Tips-n-Tricks

Keep Focused

Dennis Bottjer — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:01:13 GMT

While at the Tyson Developers Conference last week I attended a productivity session by Claudio Lassala. During the session he introduced us to a time management technique known as Pamadoro. Essentially, tasks are performed in 25 minute blocks with a five minute break between each work block. Today, I found a tool called Keep Focused on CodePlex.com. The tool allows a task to be entered then the 25 minute timer count down is started. I used Keep Focused all day and really felt quite productive.

Give Keep Focused a try and see if your productivity doesn’t improve.

SharePoint 2010 Custom Master Page: Required Field Pop-Up

Dennis Bottjer — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:34:00 GMT

Overview:

Creating a custom master page provides the greatest flexibility for branding a SharePoint Implementation. However, there are many hidden traps to be aware of when creating a custom master page. For example, it is usually best not to start from scratch but to use a copy of the v4.master or starter master page http://startermasterpages.codeplex.com/ created by Randy Drisgill.

Lessons Learned:

The v4.master is the new default master used for SharePoint 2010 and creating a new custom master from a copy of the original v4.master will ensure the inclusion of expected SharePoint 2010 User Experience Functionality.

After deploying a custom master page based on the v4.master we began seeing a “You must specify a value for this required field” message box whenever trying to edit or add new list items and perform other routine tasks.

After much research the solution was found on this blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tmathis/archive/2010/03/18/you-must-specify-a-value-for-this-required-field-error-when-hidding-placeholderpagetitleintitlearea.aspx

It has always been a good practice to place unused content place holders within a hidden ASP.NET Panel Control. However, the message box error was caused by the PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea content place holder being contained within an ASP.NET Panel Control with the hidden attribute set to false. The resolution was to remove the hidden=false attribute and hide the ASP.NET Panel using a CSS Style. The style can be simply added to the master page for easy deployment.

SQL Reporting Services Error Installing TFS 2010

Dennis Bottjer — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:18:01 GMT

Over the weekend I spun up a new virtual machine for a practice TFS 2010 Installation. The TFS installation process is much improved. It can loosely be broken into two phases which are installation and configuration. The installation is the easy part which basically prepares the server and copies some bits to the drive. The configuration is a little more difficult but provides some guidance to help make the important decisions. During the configuration you make the following three key decisions.

Install WSS 3.0 or use an existing SharePoint installation
Install SQL Express or use an existing SQL Instance
Install Reporting Services

During the configuration I received TF255275 Error during the Reporting Services portion of the configuration. My reporting services database was created and configured for SharePoint Mode.

Reference: http://www.sathishtk.com/blog/post/2009/10/15/TFS-2010-TF255275-Error.aspx

Despite referencing the TFS 2010 Beta the above blog post helped resolve the issue. Essentially, I had to change the database to Native Mode. However, as a commenter mentions I had to delete the Report Database and recreate it in Native Mode before the configuration wizard would complete.

Improving Performance on a Windows 7 Netbook

Dennis Bottjer — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:36:01 GMT

I recently purchased an ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook - 10.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter). In the default configuration the system only comes with one gigabyte of ram. So naturally, I wanted to crank this up some. I found a memory expansion kit that included a two gigabyte memory stick and an eight gigabyte SD Card. After installing the two gigabytes of ram Windows 7 still reported only 1 gigabyte of ram. To resolve this situation I needed to enter the bios. To do so on the EeePC hold down the F2 keep after the system is turned on. Just pressing it once took me to an Windows 7 boot menu. All I had to do was enter the BIOS, Save and Exit. This cause the system to recognize the additional memory. I then added the eight gigabyte SD card and enabled ready boost. After these changes I did notice improved performance and less lag.

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Improving Performance,Windows 7 Tips

Supporting Non XP Mode Virtual Machines on Windows 7 with Virtual PC

Dennis Bottjer — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:55:31 GMT

Issue:

It is widely now that Windows 7 supports a feature know as XP Mode. This feature leverage Virtual PC to load an XP Virtual machine allowing Windows 7 users to continue supporting legacy applications. However, what may not be as commonly known or at least quite as obvious is how to configure Virtual PC to host another Virtual Machine beside the XP Mode VM.

Solution:

The secret is locating the VPCWizzard.exe Executable within the system32 directory. As shown in the screen shot below, you must find the VPCWizzard.exe and run this executable to configure a new virtual machine within Virtual PC on Windows 7.

The VPCWizzard.exe will allow a new virtual machine to be created that uses an existing virtual disk.

Once a new Virtual Machine has been configured using the VPCWizzard.exe the virtual machine can be started and managed just like the XP Mode VM.

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Virtual PC,Virtual Machines on WIndows 7

Enabling Windows 7 God Mode!

Dennis Bottjer — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:38:34 GMT

I used Windows 7 Beta, Windows 7 RC, and now the RTM. All three have been quite impressive. Today, I get an email from a friend in LA that I thought was surely too good to be true. But sure enough it freaking works. My jaw hit the floor!

From Email:

As nice as Windows 7 is to use let’s face it — we always want total control over the computing environment. What we really want is to have total control in an easy-to-use form that puts everything at our fingertips. Enter the super secret Windows 7 God Mode.
God Mode is a simple folder that brings all aspects of Windows 7 control in a single place. It collects all of the Control Panel functions, interface customization, accessibility options, just about every aspect of controlling Windows 7 into a single place.

God Mode is easy to set up too, just do this:

Create a new folder anywhere.
Rename the folder by pasting this name exactly as it appears (copy it first):
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Windows 7 God Mode,Tips and Tricks

Titanic Easter Egg

Dennis Bottjer — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:31:57 GMT

I was watching Dr. Who and The Doctor was stuck in 1969. He communicated with the future by embedding Easter Eggs within DVD’s that a friend from the future would own. This episode made me wonder if any of the DVD’s we owned contained Easter Eggs. A quick search revealed that several movies we owned had Easter Eggs. One particular funny one is on the 3rd Titanic Disk. It is an animated rabbit version of Titanic.

Titanic Animated Rabbit Easter Egg

Insert Disk 3

Select the “Special Features Gallery.”

Next, choose the “STILL GALLERIES.”

Next, choose the “PRODUCTION ARTWORK.” But, don’t click “OK.”

Highlight, “view entire gallery” and press the up arrow on your remote control.

A downward pointing blue arrow should appear.

Click on the arrow and a spoof of rabbits acting out scenes from the movie will play.

SharePoint Where is the Developer Dashboard?

Dennis Bottjer — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:52:03 GMT

Overview:

SharePoint 2010 has a greatly improved development story. Part of that story is the addition of the Developer Dashboard. When activated a dashboard is added to the bottom each page that surfaces important debugging and performance tuning information.

For example, the developer dashboard will show how long a page took to load and all database (stored procedure) calls associated with the page processing.

To Enable the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard:

Execute the following stsadm command from the command prompt.

stsadm -o setproperty -pn developer-dashboard -pv ondemand

Note: Remember to run the command prompt as administrator :)

Options:

On – The developer dashboard is created every time a page is rendered. It is displayed at the bottom of the page follow all page content.

Off – The developer developer dashboard is not added to pages.

OnDemand – An icon is added to the top right corner of the menu bar that toggles the displaying of the Developer Dashboard

“Top Right Corner of Menu Bar”

“Click the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard Icon” to show or hide the dashboard at the bottom of the page.

Note: The developer dashboard is currently available as part of SharePoint 2010 Foundation and SharePoint 2010 Server.

Technorati Tags: SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard,SharePoint 2010,SharePoint 2010 Foundation Installation Guide

Resolving Replication Issues with Publishing Links to Client Application through SharePoint

Dennis Bottjer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:20:02 GMT

Overview:

SharePoint (MOSS 2007) has the ability for Administrators to publish links (the locations) to document libraries / lists for end users. This allows end users to simple save documents from Office client applications such as Word and Excel by simply choosing the location instead of first navigating there using the browser and copying the URL or uploading the document.

How To Add or Remove Published Links in SharePoint:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263102(office.14).aspx

Issue Description:

Despite proper configuration, published links often take a long time to replicate to Office Client Applications. To resolve this issue the following registry key can be removed from client PC’s.

Delete this key and then restart MS Office App:

HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Portal\LinkPublishingTimestamp

Special Thanks To:

P.D. Rakestraw – www.WaltonFamilyFoundation.org

Technorati Tags: SharePoint,SharePoint Publishing Links to Client Applications,SharePoint Tips

Teaching with Virtual Machines (Don’t forget about networking)

Dennis Bottjer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:33:03 GMT

I’ve been teaching several SharePoint training classes in Tulsa, OK. This morning while teaching an Admin class reality smacked me right across the face and I hadn’t even had a cup of coffee yet. We had just begun our first lab and several students were unable to access Active Directory (AD) “Users and Computers.” Once we assigned a static IP Address to the Virtual Machines all was fine. Oh, how easy it is too forget that Windows Services such as AD really like having an IP Address.

Tips-n-Tricks

Keep Focused

SharePoint 2010 Custom Master Page: Required Field Pop-Up

Overview:

Lessons Learned:

SQL Reporting Services Error Installing TFS 2010

Improving Performance on a Windows 7 Netbook

Supporting Non XP Mode Virtual Machines on Windows 7 with Virtual PC

Issue:

Solution:

Enabling Windows 7 God Mode!

From Email:

God Mode is easy to set up too, just do this:

Titanic Easter Egg

Titanic Animated Rabbit Easter Egg

SharePoint Where is the Developer Dashboard?

Overview:

To Enable the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard:

Options:

Resolving Replication Issues with Publishing Links to Client Application through SharePoint

Overview:

How To Add or Remove Published Links in SharePoint: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263102(office.14).aspx

Issue Description:

Teaching with Virtual Machines (Don’t forget about networking)

How To Add or Remove Published Links in SharePoint:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263102(office.14).aspx