Service Pack 2 for WSS and MOSS

Microsoft has announced release of this service pack, and it will be available on 28th Apr 2009. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server SP2 include fixes and enhancements designed to improve performance, availability, and stability in your server farms. SP2 provides the groundwork for future major releases of SharePoint Products and Technologies.
· An STSADM command line that scans your server farm to establish whether it is ready for upgrade to the next version of SharePoint and provides feedback and best practice recommendations on your current environment.
· SP2 offers support for standards-based documents formats and compatibility with a broader range of Web browsers.
· Substantial improvements to Forms-based authentication.
· Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Server R2 will be supported on their release.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
· The performance and stability of content deployment and variations feature has been improved.
· A new tool has been added to the STSADM command-line utility that enables a SharePoint administrator to scan sites that use the variations feature for errors.
Excel Services
· SP2 makes it easier to configure Excel Web Access Web Parts on new sites.
· Several rendering, calculation, and security issues have been resolved.
· Some display issues have been addressed.
· Improved compatibility with Mozilla Firefox browsers.

How to Create site programmatically

Code :

using(SPSite oSiteCollection = new SPSite("http://"Server_Name")){

SPContext.Current.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;

SPWebCollection objWebs = oSiteCollection .Webs;

objWebs.Add("strUrl", "strTitle", "strDescription", 1033,"STS#0", true, false);

SPContext.Current.Web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;

}

There are three overload for creating site. First overload simply give the name of the site that you want to create which does not give us much flexibility.Rest two overloaded method has only one difference. Difference is of specifying the site template. you want to use team site, blank site, wiki, blog. What kind of a site you want to create goes here.

Parameters used in the above code :

strWebUrl :A string that contains the new Web site URL relative to the root Web site in the site collection. For example, to create a Web site at http://MyServer/sites/MySiteCollection/MyNewWebsite, specify MyNewWebsite, or to create a Web site one level lower at http://MyServer/sites/MySiteCollection/Website/MyNewWebsite, specify Website/MyNewWebsite.
strTitle : A string that contains the title.
strDescription : A string that contains the description.
nLCID : A 32-bit unsigned integer that specifies the locale ID.
strWebTemplate :A string that contains the name of the site definition configuration or site template. The following table shows the values for the default site definition configurations that are included in an installation of Windows SharePoint Services.
STS#0 -Team Site
STS#1 -Blank Site
STS#2 -Document Workspace
MPS#0 -Basic Meeting Workspace
MPS#1 -Blank Meeting Workspace
MPS#2 -Decision Meeting Workspace
MPS#3 -Social Meeting Workspace
MPS#4 -Multipage Meeting Workspace
WIKI#0 -Wiki
BLOG#0 -Blog
By default, a global site template (GLOBAL#0) is added to all site definitions. You cannot explicitly create a site based on a global site template.
useUniquePermissions : true to create a subsite that does not inherit permissions from another site; otherwise, false .
bConvertIfThere : true to convert an existing folder of the same name to a SharePoint site. false to throw an exception that indicates that a URL path with the specified site name already exists.
[Return ValueAn SPWEB object that represents the new Web site.]

Don't want to create new version or want to edit fields like Author, Modified, etc
When you have versioning enabled on document library or list and when you do not want to create a new version even you are updating an item in the list or document library at that time you can use this method because Update will create version for the item.

Many times i also found that in workflow when you want to update any item on which workflow is running and if you use Update method on the SPListItem, it throws Error in terms on Error Starting in Workflow. When i use this UpdateOverwriteVersion, it didn't give me.

With the help of this method, you can also set certain properties like Author, Editor and Modified. Remember you need to change both Author as well as Editor on these properties to take effect.

Example :

using (SPSite objSite = new SPSite("http://server/"))
{
using (SPWeb objWeb = objSite.OpenWeb())
{
SPList objDocLib = objWeb.Lists["Shared Documents"];
SPListItem objItem = objDocLib.Items[0];
objItem ["Created"] = new DateTime(2008, 5, 5);
objItem ["Author"] = "{author}";
objItem ["Editor"] = "{editor}";
objItem ["Modified"] = new DateTime(2008, 5, 6);
objItem.UpdateOverwriteVersion();
}
}

How to Hide fields in Newform.aspx/editform.aspx

Suppose you don't want to show a column/field in Newform.aspx or Editform.aspx for a list. There are couple of way to hide a column from Newform.aspx/Editform.aspx. I have used the javascript in Content Editor webpart to hide the column in Newform.aspx. I open the Newform.aspx in the browser. By default the "Editpage" option for this page will be disabled. To the URL of the page add "&Toolpaneview=2". You will be able to edit the page. Click on "Add a new webpart" and select "Content Editor Webpart". In the "source view" add the following code :

//
script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">_spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push("hideFields");
function hideFields() {var control = getTagFromIdentifierAndTitle("Input","TextField","Misc");control.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.style.display="none";}
function getTagFromIdentifierAndTitle(tagName, identifier, title) {
var len = identifier.length;var tags = document.getElementsByTagName(tagName);
for (var i=0; i < tags.length; i++) {var tempString = tags[i].id;if (tags[i].title == title && (identifier == "" tempString.indexOf(identifier) == tempString.length - len)) {return tags[i];}}return null;}
//
//
The Above code assumes that you have a Textfield named "Misc".

SharePoint internet version licencing

You cannot have both Internet version and Standard/enterprise version of MOSS 2007 on the same farm. There is no limitation from the product side, but more from the licencing policy. If you wish to have both Internet and Intranet access in the same Farm, then you need to buy two licences(Internet and Standard/enterprise) of MOSS 2007 for your Index server. Also, remember that you need to buy Windows Internet connector licence for each of the Windows 2003 server exposed to internet(which will host annonymous content).

Configure features of an information management policy
[NOTE : Some of these features are available only with 2007 Office aplications, so please read carefully]

Site administrators may have access to all or some of the following features depending on which information management features have been enabled in Central Administration. You may also have additional custom features that have been created specifically for your organization

Open the Edit Policy page
You can access the Edit Policy page from either a site collection policy or a policy that has been added to a site content type.
Open the Edit Policy page for a site collection policy
1. On the home page of the site collection, click Site Actions, point to Site Settings, and then click Modify All Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, in the Site Collection Administration section, click Site collection policies.
3. Select the policy whose features you want to configure.
Open the Edit Policy page for a content type policy
1. On the home page of the site collection, click Site Actions, point to Site Settings, and then click Modify All Site Settings.
2. On the Site Settings page, in the Galleries section, click Site content types.
3. Select the content type that the policy has been associated with, and then click Information management policy settings.
4. Click Define a policy to open the Edit Policy page for the content type.
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Learn about the label policy feature
The label policy feature enables site administrators to create uniform labels for 2007 Microsoft Office system documents. Labels are useful for ensuring that information about document properties is attached to a document when it is printed. Item properties stored in columns, such as file name, author, creation date, status, project name, and schedule information, can be included in a label.
By default, labels are displayed in the document header; however, end users can insert a label anywhere in the document by using the Insert tab in 2007 Office release programs, such as Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007. Labels are applied to all documents to which that policy is applied.
Policy administrators can determine the following label attributes:
 What information to include in the label, such as metadata defined in item columns as well as hard-coded text and formatting characters. Labels can contain up to ten column references, each of which can be up to 255 characters long.
 The label format, including its overall height and width, text style, font, and size, line breaks, and tabs. By default, the label height is one inch, but label height can be set from .25 to 20 inches. Label width can be from .25 to 20 inches. Label text is always vertically centered within the label image.
 Whether 2007 Office release programs prompt end users to insert a label before a document is saved or printed, or whether the label can be manually added at the discretion of the end user. Users are also able to delete a label from a document if needed.
 Whether the label content should be locked when it is first added to a document, or whether it can be updated as column information changes. Labels are only locked when all required metadata is present on the label.
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Add labels to a policy
1. Open the Edit Policy page for the policy to which you want to add labels.
2. On the Edit Policy page, in the Labels section, click Enable labels.
3. To ensure that a label is always added to a document, select the check box Prompt users to insert a label before saving or printing.
NOTE All settings apply to the entire label. You may need to adjust either the text formatting or the label size to ensure that the text displays properly.
Clear this check box if the label policy is optional and you want end users to manually insert a label into their documents.
4. To lock a label so that it cannot be changed, even if column information changes, select the check box, Prevent changes to labels after they are added.
To allow label changes when information in the column settings changes, clear this check box.
5. In the Label Format box, type the text of the label as you want it to be displayed.
 Type the names of the columns that you want displayed in the order in which you want them to appear in the label. Enclose column names in curly braces ({ }) as shown on the page.
 If desired, you can type a column identifier outside the braces as shown in the example on the page.
 To add a line break to a label, type \n in the label box where you want the line break to appear.
 To add a tab, type \t in the label field where you want the text indented.
6. In the Appearance section, select the text formatting for the label. Be sure to use a font and font style that will be available on end-users' computers. The font size also will affect how much text can be displayed on the label.
7. In the Label Size section, type the height and width of the label. Label height can be from .25 to 20 inches long and label width can be from .25 to 20 inches wide. Label text is always vertically centered within the label image.
8. Click Refresh to preview the label content.
Make sure that your text fits into the label height and width specified. Text that is too large for the label will not be displayed.
NOTE Actual column values will not be displayed in the preview.
9. Click OK to apply the label feature to the policy.
Troubleshooting labels
To ensure that labels print correctly, check the following:
 All columns that are listed in the label format exist in the document library.
 Label content is not longer than the length of the label.
 Text formatting (such as font style) is valid. If formatting parameters are invalid or refer to fonts that don't exist on the client system, a label is created, but uses the default formatting values.
If some of the metadata values currently required for the label are not yet filled in, a notification dialog is displayed telling users that some of the metadata required for the label is missing. Users can go to the Document Information Panel to fill in the missing metadata.
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Add event auditing to a policy
The auditing feature of site collection policy enables companies to create and analyze audit trails for their documents as well as for nondocument list items, such as task lists, issues lists, discussion groups, and calendars. The feature provides an audit log that records events, such as when content is viewed, edited, published, and so on. When auditing is enabled in a policy, policy administrators can view the audited data in Excel-based policy usage reports, which summarize current usage. You can review each report to review how information is being used within the organization. Audit log reports can help organizations verify and document regulatory compliance or investigate potential concerns.
The audit log captures the following information:
 Event name.
 Date and time of the event.
 System name of the user performing the action.
1. Open the Edit Policy page for the policy to which you want to add auditing.
2. On the Edit Policy page, in the Auditing section, select the Enable auditing check box, and then select the check boxes next to the events you want to keep an audit trail for.
3. Click OK to apply the auditing feature to the policy.
When auditing is enabled, events related to items covered by this policy will be listed in the log. To view the audit logs, on the Site Settings page, click Audit log reports, and then select the report that you have set up.
NOTE Auditing provides information on when an item is changed, but not the details of what has changed. Thus, it should not be considered as a document versioning or backup tool.
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Add barcodes to a policy
Barcodes are particularly useful for managing physical records because they provide a way to track nondigital assets, such as printed documents, and physical items, such as products, prototypes, and computer hardware. Unlike labels, barcodes do not display information about the item, so sensitive information can be safely stored online and associated with hardcopy or physical items without disclosing the information.
When barcodes are enabled as part of a policy, they are added to document properties and displayed in the header area of the document to which the barcode is applied. Like labels, barcodes can also be manually removed from a document.
You can specify whether users should be prompted to include the barcode when printing or saving an item or if the barcode should be inserted manually using the Insert tab in 2007 Office release programs.
The barcode policy generates Code 39 standard barcodes. Each barcode image includes text below the barcode symbol that represents the barcode value. This enables the barcode data to be used even when scanning hardware is not available. Users can manually type the barcode number into the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 search box to locate the item on a site.
1. On the Edit Policy page, in the Barcodes section, select the Enable Barcodes check box.
2. To prompt users to insert these barcodes into documents, select the Prompt users to insert a barcode before saving or printing check box.
3. Click OK to apply the barcode feature to the policy.
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Add item retention and expiration features to a policy
When enabled, the expiration policy searches the site collection to find those items that have exceeded the retention period. What happens to those items depends how your system has been set up to handle items that have exceeded their retention period. For example, items can be moved to the recycle bin, an expiration workflow can be started, or a customized process can be performed.
The expiration policy is enabled by setting both a retention period and an expiration action.
1. Open the Edit Policy page for the policy to which you want to set item retention and expiration.
2. On the Edit Policy page, select the Enable Expiration check box to establish how to dispose of content that is managed by this policy.
3. Select a retention period option to specify when documents will be set to expire. This can also be expressed in a separate workflow or a custom retention formula.
 To set the expiration date based on a date property, click A time period based on the item's properties, and then select the action and the time period (days, months, or years). Type a number in the box between the lists to define the time period.
NOTES
 When you're creating a policy as part of a content type, you can select any date property defined in that content type to use as an expiration value.
 These options are only available when you are creating a site collection policy.
 To use a workflow or custom retention formula to determine expiration, click Set programmatically.
4. Define what actions you want to happen when the document expires.
 To enable a predefined action (such as delete), click Perform this action, and then select an action from the list.
 To start an expiration workflow, click Start this workflow, and then select the name of the workflow.
NOTE This feature is only available if you are defining a policy for a content type that already has a workflow associated with it.
5. Click OK to apply the expiration feature to the policy.

Default Custom Action Locations and IDs

[From : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb802730.aspx ]

The following table shows the locations, custom action group IDs and, custom action IDs that are used in the CustomAction and CustomActionGroup elements of custom actions that are installed by default in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Each location value that is listed in the table corresponds to the Location attribute of CustomAction, each group ID corresponds to the GroupId attribute of CustomAction or to the Id attribute of CustomActionGroup, and each custom action ID corresponds to Id attribute of CustomAction.

You can create a Feature that implements the HideCustomAction element to hide any default custom action that is identified in the table.

Location	Custom Action Group ID	Group Description	Default Custom Action IDs
DisplayFormToolbar	N/A	Location corresponds to the display form toolbar of lists.	ExportEventToolbarButton (calendars) ExportContactToolbarButton (contacts)
EditControlBlock	N/A	Corresponds to the per-item edit control block (ECB) menu.
EditFormToolbar	N/A	Location corresponds to the edit form toolbar of lists.
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationCreated	Links	Application Created page.	CreateSite HomePage
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationManagement	ApplicationSecurity	Application Security section on Central Administration Application Management page.	WebPartSecurity SelfService WebApplicationSecurity ManagePolicy ManageAuthenticationProviders
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationManagement	ExternalService	External Service Connections section on Central Administration Application Management page.	OfficialFile HtmlViewer DocConversion
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationManagement	SiteManagement	SharePoint Site Management section on Central Administration Application Management page.	CreateSite DeleteSite SiteUse QuotaDefinition SiteQuota SiteOwners ListSiteCollections
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationManagement	WebApplicationConfiguration	SharePoint Web Application Management section on Central Administration Application Management page.	Extend Unextend Delete ManagedPaths EmailSettings GeneralSettings ManageContentDatabases ManageWebAppFeatures ListWebApplications
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.ApplicationManagement	WorkflowManagement	Workflow Management section on Central Administration Application Management page.	WorkflowManagement
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	BackupRestore	Backup and Restore section on Central Administration Operations page.	Backup BackupHistory Restore BackupStatus
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	DataConfiguration	Data Configuration section on Central Administration Operations page.	DefaultDatabase DataRetrieval
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	GlobalConfiguration	Global Configuration section on Central Administration Operations page.	RunningJobs JobDefinitions AlternateAccessMappings ManageFarmFeatures Solutions
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	LoggingAndReporting	Logging and Reporting section on Central Administration Operations page.	DiagnosticLogging UsageAnalysis
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	Security	Security Configuration section on Central Administration Operations page.	ServiceAccount Irm Antivirus BlockedFileTypes AdministrationRoles
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	Topology	Topology and Services section on Central Administration Operations page.	FarmServers TopologyServices IncomingEmailServer ApproveDGs EmailConfiguration
Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.Operations	Upgrade	Central Administration Operations page.	SiteUpgradeStatus FinalizeUpgrade
Microsoft.SharePoint.ContentTypeSettings	Fields	Columns section on Site Collection Content Type page.	AddField ReorderFields
Microsoft.SharePoint.ContentTypeSettings	General	Settings section on Site Collection Content Type page.	ChangeNameDescription ChangeOptionalSettings ChangeWorkflowSettings RemoveContentType
Microsoft.SharePoint.ContentTypeTemplateSettings	Fields	Columns section on List Content Type page.	AddField ReorderFields
Microsoft.SharePoint.ContentTypeTemplateSettings	General	Settings section on List Content Type page.	ChangeNameDescriptionGroup ChangeOptionalSettings ChangeWorkflowSettings RemoveContentType
Microsoft.SharePoint.Create	WebPages	Web Pages section on Create page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.GroupsPage	NewMenu	New menu on site collection People and Groups page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.GroupsPage	SettingsMenu	Settings menu on site collection People and Groups page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.ListEdit	Communications	Communications section on Customize page for list or document library.
Microsoft.SharePoint.ListEdit	GeneralSettings	General Settings section on Customize page for list.
Microsoft.SharePoint.ListEdit	Permissions	Permissions and Management section on Customize page for list or document library.
Microsoft.SharePoint.ListEdit.DocumentLibrary	GeneralSettings	General Settings section on Customize page for document library.
Microsoft.SharePoint.PeoplePage	ActionsMenu	Actions menu on site collection People and Groups page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.PeoplePage	NewMenu	New menu on site collection People and Groups page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.PeoplePage	SettingsMenu	Settings menu on site collection People and Groups page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings	Customization	Look and Feel section on Site Settings page.	ProjectSettings NavOptions Theme TopNav QuickLaunch SaveAsTemplate ReGhost
Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings	Galleries	Galleries section on Site Settings page.	MasterPageCatalog ManageCType ManageField SiteTemplates ListTemplates WebParts Workflows
Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings	SiteAdministration	Site Administration section on Site Settings page.	RegionalSettings LibrariesAndLists WebUsage UserAlerts RSS SrchVis ManageSubWebs ManageSiteFeatures DeleteWeb
Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings	SiteCollectionAdmin	Site Collection Administration section on Site Settings page.	DeletedItems SiteCollectionUsage Storage ManageSiteCollectionFeatures Hierarchy Portal
Microsoft.SharePoint.SiteSettings	UsersAndPermissions	Users and Permissions section on Site Settings page.	PeopleAndGroups SiteCollectionAdministrators User
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	ActionsMenu	Actions menu in list and document library views.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	ActionsMenuForSurvey	Site Actions menu for surveys.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	NewMenu	New menu in list and document library views.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	SettingsMenu	Settings menu in list and document library views.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	SettingsMenuForSurvey	Site Settings links for surveys.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	SiteActions	Site Actions menu.
Microsoft.SharePoint.StandardMenu	UploadMenu	Upload menu in document library views.
Microsoft.SharePoint.User	ActionsMenu	Actions menu on Web site Permissions page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.User	NewMenu	New menu on Web site Permissions page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.User	SettingsMenu	Settings menu on Web site Permissions page.
Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflows	LeftNavBarLinks	Left navigational area on pages for managing workflow.
NewFormToolbar	N/A	Location corresponds to the new form toolbar of lists.
ViewToolbar	N/A	Location corresponds to the toolbar in list views.