When deploying InfoPath forms with data connections between environments it is possible to use centrally managed data connection files to make the process a bit smoother.

To set up a centrally managed data connection do the following:

• From your InfoPath form select Data Connections... from the Data menu
• Select the data connection you want to make centrally managed and click the Convert button
• A .udcx file will be created in a site collection data connections library you select so it may be necessary to set up a data connections library first
• Navigate to the site collection data connections library and save the .udcx file locally
• Go to SharePoint Central Administration - Application Management - Manage Data Connection Files
• Upload the .udcx file to the central data connection files library
• Go back to the InfoPath form and remove the existing data connections.
• Recreate the data connections using Search for connections on a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
• Create the connection using the .udcx file that was saved to the site collection data connection library but make sure that you click on Connection Options... and select Centrally Managed
• Configure the controls on the form to use the data connection as normal

The form will now use the centrally managed data connection. To deploy to another environment (eg. UAT, Production) you will need to upload the .udcx file to the relevant SharePoint Central Administraion after altering it to use the connection properties relevant to the new environment. To update the .udcx file open it in a text editor and alter the following parameters (example is for a connection to a SharePoint list):

   <udc:ListId>{175EC1CF-BF41-4848-B775-40277642B99F}</udc:ListId>
   <udc:WebUrl>https://productionurl.co.uk/</udc:WebUrl>

Where ListId is the SharePoint list id and WebUrl is the url of the site collection that holds the SharePoint list.

When you deploy your InfoPath form it will reference the centrally managed .udcx file allowing it to seamlessly connect with data in the new environment.

I finally got bored of rewriting the same console application to move data from a csv or a sql table into a SharePoint list! The result is a generic console application that is capable of importing either a CSV file or some SQL data from a stored procedure. The app uses the object model so it needs to be run on the SharePoint server farm. I may get round to rewriting it using web services at some point. The CSV import parses the file so that things like line breaks and commas within fields are handled nicely. Any blank fields in the CSV do need to be filled using find and replace on blank space otherwise data ends up in the wrong columns.

To import a CSV the first row of the of the CSV file is used to define which columns the data will import to. Eg. A CSV that has one column with a header of Title will import the data into the Title column of the specified list. Modify the App.Config file to include the URL of your site collection, the list name, the path to the CSV and whether or not you want to delete all items in the list before importing.

To import SQL data create a stored procedure that returns the data as the names of the site columns

Eg. Select Name AS Title from tblPerson - will return one column of data that will import into the Title column of a list. Modify the App.Config to include the name of the stored procedure and the SQL connection string and run the app.

You can download the project from the following link:

AG.GenericSharePointListImporter.zip (41.72 kb)

This application is supplied as is and offers no guarantees feel free to use as you wish all I ask is that if you make any improvements then you share them in the comments or by email.

A basic javascript function to toggle an elements class property.

<script language="javascript">
 function ToggleClass(id, class1, class2)
 {
  try
  {
   if(document.getElementById(id).className == class1)
   {
    document.getElementById(id).className = class2;
   }
   else
   {
    document.getElementById(id).className = class1;
   }
  }

  catch(e)
  {
     window.alert(e.description);
   }
 }

</script>

An example of how this can be used to hide and show sections in a page:

<html>
<style>
.Row
{
   float:left;
   clear:left;
}

.AddressRow
{
   float:left;
   clear:left;
   padding:0px 0px 5px 0px;
}

.AddressRowNoDisplay
{
   float:left;
   clear:left;
   padding:0px 0px 5px 0px;
   Display:None;
}

.Field
{
   float:left;
   padding-right:10px;
}

</style>

<head>

<script language="javascript">

 function ToggleClass(id, class1, class2)
 {
  try
  {
   if(document.getElementById(id).className == class1)
   {
    document.getElementById(id).className = class2;
   }
   else
   {
    document.getElementById(id).className = class1;
   }
  }

  catch(e)
  {
     window.alert(e.description);
   }
 }

</script></head>
<body>

<div class="Row">
<div class="Field">Aidan Garnish </div>
<div class="Field">0191 4562736</div>
<div class="Field"><a href="javascript:ToggleClass('Address1', 'AddressRow', 'AddressRowNoDisplay')">Show/Hide detail</a>
</div>
<div id="Address1" class="AddressRowNoDisplay">
55 Jumble Avenue, Googenheim, GH1 5SD
</div>

<div class="Row">
<div class="Field">Brian Cosby </div>
<div class="Field">0192 3568736</div>
<div class="Field"><a href="javascript:ToggleClass('Address2', 'AddressRow', 'AddressRowNoDisplay')">Show/Hide detail</a>
</div>
<div id="Address2" class="AddressRowNoDisplay">
37 Ungerton Road, Googenheim, GH1 7WS
</div>

<body>
</html>

It is possible to add logic to InfoPath forms so that certain fields are displayed based on the value of another field. For example - if a user fills in their age on a form as being 17 or greater then the question - Do you hold a full driving license? - becomes visible. In the UK this question is not relevant if the user is less than 17.

To do this using InfoPath 2007 you will need to create a form with the two questions - How old are you? and - Do you hold a current driving license? Add a two row, two column table to your form. Add the How old are you? question in the top left box. In the top right box add a text box that takes a whole number, call it Age and set it with a default of 0.

Next, merge the two cells in the bottom row and add an optional section control. Insert a table with one row and two columns to the optional control. Add the Do you hold a current driving license? question to the table. In the right hand table cell add a drop down list box that has options of select..., Yes and No.

Set the section properties to display the section by default. You should now have something that looks like this when previewed:

Next right click on the optional section and select 'Section properties...' Select 'Display' and then 'Conditional Formatting...'

Click Add - set the condition to be Age is less than or equal to 16 and check the 'Hide this control' option.

Preview the form again and you should see:

Enter an age greater than 17 to display the optional question:

Change the age to less than 17 and the question will be hidden again.

A handy link that explains how to add html tags to your rich text boxes in InfoPath using C#.

 http://enterprise-solutions.ikreate.nl/blog/2008/07/how-do-i-get-html-tags-to-appear-as-html-and-not-as-plain-text-in-a-rich-text-box/

Having created an InfoPath form project using Visual Studio 2008 and adding some code behind to the form I wanted to deploy it to SharePoint. The easiest way to do this should have been to use the publishing wizard to create an installer file. However, there seems to be a bug in Visual Studio 2008 that prevents you from selecting this option in the wizard. The message displayed is that you need VS 2003 or 2005 installed to create the installer file.

There is a way around this by using the REGFORM.exe tool found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12. The tool allows you to create a .js file that marks the .xsn as fully trusted so that it can be added to the managed forms collection on your MOSS farm.

First you need to go to VS and the Publish option in the Build menu. Instead of selecting the create installer option publish to a network location and create the .xsn on your file system.

Next, open up a command prompt and navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\regform.exe.

Supply the necessary parameters - these are, the /U the URN for the form which can be found in VS, File - Form Properties - ID, /T Yes to mark the form as fully trusted (this is necessary to deploy it to SharePoint) and finally the path to the .xsn file.

You should end up with something like - regform.exe /U urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:infopath:MyForm:-myXSD-2008-08-07T13-36-16 /T Yes C:\Forms\MyForm

Running the command will create a .bak file and a .js file in the same folder as the .xsn. Run the .js file and then open SharePoint central administration. Go to the Applications tab and under the InfoPath forms services section select Manage Form Templates.

This Microsoft article explains the rest of the process to make the form available in a site collection in detail

If you run the .js in your development environment you will need to unregister the form before you will be able to open it again from Visual Studio. To do this open the .js file in Notepad and change var fInstall = true; to var fInstall = false; - Run the .js file again and this time the message prompts will tell you the form is being unregistered. You can now run the form from Visual Studio again.

When I first looked at MOSS WCM to assess whether it would meet the needs of my previous employers web content approval processes many moons ago I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much you could achieve out of the box. Recently I needed to revisit this topic for a new client and promptly forgot what I had discovered and charged off looking at custom workflows using SharePoint Designer or Visual Studio. Fortunately before I got too far down that road I reigned myself in and went digging through the workflow settings of a pages library. This is what I found out/reminded myself of:

• Using the set up screens you can change the lists used to store the workflow tasks and workflow history
• Start options can be changed although the standard settings - 'Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item.' is the most appropriate for approving a page for an Internet or extranet site
• It is possible to switch between serial and parallel approval - most useful if a web page has to go to more than one person or department for approval or the page needs to be approved by people in a specific order
• There are options to allow the following - 'Reassign the task to another person' and 'Request a change before completing the task' - these can be turned on or off as appropriate
• Default approvers can be entered into the workflow

With all these options available it is possible to accomodate the vast majority of scenarios for approving web pages without having to resort to SharePoint Designer or Visual Studio. Even scenarios that involve several people or departments in the process can easily be catered for and using the 'Request change before completing the task' option even allows the page to be sent back for changes before approval is given. 

The moral of the story here is a common one when developing with SharePoint - don't try to reinvent the wheel, the SharePoint development team got there first!

Some useful links for creating MOSS 2007 features that I have found helpful:

Creating Features

• Features introduction and a few examples
• Feature for creating site colums and content types
• Custom document library feature
• MSDN feature documentation

Deploying Features

• Article by Andrew Connell on creating a feature deployment wsp
• MOSS deployment: Lists, site columns, content types, master pages and layouts as features

Removing Features

• Feature receivers - removing items on deactivation of a feature
• Microsoft documentation on feature receivers

When using SPS 2003 some of the business coordinators requested a way to allow users to manage permissions whilst not being able to create a new sub-site. This was not possible out of the box as the administrator role allowed the user to create new sub-sites as well as manage permissions.

 In MOSS 2007 this is now possible by ceating a new site permission.

   1. Go to Site Action Menu.
   2. On that menu, go to Site Settings.
   3. Choose People and Groups
   4. On the quick launch bar, there is a link to Site Permissions.
   5. On the Settings menu, select Permission Levels.
   6. On the Permission Level page, select new to create a new permission level.
   7. Add the permission that you want (in this case, Manage Permissions but not Create Subsites).
   8. Name it Permissions Manager
   9. You can now assign users to that permission level 

A quick code snippet to remind me how to access a list using the in built web services: 

                MOSSWebRef.Lists lists = new MOSSWebRef.Lists();
               
                lists.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("username", "password");

                string exportList = "NameOfList";

                XmlNode node = lists.GetListItems(
                    exportList,                   
                    string.Empty,
                    null,
                    null,
                    ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MaxRecords"].ToString(),
                    null);

                XmlTextReader xr = new XmlTextReader(node.OuterXml, XmlNodeType.Element, null);          
                string strValue = "";
                while (xr.Read())
                {
                    if (xr.ReadToFollowing("z:row"))
                    {
                         if (xr["ows_nodeName"] != null)
                        {
                           strValue = xr["ows_nodeName"].ToString();
                        }

                    }

               }