We need to login SharePoint Designer 2010 using different credentials.

Resolution:

SharePoint Designer 2010 has icon on left bottom which allows to login using different credentials.

We need to associate a workflow with a list or create an instance of workflow for a list using SharePoint Object Model (OM)

Resolution:

In order to associate workflow with a list, we will be using CreateListAssociation method of SPWorkflowAssociaition class. We need following four values:

• baseTemplate – The workflow template on which to base this workflow association.
• Name – The name to give this workflow association.
• taskList – The task list on which to create workflow tasks for this workflow association.
• historyList – The list to which to log workflow history events

Code is as under:

using(SPSite spSite = new SPSite(“SiteURL”))

{

SPWeb spWeb = spSite.OpenWeb();

SPList assocList = spWeb.Lists["NameOfTheList"];

SPWorkflowTemplate wflTemplate = spWeb.WorkflowTemplates.GetTemplateByName(“NameOfWorkflowTemplate”, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);

SPList wflTaskList = spWeb.Lists["Tasks"];

SPList wflHistoryList = spWeb.Lists["Workflow History"];

SPWorkflowAssociation wflAss = SPWorkflowAssociation.CreateListAssociation(wflTemplate, “NameOfTheWorkflow”, wflTaskList, wflHistoryList);

wflAss.AutoStartChange = false;

wflAss.AutoStartCreate = false;

wflAss.AllowManual = true;

spWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;

assocList.AddWorkflowAssociation(wflAss);

assocList.Update();

spWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;

}

Migration of Workflows: In order to migrate workflow from one site to other or from one server to other, we need to take care of three or four files mentioned previously. These files contain hard coded list and site GUID along with other details.

In case of OOTB workflow, instance details are stored in content database and can be seen in the table of “WorkflowAssociation”. Column “InstantiationParams” contains the details of users, order, due date etc. in XML format while other columns have of site / web / list IDs, name / description of workflow, task / history list IDs and names.

In case of SPD workflows, the definitions of workflow files are stored in list “workflows” created at the root of each site and web. In case of SPD 2007, files generated for a workflow are xoml, xoml.wfconfig.xml, aspx and xoml.rules if rules are used in the workflow.

Moving back to our original topic of migration, we need to change the GUID / ID of lists that are coded in xoml.wfconfig.xml file and you are done. A lot of third party workflow migrators are available but if you are interested in an open source solution, codeplex gives you hope.

http://spwflmigrator.codeplex.com/

This is a good resource for starting. Thanks rane_peinl J

In case of SPD 2010 workflows, files generated for a workflow are xoml, xoml.wfconfig.xml, xsn and xoml.rules if rules are used in the workflow. The big difference is the implementation of initiation form. In SPD 2007 workflow, initiation form is aspx page while in case of SPD 2010, initiation form is an InfoPath form. If you export the InfoPath form, add .cab with the form name and extract it, you will be able to find files that are generated as part of InfoPath form.

When we tried to migrate SPD 2010 workflow from one list to other, we were able to read xoml.wfconfig.xml and replace all the related IDs with the destination but we are unable to create a working InfoPath form. Although InfoPath is migrated successfully but when we try to start workflow, “Form has some error” message appeared. Creating a working initiation form for the migrated workflow doesn’t seem to be happening.

We do have third party solution that claims to migrate SPD 2010 workflow but I am waiting for their support response.

Out Of the Box Workflows: OOTB workflows are workflows which come with SharePoint server installation.

In MOSS, these workflows come in rigid form. You can’t customize them. The only option available is to create instance of OOTB workflows in different list or libraries and run them as they are. The instance details of OOTB workflows are stored in content database.

In SharePoint 2010, OOTB workflows are also termed as “Globally Reusable Workflows”. Other than “Three State workflow” which comes with SharePoint Foundations (free of cost), all other workflows comes with server or enterprise licenses. Great news is that these workflows can be customized using SPD 2010. The definition of OOTB workflows can be found using SPD 2010. Open site in SPD 2010 and select “All Files”. In the right pane, select “_catalogs” and then “wfpub”, you will be able to find OOTB workflows.

When you customize “Globally Reusable Workflow”, the definition of newly created workflow is stored in a list “workflows”.

SharePoint Designer Workflows: Workflows created using SPD are termed as SPD workflows. They are also called declarative workflows because they consist of Extensible Markup Language (XOML) rather than compile code as in the case of Visual Studio workflows.

In SPD 2007, we have only one type of workflow, namely, List workflow. In case of SPD 2010, we have three different types of workflows, namely, List, Reusable and Site workflows. When we create a new SPD workflow, a list “workflows” is created if don’t exist. Workflows list is not visible in SharePoint UI and can be accessed via SPD or SharePoint Object Model (OM). We can traverse workflows list using OM as under:

using (SPSite spSite = new SPSite(“Site_URL”))

{

SPWeb spWeb = spSite.OpenWeb();

SPList spList = spWeb.Lists["workflows"];

foreach (SPListItem spListItem in spList.Items)

{

Console.WriteLine(spListItem.Name);

}

}

In case of SPD, open site in SPD and select “All Files”. In the right pane, select “workflows” and you will be able to find SPD workflows

Workflows list contains all the files related to a particular workflow. For each SPD workflow, three or four files are created depending upon the existence rules or conditions.

• xoml – Contains all the activities included in the workflow in Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) format
• xoml.wfconfig.xml – Contains details of the list or site GUIDs and start configuration of the workflow
• xsn or aspx – In MOSS, an aspx page is created for starting workflow. In SharePoint 2010, we have InfoPath form in place of aspx page
• xoml.rules – Contains workflow rules if used

In the next post we will discuss the issues relating to migration of SPD workflows.

We need to migrate List Views from SharePoint 2010 Server to SharePoint Online. We can use Web Services or Client Model. We decided to use Views Web Service.

Resolution:

First, we created a class which stores view information.

public class ListViewInfo

{

public ListViewInfo()

{

}

[DataMember]

public string listName { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public string viewName { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public string viewGUID { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public string openApplicationExtension { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewFields { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewQuery { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode rowLimit { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public string type { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public bool makeViewDefault { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewHeader { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewBody { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewFooter { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewEmpty { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode rowLimitExceeded { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewToolBar { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewAggregations { get; set; }

[DataMember]

public XmlNode viewFormat { get; set; }

}

We created two methods to get views information and to create views.

public static List<ListViewInfo> GetViewDetails(string listUrl)

{

List<ListViewInfo> listViewList = new List<ListViewInfo>();

ListViewInfo listView = new ListViewInfo();

string viewXML = string.Empty;

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();

using (SPSite spSite = new SPSite(“SiteURL”))

{

using (SPWeb spWeb = spSite.OpenWeb())

{

SPList spList = spWeb.GetList(listUrl);

SPViewCollection spViewColl = spList.Views;

foreach (SPView spView in spViewColl)

{

viewXML = spView.HtmlSchemaXml;

doc.LoadXml(viewXML);

XmlNode root = doc.FirstChild;

listView.listName = spList.Title;

listView.viewName = root.Attributes["DisplayName"].Value;

listView.viewGUID = root.Attributes["Name"].Value;

listView.viewFields = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewFields”);

listView.viewQuery = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/Query”);

listView.rowLimit = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/RowLimit”);

listView.type = spView.Type;

listView.makeViewDefault = spView.DefaultView;

listView.viewHeader = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewHeader”);

listView.viewFooter = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewFooter”);

listView.viewBody = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewBody”);

listView.viewEmpty = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewEmpty”);

listView.viewToolBar = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/ViewToolbar”);

listView.viewAggregations = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/Aggregations”);

listView.viewFormat = root.SelectSingleNode(“/View/Formats”);

listView.openApplicationExtension = spView.OpenApplicationExtension;

listViewList.Add(listView);

listView = new ListViewInfo();

doc.RemoveAll();

}

}

}

return listViewList;

}

public static void createOrUpdateListView(List<ListViewInfo> listViewList)

{

ViewSvr.Views viewSrv = new ViewSvr.Views();

viewSrv.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

viewSrv.Url = “http://SiteURL/_vti_bin/Views.asmx”;

if (listViewList.Count > 0)

{

string listName = listViewList[0].listName;

XmlNode viewColl = viewSrv.GetViewCollection(listName);

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

xmlDoc.LoadXml(“<root>” + viewColl.InnerXml + “</root>”);

XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(xmlDoc.NameTable);

nsmgr.AddNamespace(“XYZ”, “http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/”);

foreach (XPSListView listView in listViewList)

{

XmlNode foundView = xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode(@”/root/XYZ:View[@DisplayName='" + listView.viewName + "']“, nsmgr);

if (foundView == null)

{

//add view

XmlNode nv = viewSrv.AddView(listView.listName, listView.viewName, listView.viewFields, listView.viewQuery, listView.rowLimit, listView.type, listView.makeViewDefault);

}

else

{

//update view

XmlNode uv = viewSrv.UpdateViewHtml2(listView.listName, foundView.Attributes["Name"].Value, null, listView.viewToolBar, listView.viewHeader, listView.viewBody, listView.viewFooter, listView.viewEmpty, listView.rowLimitExceeded, listView.viewQuery,listView.viewFields, listView.viewAggregations,listView.viewFormat,listView.rowLimit, listView.openApplicationExtension);                    }

foundView = null;

}

}

}

P.S. We have used UpdateViewHtml2 Method to update the view but not able to find viewProperties. Please let me know if anyone find the mapping.

Also, please add web reference of Views Web Service in your project and replace following line with your web reference

ViewSvr.Views viewSrv = new ViewSvr.Views();

We need to add an entry in “<assemblies>” section of the “web.config” file of specific web application using power shell script

Resolution:

Param ( [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true, Position=0)]

[Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell.SPWebApplicationPipeBind]

$WebApplication

)

$WebApp = $WebApplication.Read()

Write-Host $WebApp

$configMod = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebConfigModification

$configMod.Name = “add[@name=""assembly""]“

$configMod.Path = “/configuration/system.web/compilation/assemblies”

$configMod.Value = “<add assembly=”"AjaxControlToolkit, Version=3.0.30930.28736, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=28f01b0e84b6d53e”" />”

$configMod.Sequence = 0

$configMod.Type = 0 #for enum value of SPWebConfigModification.SPWebConfigModificationType.EnsureChildNode

$configMod.Owner = “Ajax”

$WebApp.WebConfigModifications.Add($configMod)

$WebApp.Update()

$WebApp.Parent.ApplyWebConfigModifications()

Resource: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2010/09/14/use-powershell-to-script-changes-to-the-sharepoint-web-config-file.aspx

We need to include “ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit” in our webpart.

Resolution:

1 – Download “ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit” binary version from following:

http://ajaxcontroltoolkit.codeplex.com/releases/view/33804

2 – Add assembly “AjaxControlToolkit.dll” into GAC using gacutil.exe

gacutil.exe /i “AjaxControlToolkit.dll”

3 – Add following line in “<assemblies>” section of the “web.config” file of specific web application

<add assembly=”AjaxControlToolkit, Version=3.0.30930.28736, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=28f01b0e84b6d53e” />

4 – Add reference of “AjaxControlToolkit.dll” in your project for server side and for client side add following line:

<%@ Register Assembly=”AjaxControlToolkit” Namespace=”AjaxControlToolkit” TagPrefix=”ajax” %>

We were required to add / display discussion forum / discussion board as a webpart on a publishing page.

Resolution:

We used “XsltListViewWebPart” webpart to accomplish above requirement

$webpart = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.XsltListViewWebPart

$webpart.ListId = $list.ID;

$webpart.ViewGuid = $list.DefaultView.ID.ToString();

$webpart.AllowClose = $false;

$webpart.AllowConnect = $false;

$webpart.AllowEdit = $false;

$webpart.AllowHide = $false;

$webpart.AllowMinimize = $false;

$webpart.AllowZoneChange = $false;

$webpart.ChromeType = [System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.PartChromeType]::None;

$webpartmanager=$web.GetLimitedWebPartManager($pageUrl,

[System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.PersonalizationScope]

::Shared)

$webpartmanager.AddWebPart($webpart, “Zone 1″, 0);

You need to set following variables:

$list = Get the reference of list. In our case, it was discussion forum

$pageUrl = Url of the page

We need to create discussion board / discussion forum using power shell script

Resolution:

$spWeb = Get-SPWeb $webURL

$listTemplate = [Microsoft.SharePoint.SPListTemplateType]::DiscussionBoard

$spWeb.Lists.Add(“Discussion Forum”, “Custom List”, [int]$listTemplate)

Thanks to my friend Abdur Raheem