files in the browser from SharePoint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfIEmoq-F0

Installing Windows 2012 from Windows 7 (32-bit) failed.

Problem:  The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you’re running. Check your computer system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) versions of the program and then contact the software publisher. 

Background: I was trying to install windows 2012 on my Notebook the Dell Latitude Series E6230.   

However realized I came with the 32-bit Windows 7 operating system. As any normal IT Pro first I tried to run the setup.exe and then got the above error. Sooner or later I realized that 32 bit version O.S doesn't support 64 bit versions application. I was not having any DVD or CD drive where I can burn ISO of Windows 2012.

Resolution: I tried a new method; by converting my USB flash drive to bootable flash drive using Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool downloaded from MS store for free.

You just need to run the set-up.exe and rest the tool do everything for you.

Go to BIOS by pressing F10 or F12 and boot your PC from the Flash/Thumb Drive your set-up will automatically launch.

Thanks for Mr Bob hunt for his reference below:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/blainbar/archive/2012/09/05/step-by-step-booting-windows-server-2012-rtm-from-thumb-drive-creating-a-new-bootable-virtual-hard-disk-from-scratch-by-blain-barton.aspx

Other references:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/bobh/archive/2012/09/04/the-simplest-was-to-create-a-bootable-windows-server-2012-or-windows-8-usb-key.aspx

http://arstechnica.com/business/2009/12/the-usb-flash

-drive

Manual way to make bootable drive and install the O.S.

Applies to: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.

Unable to create a secure URL cache + site could not be created + Group cannot be found + Verify that the file exists in the Layouts directory - SharePoint 2010

Recently I worked on language packs requirement and faced some problems. I would like to share some reviews with all of you so that it would be beneficial to all of you. One of my business owner has requested me to install the language packs (French and German) so we have downloaded the language packs from the following links:

Plain language pack

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=3411

Language pack with service pack1

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=26621

So by this way we have successfully installed the language packs on every server of the farm i.e. on every app as well as on every WFE.

Note: Make sure you run the psconfig on every server of the farm.

till this point, we are good without any problems.

But the problem started after this- We start creating the site collection by using this installed language packs example French! and it failed with the following ERROR MESSAGE:

The site /sites/French could not be created.  The following exception occurred: Error adding custom access permissions. Group cannot be found. 
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroup.InitMember() 
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroup..ctor(SPWeb web, SPSecurableObject scope, SPUser user, String GroupName, Object[,] arrGroupsData, UInt32 index, Int32 iByParamId, SPGroupCollectionType groupCollectionType)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroupCollection.get_Item(String name) 
 at amolsharepoint.CustomPermission.Features.amolspCustomPermission.amolsharepointCustomPermissionEventReceiver.FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties).

So the problem is: not able to create the site collection

Tried creating the site collection by means of central administration as well as by PowerShell but got the same error as mentioned above.

From the error message, it’s quite clear that the problem is with specific solution/event receiver. Let me tell you that we have custom permissions in our environment and separate solution for that.

Involved developer and reviewed the specific solution and he has stated that the solution has been created & deployed with respect to English locale only so we need to make provisions for the other language packs.

Developer has made that provision and we deployed the solution again!

Tried creating the site again and it works this time.

So now one issue has been resolved regarding site creation! After this, we tried browsing the site collection and got the following error:

Unable to create a secure URL cache "1036/styles/customCOREV10_0020.CSS", file not found. Verify that the file exists in the Layouts directory.

From the error message, its quite clear what will be the next action plan!

What we did?

Simple copy the above mentioned .css file from english folder i.e. 1033 to French folder i.e. 1036.

That’s it- Try browsing the site now and it will open without any issues…

Thank you.

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 once again.

Product applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

Language Packs for SharePoint Server 2013

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=37140

Language packs in SharePoint Server 2013

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff463597.aspx

Language Packs for SharePoint Foundation 2013

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35492