10/27/2015

SharePoint: Sort and Filter on One Column While Displaying Another

This article includes both 2010 and 2013 examples.

Let's say you wanted to display a Date/Time down to the minute or second, but you wanted the column heading to filter by days or months. By default the column filter dropdown displays one each of what ever it finds in the column, or in the case of dates, the nearest day.

image

But if you want just the months or years in the dropdown, then maybe something like this:

image        image

 

It's not to hard to do in SharePoint 2010, and fairly easy in SharePoint 2013

In SharePoint 2010 we still have a fully working SharePoint Designer that can easily edit web parts. In SharePoint 2013, Designer is pretty much broken for web part work, which is just as well as we should be looking at the newest tools in 2013 for our customizations. In this example we will be using JS Link for 2013.

 

Steps for SharePoint 2010

The basic steps:

  • Create a new list named "Event Announcements".
  • Add a Date and Time column named "EventDate".
  • Add a Calculated column named "Event Date" to display a YYYY-MM version of the date that can be used to filter by month.
  • Use SharePoint Designer to display the full date in the calculated column by hand customizing the XSLT.

Note: Although the names of my columns differ only by a space, you can use any column names you like. I will use EventDate for data entry and Event Date for display.

Steps:

  1. Go to your site and create a test list. For this example an Announcements list would be a good choice.
  2. Create a new column named "EventDate". (You will enter your date data here.) 
    1. In the List ribbon click Create Column.
    2. Enter "EventDate" as the name.
    3. Set the type to Date and Time.
    4. Set Date and Time Format to Date & Time.
    5. Click OK.
  3. Create a new column named "Event Date". (This column will control the filter grouping.)
    1. In the List ribbon click Create Column.
    2. Enter "Event Date" as the name.
    3. Set the type to Calculated.
    4. Enter this formula:
         =TEXT([EventDate],"yyyy-mm")
      or for years instead of months:
         =TEXT([EventDate],"yyyy")
    5. Set The data type returned from this formula to Single line of text.
    6. Click OK.
  4. Add some sample data with dates spread across two or three different months.
     
  5. Open SharePoint Designer 2010 and open your site.
  6. Click Lists and Libraries and click your list.
  7. Find and click your view (I used All Items).
  8. If the screen is not in Split view click Split at the bottom of the screen.
  9. In the Code view pane click in the web part code. (The code without the yellow background.)
  10. In the List View Tools / Design ribbon click Customize XSLT and Customize Entire View.
    image
  11. In the design view click on any one of the dates in the EventDate column.
       image
  12. Verify the field name by looking up a few lines for FieldRef_ValueOf. My field is EventDate.
       image
  13. In the design view click on any one of the dates in the Event Date column. (the calculated column)  This will highlight a line in the Code view.
  14. Edit the "value-of" element to change from this:
      <xsl:value-of select="$thisNode/@*[name()=current()/@Name]"/>
    to this:
      <xsl:value-of select="$thisNode/@*[name()='EventDate']"/>
    Note that you are replacing the expression "current()/@Name" to the name of the field wrapped in single quotes. I.e. 'EventDate'. EventDate is column from which you want to copy the data.
  15. Save the file.
  16. Return to the browser and test the view. You can edit the view and remove the EventDate column as we only need the Event Date column.
       image

 

Steps for SharePoint 2013

The basic steps:

  • Create the test list and columns. (Same steps as for 2010)
  • Create the JS Link JavaScript file.
  • Upload or save the file to a SharePoint library.
  • Edit the view's web part and link to the JS File.

Steps:

  1. Go to your site and create a test list. For this example an Announcements list would be a good choice.
  2. Create a new column named "EventDate". (You will enter your date data here.) 
    1. In the List ribbon click Create Column.
    2. Enter "EventDate" as the name.
    3. Set the type to Date and Time.
    4. Set Date and Time Format to Date & Time.
    5. Click OK.
  3. Create a new column named "Event Date". (This column will control the filter grouping.)
    1. In the List ribbon click Create Column.
    2. Enter "Event Date" as the name.
    3. Set the type to Calculated.
    4. Enter this formula:
         =TEXT([EventDate],"yyyy-mm")
      or for years instead of months:
         =TEXT([EventDate],"yyyy")
    5. Set The data type returned from this formula to Single line of text.
    6. Click OK.
  4. Add some sample data with dates spread across two or three different months.
     
  5. Open SharePoint Designer 2013 and your site.
  6. In the Navigation area click Site Assets. (or any other library)
  7. Right-click in any empty space in the file area and select New and HTML.
  8. Right-click the new file and rename it to GroupByMonthJSLink.js (any name will do)
  9. Click the new file and then click Edit File.
  10. Select all of the HTML and delete it.
  11. Enter the JavaScript listed below.
  12. Save the file.
  13. Go to the new list.
  14. Click Settings (gear) and Edit Page.
  15. In the list’s web part click the dropdown and click Edit Web Part.
  16. In the web part properties panel expand Miscellaneous.
  17. Enter the following path into the JS Link box:
    ~site/SiteAssets/GroupByMonthJSLink.js
    Note: "~site" points to current site/subsites URL while "~sitecollection" points to the top level site's URL.
  18. Click Apply. (You should see the change to the Event Date column.)
  19. Click OK
  20. In the Page ribbon click Stop Editing.
  21. Test! You can edit the view and remove the EventDate column as we only need the Event Date column.
       image

 

The JavaScript File

(function () { 

  // do all of the setup work...
  var TTNctx = {};
  TTNctx.Templates = {}; 

  // configure the Event_x0020_Date field to copy the EventDate values 
  // into the Event_x0020_Date column
  TTNctx.Templates.Fields = { 
    "Event_x0020_Date": 
{ "View": function (ctx) {return ctx.CurrentItem.EventDate} } }; // register the override SPClientTemplates.TemplateManager.RegisterTemplateOverrides(TTNctx); })(); // end of function

 

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10/25/2015

SharePoint: Launch a Site Workflow from a Link or Button

The following has been tested with SharePoint 2010 and 2013…

There are a lot of questions in the various forums on how to start a Site Workflow, mostly because it is a bit hard to find in SharePoint. For those looking for only that, here's the basic steps:

Start a Site Workflow

  1. Click Site Actions (2010) or Settings (gear) (2013).
  2. Click View All Site Content (2010) or Site Contents (2013).
  3. Click Site Workflows.
  4. Click the workflow!
  5. If displayed, complete the workflow initiation form. (2010 workflows always display an Initiation Form, even if has only OK and Cancel buttons.)

 

Launching a workflow from a link, button or Quick Launch

Instead of telling your users to go find the Site Workflows page it might be better just to give them a link or button to click. All we need is to know how (and where) to copy and paste the URL or JavaScript and then how to use that to create the link.

image

In SharePoint 2010 there are only two ways to launch a Site Workflow from a link, while in SharePoint 2013 there are four!

For 2010:

SharePoint 2010 Site Workflows have two possible URLs to launch workflows, one for workflows with InfoPath forms and one for workflows with ASPX forms. The kind of form you get depends on your edition of SharePoint. For Foundation, SharePoint Designer creates ASPX forms, while for Standard and Enterprise SharePoint Designer creates InfoPath (.XSN) forms. You can force ASPX forms by disabling the hidden "OffWFCommon" feature. (See note at the end of this article.) 

For Foundation: (ASPX forms)

http://yourServer/sites/yourSite/Workflows/yourWorkflowName/yourWorkflowname.aspx?TemplateID={030c0f5b-f4be-4c32-9fe6-d1fbf18080e1}&Source=http%3A%2F%2FyourServer%2Fsites%2FyourSite%2F%5Flayouts%2Fworkflow%2Easpx

For Standard and Enterprise: (InfoPath forms)

http://yourServer/sites/yourSite/_layouts/IniWrkflIP.aspx?TemplateID={6bc58ac2-b39c-4e35-a644-43335e966291}&Source=http%3A%2F%2FyourServer%2Fsites%2FI%2F%5Flayouts%2Fworkflow%2Easpx

The GUID in the URL is the unique ID for your workflow.

 

For 2013:

SharePoint 2013 supports two kinds of workflows, 2010 and 2013. As a result we end up with three ways to launch a workflow. The first two are similar to the 2010 URLs listed above. Only SharePoint 2010 style workflows are available in Foundation. 2013 style workflows are only available in Standard and Enterprise if your server administrators have installed support for them.

For Foundation 2013 and SP 2010 style workflows: (ASPX forms)

I'm assuming (a dangerous thing to do!) that the URL is similar to 2010's. In any case we will just be copying the URL.

For Standard and Enterprise 2013 and SP 2010 style workflows: (InfoPath forms) 

https://yourServer/sites/yourSite/_layouts/15/IniWrkflIP.aspx?TemplateID={b5760949-b13a-4348-a309-65a01f8fbde7}&Source=https%3A%2F%2FyourServer%2Fsites%2FyourSite%2F%5Flayouts%2F15%2Fworkflow%2Easpx

For SharePoint 2013 workflows without initiation forms started from a JavaScript function call:

javascript:StartWorkflow4('7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64', '', '')

For SharePoint 2013 workflows with or without initiation forms started from a URL:

https://yourServer/sites/yourSite/wfsvc/20a711570d0549ff83adafde04bce160/WFInitForm.aspx?TemplateID={7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64}&WF4=1&Source=https%3A%2F%2FyourServer%2Fsites%2FyourSite

 

Steps to Create Links for Workflows in General

No matter with version or edition, if you are working with hyperlinks to start workflows your links will be created by copying the URL to the workflow and using it to launch the workflow from Quick Launch, an anchor tag (<A>), an INPUT tag or a BUTTON tag.

Copying the URL or JavaScript:

  1. For SharePoint 2010: Click Site Actions, View All Site Content. (or click All Site Content in the Quick Launch area)
    For SharePoint 2013: Click Settings (gear) and Site Contents. (or click Site Contents in the Quick Launch area)
  2. Click Site Workflows. (top right corner of page)
  3. Right-click the workflow and click Copy Shortcut. (or right-click the workflow, click Properties and copy the URL from there.
  4. If the copied link is a URL and not JavaScript:  (JavaScript will only be found for SharePoint 2013 style workflows that do not have an Initiation Form.)
    1. Paste the URL in to Notepad or other text editor.
    2. Remove the absolute part of the path (the http://servername). This is not required, but is a best practice.
      https://yourServerName/sites/yourSite/_layouts/15/IniWrkflIP.aspx?TemplateID={b5760949-b13a-4348-a309-65a01f8fbde7}&Source=https%3A%2F%2FyourServerName%2Fsites%2Ftraining%2F%5Flayouts%2F15%2Fworkflow%2Easpx
    3. Edit the URL after &Source to the URL where you want the user to land after starting the workflow. (Usually the same page they started from, but could be an "after the workflow instructions" page.)
      /sites/yourSite/_layouts/15/IniWrkflIP.aspx?TemplateID={b5760949-b13a-4348-a309-65a01f8fbde7}&Source=%2Fsites%2Ftraining%2FSitePages%2FFurthreInstructions%2Easpx
      Notes: %2F  = "/" and %2E = "."
    4. Copy the edited URL.

 

Adding a link via Quick Launch

I won't add all of the details here, but basically:

  • For 2010 team sites: Site Actions, Site Settings, Quick Launch
  • For 2010 publishing sites: Site Actions, Site Settings, Navigation, Current Navigation
  • For 2013 team sites: Settings (gear), Site Settings, Quick Launch
    or click EDIT LINKS in the Quick Launch area, click +link 
  • For 2013 publishing sites: Settings (gear), Site Settings, Navigation, Current Navigation

 

Adding Links via HTML

You can add custom HTML to Wiki pages, ASPX pages, Links lists and Content Editor Web Parts.

<input type="Button" onclick="window.location='yourCopiedUrlGoesHere'" value="click me">

<button type="Button" onclick="window.location='yourCopiedUrlGoesHere'" >click me</button>

<a href="yourCopiedUrlGoesHere">click me</a>

 

Adding Links via JavaScript

This option only applies to SharePoint 2013 and only for 2013 style workflows without Initiation Forms. (i.e. no user interaction before the workflow starts.) If you right-click a workflow link in Settings, Site Contents, Site Workflows (workflow.aspx), click Properties and see JavaScript instead of a URL it will probably look like this:
  javascript:StartWorkflow4('7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64', '', '')

The nice thing about launching a workflow from StartWorkflow4 is that it is done using a CSOM web service call and does not cause the user to move to another page. Just click, and the workflow starts. The problem for us is that the StartWorkflow4 function is not available from every page in SharePoint. It's only available from workflow.aspx. To duplicate the code from that page you will need to add a link to a SharePoint JavaScript library and copy some JavaScript code from the workflow.aspx page.

The following assumes you are editing an ASPX page in SharePoint Designer, or you have placed the code in a text file and linked to that text file from a Content Editor Web Part.

Steps:

  1. Open SharePoint Designer 2013 and the open your site.
  2. If you are directly editing a page, open that page for editing. (You may need to click Advanced Mode in the ribbon.)
  3. If you are using a Content Editor Web Part for the code:
    1. Click Site Assets (could also use Site Pages or any other library).
    2. Right-click in the white space in the file list area and click HTML.
    3. Select all of the HTML and delete it.
  4. Add a link to the workflowservices.js library:
      <script type="text/javascript" src="/_layouts/15/sp.workflowservices.js"></script>
  5. Add a control to fire the JavaScript that you copied from the workflow page:

    <input type="Button" onclick="javascript:StartWorkflow4('7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64', '', '')" value="click me">

    <button type="Button" onclick="javascript:StartWorkflow4('7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64', '', '')">click me</button>

    <a href="" onclick="javascript:StartWorkflow4('7032d6a6-66e0-4c22-9483-2971b90b0e64', '', '') ; return false;">click me</a>
  6. Visit the Site Workflow page: Settings (gear), Site Contents, Site Workflows.
  7. Either use the browser's View Source command or press F12 and use the DOM explorer to view the HTML of the page.
  8. Search for StartWorkflow4.
  9. Browse backwards from there and find the previous <script… tag and copy from that <script tag to the matching </script> tag.
  10. Paste this into your SharePoint Designer file.
  11. Save the file.
  12. If you are directly editing a page, go to a browser and test the link.
  13. If you are using a Content Editor Web Part for the code:
    1. Go to the browser, navigate to the page where you would like to have the link.
    2. Edit the page.
    3. Insert a Content Editor Web Part.
    4. Edit the web part and in the properties panel enter the URL to your code page. Something like:
      https://yourServer/Sites/yourSite/SiteAssets/WorkFlowLinkCode.html
    5. Click OK in the properties panel.
    6. Save the page and test the link.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Note: The OffWFCommon Feature

I have only done limited testing here… so buyer beware, and only do this on a test or dev farm.

I wanted to create a SharePoint Designer workflow that used ASPX forms instead of InfoPath forms as they were easier to customized for this project. I simply deactivated the OffWFCommon feature (by GUID), closed and reopened SharePoint Designer and then created a new workflow, which magically had ASPX forms. Not knowing what the side effects were, I reactivated the feature as soon as the workflow was written. This is a Site Collection level feature. As it is a hidden feature, you will need to use STSADM, PowerShell or code to activate or deactivate it.

Note: Even if it is on the server, activating this feature won't give you usable InfoPath forms on SharePoint Foundation!

Using STSADM:
   stsadm -o deactivatefeature -id C9C9515D-E4E2-4001-9050-74F980F93160 -url <url>

Using PowerShell:
   Disable-SPFeature -Identity c9c9515d-e4e2-4001-9050-74f980f93160 -url <url>

If you are curious, the feature lives here: (14 for 2010, 15 for 2013)
  C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\OffWFCommon

 

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10/23/2015

SharePoint: Set a Calculated Hyperlink Column from a Workflow

The following applies to SP 2010 and SP 2013 and should work in SP 2007.

You want a calculated column for a hyperlink, but can't create one. (you can't embed working HTML into the calculation.) So… you consider a workflow to create the data for a hyperlink column.

Some things in SharePoint are obvious, while others are not. Setting a calculated hyperlink field to a new URL from a workflow is one of the not so obvious. When you use the "Update List Item" action, click "this list", click Add and the "…" you get an Edit Hyperlink dialog box. While you can type manual text and URL entries, you can't build an expression. Your second choice is to click fx set a value from a variable. The problem is that this is not a simple string. The string in the variable needs to match this pattern, which includes a comma and one space:
    http://yoururl, your display text

 

Assumptions for the walkthrough:

  • You have a list with a course ID column named ID.
  • You have a course title column named Title.
  • You have an empty Hyperlink column named TheLink.

 

Steps:

  1. Open your site in SharePoint Designer 2010 or 2013 as appropriate.
  2. Click Lists and Libraries and click your list.
  3. Click the List Workflow button in the ribbon.
  4. Name your workflow and in SPD 2013 set the Platform Type to SharePoint 2010 or 2013 as desired..
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click the Action dropdown and click Set Workflow Variable.
    image
  7. Click workflow variable and create a new variable with a name like "LinkText", set the Type to String and click OK.
    image
  8. Click value and click the "" button.
  9. Create a string that will build your URL and your description, separated by a comma and a space. Click Add or Change Lookup to insert data from other columns. Then click OK.
    image
  10. Click the Action dropdown and click Update List Item. (for 2013: Set Field in Current Item)
    image
  11. Click this item, click Add, and select your hyperlink column. (for 2013: Click field and pick your hyperlink column and then click value and pick your variable.)
    image
  12. Click the fx button, select Workflow Variables and Parameters and then select your variable and click OK.
    image
  13. Click OK.
  14. Click Publish (in the ribbon).
  15. Test the workflow.
    1. Return to your list.
    2. Checkmark a list item.
    3. Click the ITEMS tab and click Workflows.
    4. Click the name of your workflow and click Start.
    5. Click the URL column and confirm that the link works.
  16. You will probably want to return to Designer and change the Workflow Settings to start the workflow when an item is created and when an item is changed.

 

 

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10/17/2015

SharePoint: This service isn't available right now. User has Empty Lookup Column

 

The following screen captures are from SP 2013. SP 2010 behaves in the same way except for the error message.

 

Scenario:

  • You grant Contribute or Edit permissions to a user to a list or library, but not to the site.
  • When they visit the list/library, one column is blank that should have data.
  • When they edit an item the field is blank and the dropdown is empty.
  • When they click LIBRARY, Quick Edit, and then click the dropdown for the column the get the following error: (Clicking the link does nothing.)
        image
       Note: SP 2010 just displays an empty dropdown in the Datasheet View with no message about a "service" or other error.

    when they should be getting this:
        image

The issue? It's a look up column, and the user does not have at least Read permissions to the lookup list. (Convenient that I named it "Lookup" huh?)

Other interesting side effects of not having permissions to the lookup list:

  • If the lookup column is Required, then the user cannot edit anything in the list/library.
  • If the lookup column is not Required, then when the user edits the item, the data in the lookup column is deleted!

 

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