I was recently updating a view in a SharePoint List, the view was set up to use metadata fields to sort and group the content…lovely stuff. What I was required to do was to implement a choice field with a numerical order within it (i.e. 1. First step, 2. Second step, 3. Third step).
With sort order in List/Library views, it works with either alphabetical or numerical options ascending or descending. What I found was with choice fields operating as the number order, once you hit 10 the numbering system went out the window!
What you end up with is something like this:
1) First choice
11) Eleventh choice
12) Twelfth choice
2) Second choice
3) Third choice
and so on…
By default, SharePoint interperates the choice field as alphabetical so the way I got around this was to just use:
a)
b)
c)
This gets around any issues with numerical values over 10 or having to create lookup lists or anything else 🙂
I had this issue myself in the last week where EVERY SINGLE workflow across the farm on premise stopped working. SharePoint Designer and Nintex workflows all reported “Failed to start” when triggered to run.
The workflows stopped working due to a series of .NET security updates Microsoft released in September 2018. Microsoft released a public KB article on this – with resolution steps which can be found below:
I noticed shortly after the fix was implemented that some of my SharePoint designer workflows were exhibiting odd behaviour. For example the screenshot below shows a SharePoint desinger workflow that previously worked without issue or errors in the history after the fix was applied:
Someone on reddit had already spotted this which drew my attention to the common issue, this only presents itself for workflows with pause steps!
I will update this post with my findings once this latest fix is applied.
Symptom
After applying .NET Security Only patch to resolve CVE-2018-8421 (Remote Code Execution Vulnerability) , all SharePoint out of the box Workflows fail to execute and the log will show an error like this:
09/13/2018 01:59:07.57 w3wp.exe (0x1868) 0x22FC SharePoint Foundation Workflow Infrastructure 72fs Unexpected RunWorkflow: Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: <Error><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″ Text=”Type System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized in the application configuration file.” /><CompilerError Line=”-1″ Column=”-1″…
The error suggest that System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not in the authorized types.
Cause
Workflow Foundation (WF) will only run workflows when all the dependent types and assemblies are authorized in the .NET config file (or added explicitly via code) under this tree:
<configuration>
<System.Workflow.ComponentModel.WorkflowCompiler>
<authorizedTypes>
<targetFx>
However, after the update, the following lines are necessary for SharePoint 2013 and beyond:
Please notice that sometimes SharePoint Timer Service (SPTimerV4) runs workflows. If you notice that the application showing the error is ULS logs in OWSTIMER.EXE, you should also include the authorized types in [SharePoint Hive Folder]\bin\OWSTIMER.EXE.config. The Hive Folder will change by version of SharePoint. For SharePoint 2016, it is normally at c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\16. For 2013, at c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\15.
If you have Nintex workflows you should run like this:
Add-CodeDomAuthorizedType -IncludeNintexWorkflow
To undo the changes, run:
Remove-CodeDomAuthorizedType
The script needs to run only once on any WFE. All web.config files related to SharePoint on all servers will be modified. New web applications created after that will also include the changes. Even if a new WFE is added to the farm, the entries will also be included in web.config. The change is a permanent requirement from now on since the WF patch. You do not need to undo the change before applying the SharePoint patch addressing it.
There is a second script to update OWSTIMER.exe.config. This one should only run if you see the symptoms in ULS logs with process OWSTIMER.EXE. Otherwise, you do not need to update. if you have the problem though, you need to rerun the script if a new machine is added to the farm. No line needs to be uncommented for this one. The script name is:
Microsoft is aware of this issue and patches for SharePoint 2010, 2013 and 2016 are being worked as of 9/17/2018. I will update when we have an ETA. I had confirmation from the product team on 9/18/2018 that this information and solution on this post is in the line with the future patch and it is the recommended action plan until the patch is out. If anything change, I will update the post.
Note 2
Some people using third-party workflows (like Nintex) need to also include this:
(This post was written using a SharePoint 2010 environment)
I recently found myself needing to create a site template for a customer who required multiple sites created following a base format. So I decided to create a site template to achieve this to speed up the site creation process for said customer.
At first I went into the site settings of the site that the template would be based off to create it. I looked under look and feel in site settings, but alas the option to save as site template wasn’t there!
Next, I accessed the site via SharePoint Designer, looked under the site ribbon menu and would you believe the save as template button was greyed out there also!
After researching online, it appears there can be problems creating templates from publishing sites in SharePoint 2010, however I found that following the steps below enabled me to create a new site template and activate it not problem!
Navigate to the site collection/ sub-site you wish to create the template from
Add the following to the URL at the end of the site name
/_layouts/savetmpl.aspx
Go back to the site collection or sub-site you wish to create new sites under
Site Actions – Site Settings – Look and Feel – Page Layouts and site templates
Find your newly created site template within the subsite templates list
Press Add
Press OK
Please note: if your sub-site is inheriting from the parent site, you will need to navigate to the parent and add the subsite template there for it to be available.
UPDATE 27/08/2019
Saving as site template is not a supported feature of SharePoint Online for modern sites. You will find for modern sites that this option is not available, but you have the ability to re-instate it via activating a feature. The official stance from Microsoft is:
Just to be clear. Using save-site-as-a-template with modern
team sites or publishing sites is NOT supported. You can always find
aways with tenant admin permissions to achieve things, but the fact that
it’s doable does not mean it’s supported.
Any sites created with the template which has been produced with this
method can have unexpected issues in the future, so provided steps
should never be used.
Best regards,
Vesa Juvonen, Senior Program Manager, SharePoint Engineering, Microsoft.
UPDATE 27/08/2019
Saving as site template is not a supported feature of SharePoint Online for modern sites. You will find for modern sites that this option is not available, but you have the ability to re-instate it via activating a feature. The official stance from Microsoft is:
” Just to be clear. Using save-site-as-a-template with modern team sites or publishing sites is NOT supported. You can always find aways with tenant admin permissions to achieve things, but the fact that it’s doable does not mean it’s supported.
Any sites created with the template which has been produced with this method can have unexpected issues in the future, so provided steps should never be used. “
– Vesa Juvonen, Senior Program Manager, SharePoint Engineering, Microsoft.
I wanted to post this as I was banging my head against a brick wall for hours recently with this issue. Full credit goes to this stack overflow thread that described pretty much exactly what I was experiencing:
However, my situation was a little different so thought I would post this in case it helps someone else in future!
The details
SharePoint 2010 environment using a standard SharePoint Designer workflow. Straight-forward workflow that runs once a list item is created, creates a document set in a separate library, then updates the list item with a link to the document set (plus some other item metadata). All this is wrapped up in an impersonation step that uses a site collection admin user account.
Why an impersonation step?
An impersonation step is being used because when you create a new list item using a workflow, that new item is created by the System Account. So on any new item created by a workflow, “Start workflow on create” will not work because system account is not allowed to start a workflow.
The problem
Intermittently the workflow would fail on creating the document set. The workflow status showed “The workflow could not create the list item. Make sure the list exists and the user has permissions to add items to the list.”. The outcome is “Unknown Error”.
After speaking with users this didn’t seem to affect everyone all of the time. It only affected some people occasionally but it was affecting one user way more than others.
This user was creating the list item in exactly the same way as others in the team. I overserved the user creating the list item and couldn’t see any problems with how it was being done. Yet each time we conducted a test copying field information from an existing item the workflow continued to error.
The solution
In my case, when I started to look at the list items where the workflow had failed, I noticed that the Name field for each list item contained a trailing space at the end of the text. I asked the user who this issue consistently affected to try creating new list items several times, copying the Name as normal but this time removing the trailing space and we no longer had issues!
Moral of the story…check for trailing spaces and beware!
Have you ever been asked to hide a list or library from a SharePoint site? If so, you go straight for selecting ‘no’ to displaying the list or library on the Quick Launch or removing it from the navigation. However, your eagle eyed users notice the handy view all site contents option and see that it is still listed there – they want it gone!
Luckily, all you need is SharePoint Designer and it is as simple as a click of a button…
(These steps were created using SharePoint Server 2010)
Open the site that where list or library resides in SharePoint Designer
Under Lists and Libraries – Select the list or library you wish to hide
On the main list settings page – find the Settings section
Check the Hide from browser option
Thats it! when you option the view all site content page now, that list or library will no longer be showing. Also, if you want to re-instate it at a later date, just un-check the box and it will re-appear.
This also works for SharePoint 2013, 2016 and SharePoint Online, under the site contents page.
If you’ve ever been in the situation where you try to edit a page in SharePoint and you see this seemingly unchangeable message appear at the top of the page stating:
“Page has been declared a record or placed on hold and is read-only”
Fear not! I’ve seen this message appear and it usually occurs when a user (or service account) is operating as a system account. This could have been set manually by said user if they have access to the web application via central admin:
If this is the case, you can overwrite the system account check in via SharePoint Designer. You’ll obviously need the correct permissions to access SPD beforehand! In the following example I’m using a SharePoint 2010 environment. To do this:
Connect to your web application in SharePoint Designer
Navigate to All Files – Pages
Right-click on the page that is currently locked
Undo checkout
NOTE: You won’t be able to view the individual pages within each Page Library if you navigate through Lists and Libraries. This space is used to view and manage the settings for each list type you have. All Files takes you to the ‘root’ of your web application, where you can see everything that sits under the web application.
InfoPath, I really like InfoPath. I like the interface and how easy it makes editing custom list forms in SharePoint (especially if you want to make snazzy looking forms in SharePoint 2010). However, custom actions do not like InfoPath, not one bit.
The problem
Here’s the situation, we have a heavily customised custom SharePoint 2010 list which was leveraging InfoPath based forms. We were getting reports of latency when trying to open the InfoPath forms and the decision was made to revert back to the default ones.
Also, another requirement was to have a two edit forms for this list, one set as default with several fields omitted for end users – another one for administrators of the list. Once the edit forms were created I embarked on my journey of creating a custom action that would open the administrator’s edit form from the ribbon, utilising rights masks to make it only appear for those with adequate permissions.
I quickly found that this wasn’t going to work. I tried several times to create the custom action but it just wouldn’t appear. Even after reverting the list back to the default forms from InfoPath through list settings and deleting the InfoPath forms from server the custom action wouldn’t show. I found some useful conversations about this issue below:
After I realised the custom action approach wasn’t going to work, I made the decision to go down the route of having one custom edit form that would conditionally show or hide fields based on their permissions – the answer I found was within a XSLT conditional if test!
The solution
Here are the steps taken to hide a field based on a user’s permissions within a custom edit form:
Open the list you want to edit in SharePoint Designer
In the Forms section, open your custom edit form
Switch to Advanced Mode
Use the design view and select the field you wish to hide
In the code view, add the following code snippet above and below your field:
<xsl:if test="ddwrt:IfHasRights(2048)"> </xsl:if>
The end result should look something like this:
Save the changes
If this has worked, you should now be able to test the edit form as a user with the correct permissions and see the field, then verify that for a user without the relevant permissions it’s hidden.
Within the if test, the number corresponds to a permissions mask that assigns a particular value (i.e. 2048 = Manage Lists).
Here is a list of all the values and permissions masks:
I know what you’re thinking, what date format problem? Well this is something that’s cropped up for me time and time again so let me explain. Most requests I get for new SharePoint lists will usually contain a variety of custom date columns and said list will also require that the default display form shows a unique view of this data.
On the default display form, you will notice that the custom date columns will be showing data that looks like this:
Well this just won’t do, will it? The good news is we can fix it!
To be able to customise the display form, you will need to be able to connect to your SharePoint environment using SharePoint Designer, if you don’t have it you can download it from Microsoft here:
For this example, we are only focusing on one custom date column, at the end of the post I will summarise how to fix this issue for multiple custom date columns.
Open SharePoint Designer and connect to your environment
Navigate to the lists and libraries and open the list you want to change
Within the Forms section – New Form
(I’d recommend creating a new display form for no other reason than to avoid potentially breaking the active one).
Give the form a logical name so you can identify it at a glance as a display form (I usually go for DispForm2)
Press OK
The code behind the display form will open, don’t worry too much about this we are only interested in a small portion of the code.
In the Ribbon – under the Home Tab – Press Advanced Mode
If it’s not already, at the bottom of the form – change the view to split view
Scroll through the design view of your form until you find the custom date field – select it
In the code view, make sure the following line is highlighted: <xsl:value-of select="@Start_x0020_Date"/> (NOTE: the bits after the @ will be the name of your date field)
If you amend this line of code to look like this: <xsl:value-of select="ddwrt:FormatDate(string(@Start_x0020_Date), 2057, 3)"/>
you should see something like this: 11 June 2014
Save the display form
Press Preview in browser to double check the format date function is working as expected
Close preview browser, close the display form
In the forms section of the list – select your form
In the Ribbon – Set as Default
That’s all there is too it! It might seem like quite a few steps but it isn’t too bad once you get comfortable with the forms code view.
If you have more than one custom date column that you need to format, just amend the code of each custom date column using the example above as a guide (just make sure if you copy/paste the code that each @ name is different.
FormatDate function and locales explained
What our updated code is doing is inserting a FormatDate function, which allows us to add the locale parameters to the end of our line code (the 2057, 3). The locale parameters control what the output of the FormatDate function will be, here are some examples of the outputs and locale parameters:
Output
Locale
Format
3/23/2009
1033
1
3/23/2009 12:00 AM
1033
2
Monday, March 23 2009
1033
3
12:00 AM
1033
4
Monday, March 23, 2009 12:00 AM
1033
7
3/23/2009 12:00:00 AM
1033
13
Monday, March 23, 2009 12:00:00 AM
1033
15
23/03/2009
2057
1
3/23/2009 12:00 AM
2057
2
23 March 2009
2057
3
00:00
2057
4
23/03/2009 00:00
2057
5
23 March 2009 00:00
2057
7
00:00:00
2057
12
23/03/2009 00:00:00
2057
13
23 March 2009 00:00:00
2057
15
If you are looking for a list of all the available locales you can find them here:
SharePoint Stuff 