Useful Tools for SharePoint

Useful Tools for SharePoint
The following are the tools which are very frequently used in SharePoint Projects.SharePoint DesignerSharePoint Designer is a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web design application from Microsoft exclusively for SharePoint sites.
Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?FamilyID=baa3ad86-bfc1-4bd4-9812-d9e710d44f42&displaylang=en

U2U CAML BuilderA tool for creating and executing CAML queriesDownload link: http://www.u2u.be/res/Tools/CamlQueryBuilder.aspx

SP Dispose CheckA tool for writing safe code using SharePoint Object Model to prevent memory leaks
Download link: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/SPDisposeCheckWSPBuilderA tool for creating SharePoint Solution Package (WSP) WSS 3.0 & MOSS 2007Download link: http://www.codeplex.com/wspbuilder

STSDEVA tool for creating easy deployable solutionDownload link: http://www.codeplex.com/stsdevSharePoint Manager 2007It a SharePoint object model explorer tool, enables you to browse every site on the local farm and view every property.Download link: http://www.codeplex.com/spm

WSS/MOSS Log file readerA tool to View, search and filter SharePoint ULS log files directly from within Central Administration.Download link: http://www.codeplex.com/wssmosslogfilereader

SharePoint Logging SpyA tool to allow real time diagnostics of multiple servers in a SharePointDownload link: http://www.codeplex.com/sharepointloggingspy

SharePoint Test Data Population ToolA tool for capacity planning and performance testing that populates data for testing SharePoint deploymentsDownload link: http://www.codeplex.com/sptdatapop

AD ExplorerIt is an advanced Active Directory (AD) viewer and editor which allows manipulation of AD objectsDownload link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963907.aspx

IE Developer ToolbarA tool that aims to aid in design and debugging of web pagesDownload link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E59C3964-672D-4511-BB3E-2D5E1DB91038&displaylang=en
Note: “Internet Explorer 8” includes the features of IE Developer Toolbar built in, instead of a separate product; known as Developer Tools rather than Developer Toolbar.

ReflectorA tool for disassemble Assemblies
Download link: http://www.red-gate.com/products/reflector

GhostDocA tool that helps developers writing XML documentation comments
Download link: http://www.roland-weigelt.de/ghostdoc

Resource RefactoringA tool to extract hard coded strings from the code to resource files
Download link: http://www.codeplex.com/ResourceRefactoring

FiddlerIt is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet.
Download link: http://www.fiddlertool.com/

PDF File Search in Moss

Hidden truth is, Sharepoint doesn't have any of its own search mechanisms. Its just a postman between the client and the database server, where all the sharepoint content is stored. Sharepoint server takes the request string and builds a query to be passed to the SQL server. Upon the query, SQl server passes the string to its own engine!SharePoint only searches the .txt, .htm, .doc, .xls, and .ppt. Coz, SQL Server can crawl through the base file extensions. PDF is a Binary file type can't really be searched with the SQL full text search engine, as it cant understand the format of PDF. So, Adobe came out with its ownfree filters.

Adobe 5.0 iFilter Download

Adobe 6.0 iFilter DownloadYou need to follow the installation procedure in the documentation.

Additional procedure for Adobe v8 iFilter:Adobe v8 comes along with the iFilter. So, no need to install a iFilter for Adobe V8 on a 32- bit windows.
1.

Add the filter-extension to the File types crawled:Start -> Program -> Microsoft Office Server -> SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration -> Search Settings -> File Types -> New File Type (Add extension pdf here)

2.

Modify the following Registry keys by changing their "Default" value to the new CLSID of the Adobe IFilter: {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdfDefault -> {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdfDefault -> {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}

3.

Add the Installation directory of the Adobe Reader v.8 to the System Path.For example, if the Reader is installed on "C:\Program Files\Adobe", then add"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader"or"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader" to the system path by:Right Click on My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Environment Variables -> Path (Under System Variables) -> Edit -> (Add "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader").This effectively tells the adobe IFilter where to pick up the dependent DLLs.

4.

Copy the .gif file that you want to use for the icon to the following folder on the server:SharePoint Server 2007-Drive:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Template\Images

5.

Edit the DOCICON.xml file to include the .pdf extension.Navigate to SharePoint Server 2007 -Drive:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\Template\XmlOpen the Docicon.xml file.Add an entry for the .pdf extensionSave the DOCICON.xml

6.

Recycle the search service:Run->cmd

iisreset & Stop and Start osearch

7. Now we can crawl and search PDF documents with v.8 Reader.For 64-bit windows,

you need to download the iFilter seperately. iFilter that comes along with the Adobe V8 installation supports only the 32-bit OS.SQL Server's search engine deals with the base types and with the addition of new iFilters, it can go right with the associated formats. Microsoft comes out with a free iFilter for RTF. Other available IFilters for PDF, RTF, MSG, ZIP are fount at IFilterShop.

Java Script Error while editing the content editor

This error is due to the JavaScript plug-ins (HtmlEditor.js or BFORM.js) files in the 1033 folder on the 12 hive. When you add the SP1, it did not update these two files to compliance with .js codes in 'content editor' web parts. These kind of issues occur when you miss the installation sequence, i.e. SP1 was added after the java script plug-ins. Thus, unable to control the files later.

Steps to recover:
If you have more than one severs running in the form, go to the server in the form, where the Content editor popups are working fine.
Go to: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033
Replace the HtmlEditor.js , BFORM.js and OWS.js with the healthy server's files.While trying to edit(edit->modify shared webpart-> rich text editor) a Content Editor Webpart, Rich text editor window will popup.Due to the popup blocker flags on the browsers, this popup window will be blocked. To avoid this, Microsoft added the fix within the servive packs that will go and edit the javascript plug-ins on the MOSS 2007 . This update goes with the installation of the WSS SP1.

SSP Access Denied Issue

Problem definition:Even though you are the farm administrator, site collection admin for the ssp, you get access denied error, when you click on the 'User profiles and properties'.Sharepoint Central Admin -> SharedServices1 -> User Profiles and My Sites -> User profiles and properties'

Fix:
Go to Personalization services permissions link located under the User Profiles and My Sites section on the shared services1 page.Sharepoint Central Admin -> SharedServices1 -> User Profiles and My Sites -> Personalization services permissions
Add users/group. Add yourself with the manage user profiles permissions.If you are the admin then add the user who complained about the access.

How to fix Modify Navigation menu that Disable and Modify Pages Library Settings missing in MOSS 2007

stsadm -o activatefeature -filename publishing\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
stsadm -o activatefeature -filename publishingresources\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
stsadm -o activatefeature -filename publishingSite\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
stsadm -o activatefeature -filename publishingweb\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
stsadm -o activatefeature -filename publishinglayouts\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
stsadm -o activatefeature -filename navigation\feature.xml -url http://URL -force
(Obviously, replace the URL above with the URL of the site collection)

Server Error in '/' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This type of page is not served.
Description: The type of page you have requested is not served because it has been explicitly forbidden. The extension '.mdb' may be incorrect. Please review the URL below and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested Url: /directory/file_requested.mdb

SOLUTION DETAILS:
STOP IIS
Login to Server -> IIS -> Websites
Right click on the web application -> properties
Home Directory -> Configuration
Scroll down the 'ISAPI' extensions -> select '.mdb' -> Remove.
iisreset

Making Changes to MOSS and WSS Accounts and Passwords

Making Changes to MOSS and WSS Accounts and Passwords

Perform these changes in the order listed below to modify the service accounts for Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. The first section is for WSS and the second is MOSS. They are mostly the same with some minor changes in each.



WSS Environments:


Central Admin AppPool
Make this change via the command line

Stsadm –o updatefarmcredentials –userlogin -password
Other Website AppPools
Make this change via the command line

Stsadm –o updateaccountpassword –userlogin -password [-noadmin]
Use –noadmin if the Central Admin AppPool is the same account as other Web AppPools
WSS Search
Make this modification via the Central Administration website

Central Administration website > Operations > Services on Server > Windows SharePoint Services Search
Update the Configurable Password In Service Account AND\OR Content Access Account as Needed


MOSS Environments:

Central Admin AppPool
Make this change via the command line

Stsadm –o updatefarmcredentials –userlogin -password


Other Web Front End AppPools
Make this change via the command line

Stsadm –o updateaccountpassword –userlogin -password [-noadmin]
Use –noadmin if the Central Admin AppPool is the same account as other Web AppPools
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Search
Make this modification via the Central Administration website

Central Administration website > Operations > Services on Server > Office SharePoint Search
Update the password in Service Account
Office 2007 SSP & Excel
Make this modification via the Central Administration website

Central Administration website > Application Management > Create or Configure This Farm's Shared Services > Hover over SSP in Farm > Edit Properties > Update the SSP Service Credentials
Office Server Crawl/Index Account
Make this modification via the Central Administration website

SSP Admin UI -> Search Settings -> Default Content Access Account
Update Account and PW as needed
Notes
Stsadm –o updatefarmcredentials and stsadm –o updateaccountpassword should do the trick for everything but the SSPs. Run updateaccountpassword across on specific boxes if you are having NLB or connection issues

Central admin app pool ID - Database Access Account:
Make this change via the command line

stsadm.exe -o updatefarmcredentials -userlogin -password
Other Application Pool IDs:
Make this change via the command line

Stsadm.exe –o updateaccountpassword –userlogin -password [-noadmin]
SSP Service credentials
Making Changes to MOSS and WSS Accounts and Passwords

Central Administration website > Application Management > Manage this Farm's Shared Services > access the ECB for the SSP you need to change > click on "Edit Properties" > on "Edit Shared Services Provider" page, in "SSP Service Credentials" set the account/password (also set the account/password for any Process account that need access to the SSP (typically done when configuring IFSS)
Command Line
stsadm.exe -o editssp
-title
[-newtitle ]
[-sspadminsite ]
[-ssplogin ]
[-ssppassword ]
[-indexserver ]
[-indexlocation ]
[-setaccounts ]
[-ssl ]

MOSS Search Service credentials:
Two options

Central Administration website -> Operations > Services on Server > Office SharePoint Server Search > update the account information in the "Service Account" section
stsadm -o osearch -farmserviceaccount -farmservicepassword
WSS Search Service credentials:
Two options

Central Administration website > Operations > Services on Server > Windows SharePoint (help) Search > update the account information in the "Service Account" section and in the "crawl account" section
stsadm -o spsearch -farmserviceaccount -farmservicepassword
MOSS SSO:


Use the SCM to update the password for the SSO service account; restart SSO Service
Once this is done, open the Central Administration website > Operations > Manage settings for Single Sign-On > update account information
Profile Import account:

SSP Admin > User profiles and properties > Configure Profile Import > update account information in the "default access account" section
Excel: Should be re-set when you change the information for the SSP Service account