2010 Lists and Libraries

Working with Lists and Libraries

You add content to a SharePoint site using lists and libraries. Lists and their associated views provide a flexible mechanic for storing most kinds of information. Libraries, a special form of a list, usually store documents and their associated metadata. Lists and libraries provide users the ability to gain feedback instantly, get updates, and see historical information on data much more quickly and easily than using traditional methods of communication such as e-mail, network file shares, and so on.

SharePoint 2010, like previous versions, stores data in lists that are similar to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Much of the data consumed in SharePoint sites is located in lists, and each list item contains unique attributes. SharePoint 2010 offers standard templates to create lists as well as to provide the capability to create custom lists based on the structure and require­ments of a user’s application.

List Enhancements

SharePoint 2010 contains list enhancements to assist content administrators in gaining better control of their data. Configuration options and content control allow business users and content administrators to manage and ensure that fresh, relevant content to their users. Some of the list enhancements are

■ New input form

■ New list view

■ Enhanced list lookup capabilities

■ Referential integrity in the list—enforcing unique values

■ Cascading deletes

List Input Form

One key to keeping data consistent in lists is the methodologies the users use to input data. If the user is required to upload data, remember links, and/or break information into separate pieces, each step paves the way to errors and input control issues. One change to lists that was frequently requested in the past has finally been added as an enhancement to SharePoint 2010: the ability to provide a single interface for adding list information, whether it is an image, document, link, or other textual information. Furthermore, the input screens, which were not always easy to use—especially for a beginner SharePoint user—have also been improved.

The new data entry forms for list items are much more user friendly. Gone are the difficult-to-edit HTML pages that defined user inputs; now an elegant pop-up form provides you with an easy method for user input. Figure 1-10 shows the new input form for SharePoint lists.

FIGURE 1-10 the new SharePoint 2010 list input form

The new Ribbon provides easy access to relevant information necessary for updating the list item. The Ribbon icons change depending on the context and the column type. For example, if you are working in a rich text field, you’ll be presented with many familiar Microsoft Word functions, such as the Editing Tools tab on the Ribbon, shown in Figure 1-11.

FIGURE 1-11 The Editing Tools tab on the Ribbon

Further, when you click the Insert tab under Editing Tools, the new forms that appear allow you to insert a table, picture, or link onto the page. You can also upload a picture directly into the rich text box to provide additional information as needed to describe the list item. The process of adding graphic elements to a page has been streamlined—no longer do you have to leave the Add or Edit form to first upload an image, then find the URL, and finally paste it in the box. Figure 1-12 shows the interface presented when an image is uploaded. Note that SharePoint will automatically upload the image into the list you specified.

FIGURE 1-12 The Select Picture dialog box allows you to upload an image directly to the list you specify.

The seamless interface is continued, as shown in Figure 1-13, by prompting you for the title of the image and any other columns defined by the SharePoint library selected.

FIGURE 1-13 Set file properties for an uploaded image

After the file successfully uploads to the list, the List Edit page reloads and the Ribbon now contains a Picture Tools tab. This tab allows you to execute actions on the image, such as changing the picture, position, size, and URL information, as shown in Figure 1-14.

FIGURE 1-14 The Picture Tools tab lets you manipulate an image uploaded to a list.

Inserting a table is just as simple and also offers rich features you can use to customize the table. The methods are very similar to inserting a table in a Microsoft Word document, setting the rows and columns and selecting table styles and formatting elements. The Table Tools Layout tab on the Ribbon provides you with an array of table layout functions, shown in Figure 1-15.

FIGURE 1-15 The Table Tools Layout tab on the Ribbon

The Table Tools Design tab features the Ribbon shown in Figure 1-16.

FIGURE 1-16 The Table Tools Design tab on the Ribbon

The method for formatting URLs has been improved as well. When you insert a URL using the Ribbon, you can type a description, open the link into a new tab, and display an icon. Figure 1-17 shows the Link Tools tab on the Ribbon, with options for formatting hyperlinks.

FIGURE 1-17 The Link Tools tab on the Ribbon provides options for formatting URLs as links on a page.

With SharePoint 2010, you have many options for entering information into lists, and with enhanced features such as the rich text box, you can clearly articulate the information requested by list content managers.

Another feature new to list form templates are the Add New and Edit forms. These forms are similar to each other, providing another consistent user interface. When you click Edit in the Ribbon, the Edit form opens and you can use it to perform data updates on the list item. When you edit an existing list item, you also can view more information about it to manage permissions, check version history (if available for the list), or delete the list item. The Edit form is shown in Figure 1-18.

FIGURE 1-18 SharePoint 2010 Edit form

When you have updated the item, the list view will look like the screen shown in Figure 1-19. Notice that in the list view you see the full rich text of the list elements.

FIGURE 1-19 Rich text list view

The seamless data entry process provided in SharePoint 2010 will reduce data errors and frustration levels for all users. Now you can easily enter data in a format that suits your needs, and power users and content managers will have cleaner, more appropriate data with less expensive custom development efforts.

List Templates

When you create a new site, several lists are automatically available for use. The site developer should experiment with the different list types before determining which list template provides the best functionality and the features most needed. For example, the Team Site template will create Calendar, Tasks, and Status lists. Each of these lists will provide the user with different functionality.

As in previous versions of SharePoint, the custom list provides a good introduction to using and managing list data. When you create a custom list, it allows you to add views, col­umns, and items as needed, as shown in Figure 1-20.

Site Action StripBreadcrumb navigationItemsColumns

FIGURE 1-20 SharePoint site list view

■ Items Rows of individual data components.

■ Columns Define the types of data located in the row. Columns can be created to contain only certain information, such as e-mail addresses, URLs, and dates. Customized and lookup data types are also available. Columns such as Create/Modify Date and Create/Modified By are usually not shown by default; however, they are part of the list.

■ Site Action Strip Allows a user or content administrator to access and perform different functions on lists. You can find functions such as changing views, adding columns, and exporting data here.

■ Breadcrumb navigation As with previous version of SharePoint, breadcrumb navi­gation helps to define the user’s location within the SharePoint Farm hierarchy. Having breadcrumb navigation available is important so users can quickly navigate within the various SharePoint sites. By default, breadcrumb navigation is replaced with the Ribbon as actions on content are available to the user.

The new Ribbon toolbars relocate common tasks and dynamically adjust based on your security role. The following images show what a content manager or administrator might see. Figure 1-21 shows the actions that can be completed on individual items in the list such as a document or list item.

FIGURE 1-21 Available actions on the Items tab

Figure 1-22 shows the actions that can be done on the list itself. These actions allow the administrator or power user to modify and create views, export list items to Excel or a docu­ment in other Office applications, and change list settings.

FIGURE 1-22 SharePoint 2010 Ribbon bars

Creating a List

The process of creating a list is very similar to creating a site. Several list templates are available; Figure 1-23 shows the available list templates using the new Silverlight menu controls. Each of the default templates shown in Figure 1-23 showcases different features that are available for use with list data.

FIGURE 1-23 SharePoint 2010 Create List types

To create a custom list, a content administrator can go to the SharePoint team site and follow these steps

1. Click Site Actions and the select More Options to open a new window with all the SharePoint site templates available (Figure 1-23).

2. Click the List link.

3. Choose the list type you want to create.

4. Type the name for the list and then click Create.

After you have created a list, you will see the new, empty list appear along with the task Ribbon bars described in the previous section. Now you can add data, columns, and views to the list.

Managing List Columns

The power of lists resides in creating columns that will help to provide users with the metadata they want and need. As when designing a SQL database or other business application, it is important to understand the types of metadata users will require and how the data relates to other corporate information. For example, if a corporation wanted to upload all project files into a SharePoint document library, metadata would be required to link the files together. Thus, a column would need to be created that would hold the project name or identifying number so a user would be able to find all documents relating to a specific project. Other columns might be created that would link information such as clients and business groups. All SharePoint columns have a specific type and validation for associated data. Columns can be added to

■ Show text and other basic information

■ Provide predefined choices for the user for enhanced grouping or filtering

■ Link to other site data

■ Calculate values based on data in other columns

Figure 1-24 shows the list of standard column types available in SharePoint 2010.

FIGURE 1-24 Standard column types available on the Create Column Creating, Editing, and Deleting Columns

You can insert columns to prompt a user to provide additional information for an item in the list. To add columns to a list, complete the following steps.

1. Open the list and click the List tab under List Tools.

2. Click the Create Column icon.

3. Type a short, descriptive name for the column.

4. Choose the column type for the information to be stored in the list.

5. Specify any additional settings as needed. The settings displayed are dependent on the column type and will dynamically change to reflect the column type you choose. You will find settings such as Required Information and Enforce Unique Values in this section.

NOTE If you choose the Enforce Unique Values option, you will be asked to index the column. It is important to click OK so SharePoint will index the column to improve system performance. Further, if you are modifying an existing field to make it unique, SharePoint will validate the data and return an error if the data already in the column is not unique.

6. Add column validation as needed. You can specify a formula that will validate the data in this column when new items are saved to this list. The formula must return a true or false validation and cannot refer to other fields in the list. Example: If a column is named Length Of Project, a valid formula would be [Length of Project] > 0.

7. Type a description for the validation formula and an example of what is needed for the validation to pass. Example column description: Please enter the number of days the project will last: 40.

8. Click OK to create the column.

When you have completed these steps, the list refreshes and returns the user context with the added column.

NOTE If you plan to use column names in queries or through a Web service, SharePoint Application Programming Interface (API), or other method, columns names should not contain spaces for better behavior within queries and API calls. If the column is created as LengthofProject and then modified to show Length Of Project, it will be possible to refer­ence the column through the various APIs as LengthofProject, yet have it display to users with the spaces included.

To see a list of columns created for a list, click List Settings in the Ribbon. All columns in the list display. If the column name is selected, you can modify the column settings as needed. Be careful when changing a column type, because SharePoint will warn you that data might be lost. For example, changing a rich text box to a single line of text will result in SharePoint dropping any data that is longer than the new type will support. The validation rules might need to be adjusted as well. SharePoint does not allow certain column types to be changed to other column types. If this is required, the columns must be deleted and re-created. Under­standing the column data and its requirements avoids having to make column type changes to lists.

You can delete a column by clicking List Settings in the Ribbon, just as when you modify a column. When you select Delete, all the data in that column is deleted, and recovery is impos­sible using the SharePoint Recycle Bin.

IMPORTANT Use caution when deleting a column, because data in a deleted column cannot be retrieved later.

Types of Columns

There are three common column types in SharePoint 2010: information, lookup, and calculated columns. New column types such as external data and managed metadata will be discussed in Chapter 14, “Administering Enterprise Content Management.”

INFORMATION COLUMNS

The traditional information-gathering columns used in SharePoint, such as Single Line Of Text and Hyperlink Or Picture, allow the user to enter supporting information for the list item. For example, in a project list, supporting information could include a project description, the start and end dates of the project, and the project owner. Figure 1-25 shows an example of a new project list with these types of information columns.

FIGURE 1-25 List view of a project list with information columns added

LOOKUP COLUMNS

Lookup columns, enhanced to show additional column information from the referenced list, allow a user to link list data together. To create a lookup column in list view, complete the following steps.

1. Click List under the List Tools tab.

2. Click Create Column to display the Column page.30 CHAPTER 1 Understanding the Basics of Collaboration in SharePoint 2010

3. Type the column name.

4. Choose Lookup (Information Already On This Site).

5. Set the additional column settings for the column as shown in Figure 1-26.

Notice the new options available in SharePoint 2010. Lookup columns are now able to show more than one column from the referenced list. To show additional column information from a lookup list, select the check box to Allow Multiple Values under the In This Column drop-down box. After you have selected the check box, columns will be created for each selected column metadata. This capability is important so the user can be presented with the necessary information with fewer clicks. In Figure 1-26, if a user needed the ability to view a contact’s Mobile Number and Home Phone alongside the current list data, the Allow Multiple Values, Home Phone, and Mobile Number check boxes would all be selected.

FIGURE 1-26 creating a lookup

6. Set the relationship by choosing whether to enforce relationship behavior when the list item is deleted. When an item in the target list is deleted, a cascade delete will delete all related items in this list. A restricted delete prevents deletion of a list item in the selected target list if one or more referenced items exists in the list. For example, a project list is created that details information about the projects in the engineering group. A secondary list, called Project Tasks, is also created, and it has a column lookup to the project list.

7. If the Enforce Relationship Behavior check box (shown in Figure 1-27) is selected and Restrict Delete is selected, the user cannot delete a project until all referenced Project Tasks have been deleted. If the Enforce Relationship Behavior option is selected and Cascade Delete is selected, as shown in Figure 1-27, all items in the Project Tasks will be deleted if the project list item is deleted.

FIGURE 1-27 Enforce Relationship Behavior option

8. With Referential Integrity selected, you will be prompted to index the column. Click OK.

9. Click OK to create the column.

Figure 1-28 shows the list with an added lookup column.

FIGURE 1-28 Default list view with added lookup column

The lookup column called Contact has a value of 1 in Figure 1-28, and the Contact:First Name column is also viewable in the list, thereby showing two columns from the referenced list for users. Since this lookup column was set to Cascade Delete when the column was created, this list entry will be deleted in the event that the user SharePointAdmin (the Contact:FirstName column entry) is deleted.

CALCULATED COLUMNS

Calculated columns bring content together from other columns in the list. In the section titled “Creating, Editing, and Deleting Columns” earlier in this chapter, you were asked to type the length of the project (see Figure 1-18). Since the project start and end dates are part of the list item metadata, the project length can be calculated by the system. A calculated column can be created by following these steps.32 CHAPTER 1 Understanding the Basics of Collaboration in SharePoint 2010

1. Open the list and click List under the List Tools tab.

2. Click Create Column to display the create Column page.

3. Type the column name.

4. Click Calculated Column.

5. Create a formula based on existing columns, as shown in Figure 1-29.

6. Click OK.

FIGURE 1-29 Adding a calculated column to a list

MORE INFO For additional information about how to use calculated values, navigate to http://blogs.msdn.com/mcsnoiwb/archive/2008/05/04/sharepoint-formulas-in-calculated-columns.aspx.

Indexing Columns

With SharePoint 2010, large lists are now a supported feature. SharePoint now enables sites to have virtually unlimited numbers of items in lists and libraries. However, the core of the SharePoint platform is Microsoft SQL Server, and performance is affected when large amounts of data are queried without the use of indexes. Therefore, it is important to index large lists to streamline overall performance.

When setting up indexes for large lists, consider the following points.

■ Microsoft has increased the number of columns in a list index to 20 in SharePoint 2010.

■ Each column index consumes resources in the database. Farm or content administrators should only add indexes to columns that will be actively used in views.

■ Columns that have been set to allow multiple values cannot be indexed and will not be listed.

To add an index to a site, complete the following steps.

1. Click List under the List Tools tab and then select List Settings.

2. Click Indexed Columns.

3. When the current indexes on the list are shown, click Create A New Index.

4. Click the column that you want to use for the primary column in the index.

5. Select the secondary index column. If this field is left blank, the resulting index will be a single column index. If a second column is specified, the resulting index becomes a compound index in which only certain fields can participate.

6. Click OK.

Sorting and Filtering

Sorting and filtering list data, especially when there are a large number of items in a list, is beneficial not only for SharePoint performance as a whole, but also in assisting you in finding information quickly and easily in a list.

Lists in SharePoint 2010, like previous versions, allow users to sort and filter data using techniques generally found in other Microsoft Office applications. Each heading in the list view allows you to sort or filter the data based on your needs or requirements. For example, if you want to sort your tasks by date, a simple click on the Date column header to reformat the list data sorted by date. By clicking the Date column header again, the data in the column will be sorted in reverse date order, and you will see the list refreshed to show it in that order in the new list view. As shown in Figure 1-30, when the arrow in the header bar is pointing up, the list is sorted in ascending order; when the arrow in the header bar is pointing down, the list is sorted in descending order.

FIGURE 1-30 List sorting and filtering

Filtering, on the other hand, differs from sorting in that it allows you to view only the data in a list that meets specific criteria. Filtering lets you to sift through large amounts of data to find only the data you need, based on the information contained in a column you select. If you want to view all tasks due today, for example, click the arrow next to the Date Due column heading, and a drop-down list displays the available dates to use as a filter for the list. When you select today’s date to use as a filter, only the tasks in the list due on that date will appear in the list view. You will see a funnel-shaped icon displayed in the column header when filtering is enabled.

IMPORTANT Not all columns support filtering. Notable columns are Multiple Lines Of Text and hyperlink.

List Views

Although user sorting and filtering are useful, an even more powerful feature is list views, in which you can use predefined sorting and filtering to determine what you see in the list—you do not need to resort or add a filter each time you view the list. List views allow users, content managers, and administrators to prefilter and/or sort lists to provide the user with only data relevant to the user. List views describe the data, columns, sorting of data, and the style used to present the data. Views, unlike traditional reports, are dynamic and refresh every time the page loads.

List views can be either public or private, meaning that the content manager or admin­istrator can set up predefined views for all users to see, or a user can create a personal view that describes the list data in a way that suits his or her specific needs at the time. All of the sorting and filtering preferences can be saved for use later.

Farm and content administrators should consider the following points when working with list views.

■ Only one indexed column can be used in a view filter. Even though filtering on differ­ent columns is possible, the first column in the view should be indexed to reduce the overall number of items returned.

■ A view can encompass more than one search criteria; however, any view that uses an OR filter does not have any index benefits described here.

■ Defining an item limit in the view does not provide the same results as a filtered view.

■ You should always use a filter that will return no more items than needed. If a list has 10,000 items, for example, but 9500 of them are not needed daily, add a filter to the default view.

To create a list view, complete the following steps.

1. Click List under the List Tools tab and then select List Settings.

2. Click Create View.

3. Choose either a view format or the option to start from an existing view.

4. Type a view name.

5. Choose either a public or personal view.

6. Choose the columns and set the order in which the columns will be displayed

7. Choose the sorting method needed—if none is chosen, the list will sort by ID.

8. Choose the columns to filter.

9. Choose whether to allow inline editing. If inline editing is enabled, each row will have an Edit button that enables edit features without requiring the user to leave the view. Inline editing is only available when the style is set to Default.

10. Choose whether to allow tabular view. These check boxes allow you to select multiple items in a view and perform bulk actions such as Delete.

11. Choose the columns to group by.

12. Choose totals, if needed.

13. Change the style for the view if needed.

14. Display all items with or without folders.

15. Choose an item limit to limit the amount of data that is returned to users of this view. You can either make this an absolute limit or allow users to view all the items in the list in batches of a specified size.

16. When a view has been enabled for mobile access, it is also possible to make the view the default view for users of mobile devices. This allows content views to be tailored for both the PC (which may have additional columns and/or graphics) and for mobile users, providing the latter with a simpler, lightweight view. When a mobile user views the list, she can click the key field (specified in the view in mobile settings) to view the entire content record.

17. Click OK.

When the view is created, the page is refreshed and the new view appears. To change the view back to the default, click the List tab in List Tools and click the arrow under Current View, as shown in Figure 1-31; then select Default from the drop-down list.

FIGURE 1-31 Changing the list view

To see the inline editing in action, select the check box to the left of the list item you want to edit. SharePoint highlights the row and the Ribbon changes to the Items action tab under List Tools, as shown in Figure 1-32. A new Edit button appears to the left of the first column. If you click the Edit button, you can list items within the view.

FIGURE 1-32 Edit list items within the view

To save the changes you make, click the blue Save icon. To cancel the edits you made, click the red X icon. To add new items using this view, click the green plus sign (+) icon found below the last item in the list.

Advanced List Concepts

Additional features in SharePoint 2010 lists allow for additional customization and administra­tion of list data. By providing support for large lists, site columns, and advanced input forms, site administrators are able to control not only the data into the list, but server resources, global farm access to list data, and the methods users use to enter data into lists.

Large List Support

SharePoint has traditionally been able to support large lists; however, the challenge has always been to make the data in large lists available for retrieval and display in a timely and efficient manner. Although a user can create millions of items in a SharePoint list, the query operation slows as the size of the list grows. A new addition to SharePoint 2010 is large list support throttling. Throttling allows farm administrators to set manageable limits on the number of items queried from a SharePoint 2010 list. Using throttling, SharePoint 2010 encourages developers and farm administrators to control large list queries to improve the performance of a SharePoint farm.

Throttling thresholds are set on site collections. By default, standard users are throttled at 5000 items returned from a list, with a warning threshold at 3000 items. (See Table 1-6 for a list of items that would be throttled.) These values can be changed using Windows PowerShell commands. The throttling mechanic works as follows: If a user is pulling back a list with 4999 items, the query returns all of the data without error; however, if the user or query tries to retrieve 5001 items, an expensive query exception will be returned. The following parameters are set by default.

■ Warning for user throttling at 3000 items

■ Standard user throttling at 5000 items

■ Super user throttling at 20,000 items

NOTE Developers can request a throttle override from the Object Model by using SPQuery.RequestThrottleOverride and SPSiteDataQuery.RequestThrottleOverride, which will effectively cause SharePoint to ignore the throttling behavior.Advanced List Concepts CHAPTER 1 37

TABLE 1-6 Items Throttled for a Standard User with Large List Support Throttling

NUMBER OF ITEMS RETURNED	QUERY RUN IN NORMAL LIST AS STANDARD USER
<5000 list items	Code and/or view query will run and return the required result.
>3000 list items	No exception is thrown and the code will run properly.
>5000 list items	An expensive query exception is thrown.
>5000 list items during time window OK for large queries	Query threshold is not applied, query runs even if the threshold has been exceeded.
Object Model Override = true and RequestThrottleOverride is overridden	Exception is thrown if list is throttled, and this property can­not be overridden by a normal user.

Using Central Administration, a farm administrator can configure a time frame in which these expensive queries can and cannot be run. Therefore, if a user wants to run a query with 5001 items at 5:30 P.M. and the time-frame limitation is between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., the query would succeed. To see if a list is being throttled or within warning limits, go to List Set­tings and look at the bar that gives the number of items in the view/list.

To find out the current throttling limits, follow these steps.

1. Open a browser and go to the SharePoint Central Administration website.

2. Under Application Management, select Manage Web Application.

3. Select the Web application that you want to modify or view.

4. Click General Settings in the Ribbon and select Resource Throttling. Figure 1-33 shows the Central Administration Resource Throttling command on the General Settings menu.

FIGURE 1-33 Resource Throttling

Figure 1-34, which displays list resource throttling parameters, is the first of several pages of information you will see with resource throttling settings. A farm administrator should be familiar with these settings before any changes are made to a SharePoint site. Also, it’s portant to test all new settings in a development environment before applying configuration changes in production.

FIGURE 1-34 List Resource Throttling parameters

An Upgrade Warning: Setting Throttle Limits

When upgrading from SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint 2010, any list that contains a default view of more than the throttled limit (default: 5000) will not be immediately available until a new default view is created.

A farm administrator should become familiar with the Windows PowerShell commands, which will display and set the throttling limits. These commands are listed in Table 1-7, with examples.

TABLE 1-7 Windows PowerShell Commands for Displaying and Setting Throttling Limits

COMMAND DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLE COMMAND
Get max threshold values for Web application	$sitecol = Get-SPSite http://mysharepointserver:5000$sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperationWarningLevel$sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperation$sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperationOverride$sitecol.WebApplication.AllowOMCodeOverrideThrottleSettings
COMMAND DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLE COMMAND
Get max threshold values for Web application— example usage	$sitecol = Get-SPSite http://mysharepointserver:5000$sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperationWarningLevel = 2000 (set throttle warning to 2000 items – default 3000)$sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperation = 4000 (set throttle to 4000 – default 5000) $sitecol.WebApplication.MaxItemsPerThrottledOperationOverride = 30000 (set super user throttle to 30000 – default 20000)$sitecol.WebApplication.AllowOMCodeOverrideThrottleSettings = False (set code override for throttling to False – default True) Note: Values in this section are for example purposes and are not recommendations
Find large list throttle setting	$siteCollection.RootWeb.Lists[“LargeListName”] (look for IsThrottled in results)

To link to an existing site column, complete the following steps.

1. Click List under the List Tools tab and then select List Settings.

2. Click Add From Existing Site Columns.

3. Select the site group All Groups.

4. Select the FTP Site column from Available Site Columns.

5. Click Add and then click OK.

Creating a Site Column

To create a new site column in SharePoint 2010 from the root of the site collection, complete the following steps.

1. Click Site Actions in the Ribbon and select Site Settings.

2. Click Site Columns under Galleries.

3. Click Create. You will see a new page that you use to create the column, setting the title, settings, and validation as necessary. When you have finished selecting the set­tings for the new site column, click OK.

NOTE If, as the site administrator, you plan on creating many new columns, you should consider creating a new Site Column Group.

Modifying a Site Column

To modify an existing site column in SharePoint 2010 from the root of the site collection, complete the following steps.

1. Click Site Actions in the Ribbon.

2. Click Site Columns under Galleries.

3. Click the site column you want to modify.

IMPORTANT As with lists, only certain changes to the list type are supported, and content might be lost when converting from one type to another, such as going from a multiple lines of text type to a single line of text.

4. Change or edit the group if needed.

5. Change settings as needed.

6. Set the Update All Columns Based Upon This Site Column option to Yes to update all of the site columns. This operation can take a while to run, and any customizations to child list settings might be lost.

7. Click OK.

Editing List Input Forms

As with most applications, managers often request at least one feature that generally requires costly customization. A software platform can provide a thousand features, but one depart­ment’s managers will focus on a customization they think they must have but which is either not available or is cost prohibitive to provide.

Prior to SharePoint 2010, the process of customizing list input forms was a grueling, cumbersome task and required SharePoint Designer or a custom Web Part. SharePoint 2010 makes editing the input forms easier by utilizing the InfoPath platform. The Ribbon for the list includes a section called Customize List, shown in Figure 1-35.

FIGURE 1-35 List Ribbon

There are four icons in this section, which assist the content or developer in modifying the input forms. Table 1-8 lists these icons with descriptions of each.

TABLE 1-8 Icons for Modifying Input Forms

ICON	DESCRIPTION
The Customize Form icon allows a content administrator to use Microsoft InfoPath 2010 to create custom forms to add or edit items in the list.
The Modify Form Web Parts icon allows a user to edit the default form Web Part and Web page using a Web browser interface.
The Modify Form In SharePoint Designer icon quickly opens the form in SharePoint Designer 2010. You use SharePoint Designer to edit list set­tings, add or remove columns, and create new views, forms, workflows, and custom actions.
The Create Quick Step icon allows you to create a custom Ribbon button to perform a custom action on a list. Creating a Quick Step will add a but­ton to the Quick Steps group on the Items tab.

1. Click the Modify Form Web Parts icon and select Default New Form.

2. The Web Part property page opens, as shown in Figure 1-36, and you can use its op­tions to make changes to the appearance, layout, and other advanced features. Under Advanced Features, a new option exists called Show Toolbar With Ribbon.

FIGURE 1-36 The Edit Web Parts property page

3. When you are finished making changes to the Web Part, click OK.

4. In the Ribbon, click Stop Editing.

You follow the same process to modify the Edit Page Web Part and the Default Display Web Part. For more information about managing Web Parts, see Chapter 19, “Web Parts and Their Functionality in SharePoint 2010.”

Modify Form Using InfoPath 2010

Microsoft InfoPath 2010 can now be used to modify the list forms. Within a few minutes a new, customized form is created, which allows form content to be grouped logically depend­ing on form requirements. In SharePoint Server 2007, InfoPath forms were cumbersome to create and maintain; however, with SharePoint 2010, modifying the look and feel of a form to comply with user requirements is easy. For example, generally when a start and end date is required on a form, it is easier for the user to fill out the form when the two date columns are side by side. The following process explains the steps you would use to move the End Date next to the Start Date in a list form.

1. Go to the SharePoint list and click the Customize Form button in the Ribbon.

2. Microsoft InfoPath 2010 will open to allow edits to the new form. Figure 1-37 shows a default list edit form. In the right pane you see the fields available to place on the list. Making edits in the form is as easy as creating a new row or column and dragging fields to the form with the mouse.

FIGURE 1-37 The default list edit form in InfoPath 2010

3. Make any additional changes to the page design by clicking the Page Design tab, as shown in Figure 1-38. You can modify the colors, fonts, and styles used in the page design as needed or required, similar to how you modify a spreadsheet in Excel.

4. When you have completed the changes you want to make, you should save the tem­plate and verify it for validity. To verify, click the File tab at the top of the page to open the Form Information panel. Click the Design Checker icon as shown in Figure 1-39 to verify the form contents and layout. After you run the Design Checker, control is returned to the form view (shown in Figure 1-37) and any errors are listed in the right pane. Fix the errors identified by the Design Checker, if there are any, and then return to the File tab to save and publish the form. If you are publishing more than one form type to a list or library, use Save As so the other forms are not overwritten.

FIGURE 1-38 Changing the page design using the default list edit form in InfoPath 2010

FIGURE 1-39 Design Form Page in InfoPath 2010

5. Publishing the form to SharePoint is as easy as clicking Publish Your Form. The SharePoint site is updated and all references to the Edit Form will now refer to the newly created list template. An example modification to the End Date field is shown in Figure 1-40. Notice that the Start Date and End Date fields are now located in this Project Information - New Item form.

FIGURE 1-40 Newly published form results

State Service Error Message

If you see the error message when you try to publish a modified form, the SharePoint 2010 State Service is not created:

"The form cannot be rendered. This may be due to a misconfiguration of the Microsoft SharePoint Server State Service. For more information, contact your server administrator."

One possible cause for this error could be that the SharePoint 2010 farm was created manually without running the farm Configuration Wizard.

To configure the SharePoint 2010 State Service using Windows PowerShell commands, complete the following steps.

1. Open a browser and go to the SharePoint Central Administration website.

2. On the taskbar, click Start, select Administrative Tools, and then select Windows PowerShell Modules. This will start Windows PowerShell and load all associated SharePoint modules.

3. In the Windows PowerShell window, create a service application by typing the following command.

$serviceApp = New-SPStateServiceApplication -Name "State Service"

4. Create a State Service database and associate it with a service application by typing the following command.

New-SPStateServiceDatabase -Name "StateServiceDatabase" -ServiceApplication $serviceApp

5. Create a State Service Application Proxy and associate it with the service applica­tion by typing the following command.

New-SPStateServiceApplicationProxy -Name "State Service" -ServiceApplication $serviceApp –DefaultProxyGroup

This will create the State Service service application, and InfoPath published forms should render properly. If you still see error messages when running custom forms, verify that the Web application is associated with the State Service service application.

Modify Form Using SharePoint Designer 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010 enables power users and developers to customize solutions—with little or no coding—that work for a variety of common scenarios ranging from collaborative sites and Web publishing to line-of-business integration, business intelligence, and human workflows. In this latest release, SharePoint Designer 2010 has been greatly enhanced and it is important to understand the changes in the new version. Features such as Contributor Settings, Database Interface Wizards, and Site Publish, Backup, and Restore no longer are available in SharePoint Designer 2010. For a full list of features that have been removed, refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179083.aspx. Additionally, SharePoint Designer 2010 offers new features such as the ability to create Web Part Pages, master pages, lists, and workflows; setting permissions for individual users; and saving and deleting site templates, to name just a few.

In addition to the changes mentioned, you can extend the SharePoint 2010 Ribbon using standard development APIs to fulfill application and corporate requirements using SharePoint Designer 2010 or Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. You can customize both Ribbons and drop-down lists to display site lists, available Web Parts, workflows, or other information as needed.

As in other Microsoft Office 2010 products, Quick Steps can be created to execute a mini-workflow process. To create a Quick Step in the Ribbon that will update the full name of a contact if one hasn’t been entered, complete the following steps.

1. Create a new contact list or open an existing contact list and click List under List Tools in the Ribbon.

2. In the Customize List section of the Ribbon, you will see icons that reflect the different actions available to customize the form. Refer to Table 1-7 for a description of the icons and their functions. To create a Quick Step, click the New Quick Step icon.

3. SharePoint Designer 2010 will automatically open and prompt you for the SharePoint site credentials. Enter an appropriate login and password.

4. SharePoint Designer will then ask if you want to start a new SharePoint workflow or an existing workflow on the Add A Button page, as shown in Figure 1-41.

FIGURE 1-41 Using SharePoint Designer 2010 to add a new SharePoint workflow

5. Select the option to Start A New Workflow.

6. In the Button Label text box, type a label for the button you want to create.

7. Choose an image from the site. For example, you could use the Recycle Bin image at /_layouts/images/fgimg.png. You can click the Browse button to look for other images or type a path to the image you want to use directly in the Button Image text box.

NOTE Be sure to enter the image URL as a reference to the SharePoint site, such as /images/imagefilename.png; do not hard code the URL prefix by using a URL such as http://www.sharepointsite.com/images/imagefilename.png. This will ensure that all users will have access to the image, no matter the site collection or URL by which the page is called.

8. Click OK.

9. The new Button Design page displays. The controls on this page will be similar to Microsoft Visual Studio Workflow. Using the workflow example as a guide, shown in Figure 1-42, create the workflow steps using the Condition, Action, and Step tabs in the Ribbon. This workflow will update the full name of a contact if one hasn’t been entered on a list item.

MORE INFO For more information on creating workflows in SharePoint Designer 2010, refer to http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/getting-started-sharepoint-2010-creating-workflows-with-sharepoint-designer/10ts7flgd.

FIGURE 1-42 SharePoint Designer Add actions to Workflow

10. Save and publish the workflow as a new Quick Step. You will see the new Quick Step icon in your list when you click the List Tools – Items Tab. The new Quick Step icon will be located in the Quick Steps section of the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1-43.

FIGURE 1-43 SharePoint Designer List with new Quick Step

11. To execute the new Quick Step, select the check boxes to the left of the list items you want to update and then click the new Quick Step icon. After the Quick Step has com­pleted, a new field in the list will appear. In Figure 1-43, the new column name is called Button – UpdateFullName.

Microsoft Office Integration

SharePoint 2010 is more closely tied to the Microsoft Office application suite than previous versions. Along with the traditional Office integration features such as editing, check-out, and version control on Office documents, integration has been extended to include retrieving data from SharePoint lists and libraries. Integration to enterprise line-of-business (LOB) data is also available through the SharePoint Business Connectivity Services (BSC). More information on the BSC can be found in Chapter 18, “Aggregating External Data Sources.”

SharePoint Workspace 2010

One of the more interesting Office integration components is the Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010, which allows you to take SharePoint sites offline but maintain edit capability. SharePoint Workspace 2010 is a more evolved form of the product called Microsoft Groove, which allowed users to synchronize data and files between different systems. Many of the features in the Groove application still remain; however, those features are now adapted to include the SharePoint 2010 framework. SharePoint Workspace 2010 is also included with Microsoft Office Ultimate 2010 and is a must have for any users who are mobile and out of the office on a regular basis.

When SharePoint Workspace 2010 has been installed on the client system, it can begin synchronizing to SharePoint 2010 sites. Depending on the size of the SharePoint sites that need to be synchronized, you should probably recommend to users that they connect their laptop or desktop computer to the corporate local area network (LAN) during the synchroniz­ing process to ensure that all content is initially downloaded successfully. The user’s computer must have adequate storage space, of course, to synchronize the SharePoint sites successfully.

The first time you execute the SharePoint Workspace 2010 application, you will need to create an account profile. When you complete the profile, the Launchbar is loaded (refer to Figure 1-45 for an idea of what the Launchbar looks like), and you will then need to attach to the SharePoint 2010 Server by completing the following steps.

1. Click New on the Home tab.

2. Type the SharePoint 2010 server name, such as http://myservername.

3. Click OK when asked if you want to synchronize the site.

4. Synchronizing will begin automatically, and when it has completed, you will see a no­tification page, similar to the one shown in Figure 1-44, that indicates the status of the synchronization process. You might find that there are some sites, lists, or libraries that are not supported yet.

FIGURE 1-44 SharePoint Workspace synchronization notification page

5. At this point, SharePoint Workspace 2010 is now working online and will synchronize a single site at a time. If more than one site needs to be synchronized, the user must return to the initial SharePoint Workspace 2010 launch menu and create another link to a SharePoint site. The SharePoint Workspace Launchbar is shown in Figure 1-45. All sites that have been synchronized will be shown here.

When the site has finished synchronizing, there are a wide variety of actions you can perform on a site from within SharePoint Workspace 2010. For example, you can search items synchronized to the desktop from the Launchbar just as if you were accessing the SharePoint site in a browser. You can also set up alerts to notify a user of changes in the SharePoint site content.

To add a site contact, click the Add Contact button in the Ribbon; to delete a contact, highlight the contact in the main panel and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

To open or work on documents in a synchronized site, click the SharePoint site name from the Launchbar. The SharePoint site will open and provide access to the available lists, libraries, and other site content. Figure 1-54 is an example of a SharePoint team site synchronized to SharePoint Workspace 2010.

In Figure 1-46, content is available for the user to access either online or offline. This functionality allows a user to synchronize a SharePoint site to a laptop computer and access documents even when disconnected from the corporate network. Certain list types and pages are available only if the workspace is connected to the SharePoint site, however. These lists and pages are clearly identified in the workspace client. In Figure 1-46, the lists in the Available On Server column are only available when the user is connected to the corporate LAN.

FIGURE 1-46 A SharePoint Workspace 2010 team site

The Project Tasks list in the example in Figure 1-46, however, is available offline and utilizes a customized InfoPath form for data entry. These forms are available offline, so users can enter data and synchronize it back to the server without error. Just as the SharePoint Ribbon changes based on field types, the Workspace client also changes. Some of the Ribbon items, such as workflow and custom Ribbon icons, are not available in the workspace; to use them, a user must connect to SharePoint Workspace 2010 using a Web browser.

In Figure 1-47, the Ribbon shows the actions you can take on a site that is synchronized through SharePoint Workspace 2010.

FIGURE 1-47 The SharePoint Workspace 2010 Ribbon

The Sync tab allows you to synchronize a site manually and provides you with the ability to redefine synchronization settings and check the status of the last synchronization operation. The View tab on the Ribbon is similar to the view settings in a Web browser—you can define and use different views on a list or library. In addition, you can use the View tab to open new workspace windows to view multiple sets of data at the same time, as shown in Figure 1-48.

FIGURE 1-48 SharePoint Workspace 2010 View Ribbon

In general, the new SharePoint Workspace 2010 is a valuable tool that has been added to the SharePoint suite of products to enable users to interact and collaborate when they are out of the office and unable to access a SharePoint site directly.

Microsoft Word 2010

One of the new features in Microsoft Office 2010 is a Share option that allows you to publish a document to a SharePoint site without manually uploading the file first. After you create a document in Microsoft Word 2010, for example, you can click the File tab and then select Share to open the page shown in Figure 1-49. Then click the Save To SharePoint option and select a SharePoint site location, and the document will be uploaded automatically to the SharePoint site.

FIGURE 1-49 uploading a document to a SharePoint site directly from Microsoft Word 2010

Also located under the File tab is the Info option, which displays SharePoint-related in­formation about setting permissions, checking document properties, and version/check-out status. Figure 1-50 shows an example of the information that is displayed.

FIGURE 1-50 Microsoft Word file information displayed using the Info tab

Microsoft Word 2010 can also use SharePoint 2010 list data for mail merges and form in­formation. The techniques for handling list data from SharePoint 2010 are similar for all Office products, such as Excel, and provide users with ubiquitous access to SharePoint information.

Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 allow users to work anywhere the need arises, collaborate better with SharePoint integration, and get work done faster than ever before.