SharePoint 3.0: Search Results: How to Add a Document Properties Hyperlink

Introduction

As for a document appearing in SharePoint 3.0 search results; the standard formatting includes a hyperlink to open the document. However, you may want your search results to also include a link to open the display form or edit form of the document's associated list item. This way users have the options of opening a document as well as viewing and editing document properties all from the search results page.


Step 1. Crawl the Item ID Crawled Property

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Metadata Property Mappings > Crawled Properties
* Search for ows_ID(Integer)
* Edit/Map Property: ows_ID
* Mappings to managed properties: Check to "Include values for this property in the search index"
* Click OK


Step 2. Create a Managed Property for the Document's List Item ID

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Metadata Property Mappings > Managed Properties
* New Managed Property
Name and type
Property Name: OWSIDInteger
Description:
The type of information in this property: Integer
Mappings to crawled properties: Select - Include values from a single crawled property based on the order specified
Crawled properties mapped to this managed property: OWS_ID(Integer)
Use in scopes: No - Do not allow this property to be used in scopes

Step 3. Run a Full Crawl

* SharePoint Shared Services Administration > Search Settings > Content sources and crawl schedules > For each applicable content source, invoke the context menu and Start Full Crawl


Step 4. Make the New Managed Property Part of the Search Query

* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane > Results Query Options > Selected Columns:
Modify the XML of Selected Columns to include the new managed property, OWSIDInteger

Reference:
How to: Change the Properties Returned in the Core Search Results
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms560074.aspx

Step 6. Test the Search Query to Ensure the New Managed Property is Returning Values

* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane >Miscellaneous > XSL Editor:
Modify the XML so it returns raw XML results

Reference:
How to: View Search Results XML Data
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms546985.aspx


Step 5. Make the Managed Property Display in the Search Results

5A. Create an XML File Containing the Raw XML Representation of the Search Results
* Open an XML editor such as Visual Studio
* File > New > File > XML File
* Search Center > Perform a search (the results should still be coming back as raw XML)
* Copy the search results into the XML file
* Save the XML file to be used in Step 5B

5B. Create a new XSL Stylesheet
* Create a test site
* Add a Data View Web Part (DVWP) to the Test Site
* SharePoint Designer > Open test site > Open default.aspx
* Split View
* Menu > Insert > SharePoint Controls > Data View
* Data Source Library > XML Files > Add an XML file:
Upload the XML file from Step 5A
* Drag the content from the new data source to the DVWP
* Format the DVWP accoding to the desired look and feel for search results
* When look and feel is complete, open the XML editor and create a new XML file:
Visual Studio > File > New > File > XML File
* SharePoint Designer > Highlight the DVWP in the Design window
* Copy the code for the DVWP from the Code view
* Paste the XML into the new XML file
* Identify the XSL Stylesheet portion of the XML
* Cut away any unnecessary XML from the file, leaving only the XSL Stylesheet
* Save the XML file to be used in Step 5C

5C. Apply the new XSL Stylesheet to the Search Results Web Part
* Visual Studio > Open file:
Open the XML file created in Step 5B
* Search Center site collection > search results page > search results web part > edit web part > Modify Shared Web Part
* Web part tool pane >Miscellaneous > XSL Editor:
Open the XSL Editor
* Paste the XML from Visual Studio into the XSL Stylesheet, overwriting the existing stylesheet
* Click OK

SharePoint 3.0: New AD Group Unavailable for Audience Rules

Description:

When creating a new audience rule...

...a new Active Directory security group is unavailable.

Solution:

* Run a full import of user profiles:

Shared Services Administration > User Profiles and My Sites > User profiles and properties > Start full import

St. Thomas

Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas

SharePoint 3.0: Error: Crawl Log "The object was not found."

Description:

Unable to crawl a web site content source.

Error: "The object was not found. (The item was deleted because it was either not found or the crawler was denied access to it.)"

Solution:

Determine if the web site is case sensitive. If so, implement the configuration changes described in the following KB article:

You cannot crawl case-sensitive Web content in SharePoint Server 2007
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932619


Keywords:
Crawling case sensitive web sites; MOSS 2007; Crawl jsp pages; How to crawl .jsp pages with SharePoint; Case-Sensitive; sharepoint search jsp; sharepoint search .jsp

Links: Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008: System Requirements
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Overview of Editions
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/editions-overview.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Compare Features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-features.aspx

Windows Server 2008: Compare Server Roles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-roles.aspx

Links: Microsoft SQL Server 2008

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Product Specifications for SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143287.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Maximum Number of Processors Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143760.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Memory Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143685.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Maximum Capacity Specifications for SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143432.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Editions and Components of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144275.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Using Upgrade Advisor to Prepare for Upgrades
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144256.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Getting SQL Server Assistance
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms166016.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Planning a SQL Server Installation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb500442.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Overview of SQL Server Installation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb500438.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: How to: Install SQL Server 2008 (Setup)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143219.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: How to: Upgrade to SQL Server 2008 (Setup)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144267.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Migrating to SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677619.aspx

MSDN: SQL Server 2008 Books Online: Backward Compatibility
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280407.aspx

SharePoint 3.0: Site Users Web Part

The Site Users Web Part can be used to enhance the appearance of a SharePoint site by displaying a list of users who belong to the site. This web part works well on collaborative sites such as project sites or team sites, when the site permissions have been configured with either SharePoint groups or where users are added directly to site permissions access control list of the site.

Environments that also have Live Communication Server have an opportunity to promote IM to their users since the users' precense information is displayed and the context menu allows users to easily spawn IM sessions.

The Site Users Web Part is less useful on sites that have lots of users or when Active Directory groups are being used to provision access to the site. Since the Site Users Web Part does not enumerate user names who are members of Active Directory groups, these display only as group names.

Site Users Web Part Configuration Options:

Show people and groups with direct permissions on this site.
This displays a list of users who have been added directly to site permissions for the site. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in this site's members groupThis lets you display the names of people who belong to the Site Members, default SharePoint group.
The person's full name with presence information is shown.

Show people in the group:
This lets you select a SharePoint group to display the names of people who belong to that group. The person's full name with presence information is shown.

SharePoint 3.0: Manage Access Requests

Access Requests are a feature of SharePoint that allow users to submit an email, to a SharePoint administrator, requesting access to a resource (site or list) that they are denied access to.

The email to the administrator provides the username, the URL of the resource, and comments directly from the user. The email looks like this:



Resources that inherit security from their parent will automatically inherit the parent's Access Request setting. If you break inheritance at a list, then the list permissions, settings menu will appear and an Access Request menu item will be available. This allows you to set an Access Request email address, different from the parent site. This behavior is not true for list items. If you break security inheritance at a list item, an Access Request menu option does not appear on the list item security settings menu.


Here are some best practices for configuring Access Requests:

* Use a dedicated distribution group for this purpose
* Since each unique site collection can have its own Access Request email address, give the distribution group a generic name so that it can be used accross many site collections
* Definitely don't use a service account's email address because no real person is on the other end to receive the request
* Don't use an individual user's email address, doing so would result in a single point of failure
* If you are maintaining instruction documentation that describes the steps to configure a new site collection in your environment, then add "configure access requests email address" as a step..doing so will be a good reminder to do it.


How to configure Manage Access Requests email address:

* Site Collection > Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings > Advanced Permissions
* Settings > Access Requests



* Set email address, click OK

SharePoint 3.0: Error: Calculated Site Column, Formula Contains a Syntax Error

Description:

When attempting to create a new calculated site column...



...inside the formula, you reference a column name in brackets, such as Year[created]...




...and you are unable to save the new site column, instead you receive an error.

Error:
The formula contains a syntax error or is not supported.
Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.

Solution:

Use parentheses around the brackets. E.g. Year([Created])

SharePoint 3.0: Error: The specified name is already in use

Description:

Site Collection > Site Settings > Site Collection Features

When attempting to activate the following:
Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure
Provides centralized libraries, content types, master pages and page layouts and enables page scheduling and other publishing functionality for a site collection.

Error:
The specified name is already in use. Please try again with a new name. Troubleshoot issues with Windows SharePoint Services.



Solution:

When publishing features are enabled, SharePoint automatically creates a bunch of objects on the site. It is possible that before you attempted to activate publishing on your site, you had already created an object, such as a library, list, site column, or content type using a name that SharePoint uses. With publishing deactivated, SharePoint does not enforce naming contstraints on these names so it is possible for you to create, for example, a library called Pages (creating a future conflict) not knowing that SharePoint will automatically create a Pages library when you activate publishing.

If you can, audit the SharePoint site comparing it with another site that already has publishing enabled to see if you can find a conflict.

If you are unable to locate the conflict, and you need to activate publishing features, you can force the activation by running the following command:

stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishing\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingresources\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingsite\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishingweb\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename publishinglayouts\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force
stsadm.exe -o activatefeature -filename navigation\feature.xml -url http://%URL% -force

Links: Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit

Foxit PDF IFilter 64 Bit
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/ifilter/

SharePoint Magazine

SharePoint V3: Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'

Description:

Receiving error when attempting to activate the Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure, site collection feature:

Error: Failed to activate feature 'PublishingPrerequisites'





Solution:

- Run IISReset on the front end web servers
Start > Run > CMD > iisreset /noforce

- Activate the feature
Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Features > Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure > Activate

SharePoint V3: Search: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Description:

Error: “The search request was unable to connect to the Search Service”

Event Log has errors referencing a corrupt index.


Solution:

* Reset index
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Reset all crawled content

* Perform a full crawl
SSP Administration > Search Settings > Content Sources > Perform a full crawl

SharePoint V3: How to Rename and Migrate a Content Database From a SQL Express Farm to a SQL Server SE or EE Farm

Here are the steps to follow if you need to migrate (SQL upgrade would be a different approach from this) a SharePoint content database from one farm which has SQL Server Express 2005 to a separate farm which has SQL Server SE or EE 2005.

* Verify the number of site collections in the content database you are planning to migrate
- Launch SharePoint Central Adminsitration from the SQL Express Farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > contentdb_old > Current Number of Sites >
The number of site collections will appear. Note this number.

* If the SQL Express Farm is active, notify the users of maintenance

* Stop services
- Control Panel > Services > Stop the following services:
WWW Publishing Service
SQL Server Service

* Copy the data and log files from the source database server's data directory to destination database server's data directory
E.g.
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_old.mdf
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_old_log.ldf

* Rename the data and log files
E.g.
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_new.mdf
Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\contentdb_new_log.ldf

* Attach the databaseSQL Server Management Studio > right click databases node > select "Attach"
-Attach a Database > Click "Add"Browse to the SQL data file > Select contentdb_new.mdf
-Attach Databases > Databases to Attach > Attach As column> Modify the "Attach As" name to contentdb_new
-Attach Databases > Databases to Attach > Owner column > Modify the "Owner" name
-Attach Databases > Database Details > Current File Path > Modify the data file location and name (contentdb_new.mdf)
-Attach Databases > Database Details > Current File Path > Modify the log file location and name (contentdb_new_log.ldf)
-Click "OK"

* Create a new SharePoint web application on SQL Server SE or EE farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Create or Extend Web Application
- Configure the web application directory location and IIS application pool names according to naming convention
- Name the default content database "deleteme" as it will be deleted in the next step

* Delete the default content database
-SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > Click the "deleteme" content databaseManage Content Database Settings for "deleteme" > Click "Remove Content Database" > Click "OK"
-SQL Server Management Studio > Databases > right click "deleteme" database > Click "Delete"
-Check "Delete backup and restore history information for databases"
-Check "Close existing connections"
-Click "OK"

* Configure alternate access mappings for the new web application
- SharePoint Central Administration > Operations > Alternate Access Mappings > Add all of the necessary AAM's to the new web application, make sure the default URL is fully qualified

* Configure DNS
- Active Directory > DNS > Configure the necessary host (a) records or alias records

* Configure IIS Host Headers
-IIS Management > Right Click Web Site > Properties > Web Site Tab > Click "Advanced"
-Add the appropriate host headers to match the alternate access mappings

* Attach migrated content database to the new web application
- Start > Run > CMD > Type the following:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN> Stsadm.exe -o addcontentdb -url http://webapplication -databasename contentdb_new -databaseserver servername

* Run IISReset
- Start > Run > CMD > Type the following:
iisreset /restart

* Verify the number of site collections in the content database that has been migrated
- Launch SharePoint Central Adminsitration from the SQL Express Farm
- SharePoint Central Administration > Application Management > Content Databases > contentdb_new > Current Number of Sites
You will now see the content database you migrated. The number of sites should match the number of sites in the source content database.

* Perform follow up tasks
- Since the migration is now complete, it is ok to start the WWW Publishing and SQL Server services on the SQL Express farm
- Verify the new web application by navigating the its URL
- Recreate audiences on the new farm's SSP and then re-configure audiences accordingly on web parts used throughout the migrated site collection
- Verify and update hyperlinks throughout the migrated site collection
- Notify users that the web application has been migrated and that it has a new URL

SharePoint V3: Disk Cache

One performance configuration available in MOSS 2007 is BlobCache. Consider caching files on the front end web servers to improve performance. Open the web.config for the web application and review the BlobCache settings.

BlobCache location="C:\blobCache" ...

References:

Configure disk-based cache settings
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA101762841033.aspx

Custom Caching Overview
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa589700.aspx

SharePoint V3: Error: The path specified cannot be used at this time.

Description:

When attempting to create a web application, receiving error:
"Error: The path specified cannot be used at this time."

Solution:

1. Central Administration > Application Management > Delete a Web Application: Delete the web application that errored upon creation

2. Start > Run > iisreset /restart
3. Attempt creating the web application again

Links: Microsoft TechNet: White papers for MOSS 2007

Microsoft TechNet: White papers for Office SharePoint Server 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262733(TechNet.10).aspx

SharePoint 3.0: Default Search Relevance by File Type

The Search engine in SharePoint 3.0 considers certain file types more relevant than others. Below is a list of file types in sequence of most relevant to least relevant.

• Web Pages
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Word Documents
• Emails
• XML Files
• Excel Files
• Text Files
• SharePoint List Items

SharePoint V3: Error: No results matching your search were found

Description:

When performing a contextual search (WSS Search) from a SharePoint 3.0 site, no results are returned. Error: No results matching your search were found.





Are you using SSL?
Are you using a network load balancer?
Are there multiple domains in the environment?
Are the web applications accessible from outside the organization?



Solution:

Central Administration > Operations > Alternate Access Mappings

* Ensure that the Pubic URL for the web application if fully qualified

* Ensure that all possible URLs for the web application are configured in the default (or appropriate) zone

e.g.
https://sharepoint.domain.com
http://sharepoint.domain.com
https://sharepoint
http://sharepoint