Jul 30, 2012

Parser Error Data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, Position 1

I have got this error message suddenly in a (WSS 3.0) SharePoint site. The site is working as expected and it does not throw any errors before.
The error screen shot is below:


From the error message, I could understand that there is a problem with the browser comapatibility.
Solution:
I have navigated to the SharePoint site in the IIS and then explored the files in the IIS.
Then navigated to APP_Browsers folder, there I could see there is a  sub folder named _vti_cnf  inside I could see a file compat.broswer in it. This file (file which mentions the compatible browsers for loading the SharePoint site.) is already present in the root directory.
I have deleted this file (compat.browser) which is inside the _vti_cnf folder and refreshed the site, it worked as before.
Happy Sharing!

The POP3 service could not create the mailbox – the account already exists

In Windows Server 2003, I have configured POP 3 service, created domains and mailboxes.
I have created many users and associate mail boxes in the POP3 service and deleted for some reasons.
When I try to create the same user I have got the error:
The POP3 service could not create the mailbox - The account already exists

Even on manually deleting the folders (mailboxes created for each user created), I got this error.
Reason:
Then I came to know that the user associated with the mailbox is not deleted.
Right Click on My Computer -> Manage -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> System Tools -> Local Users and groups -> Users -> Delete the user account for which you are unable to create the mailbox.
Note: Check the user associated with any other applications or any services before deleting the user.
Now, try creating the mailbox, you will be able to create the mailbox successfully!

Jul 27, 2012

Download Image from Right Click Disabled Website

In this article, we will know a small trick where we can download the images from the web page in which the right click is disabled in the web page.
Usually, web masters will disable the right click on the web pages in order to protect the content in the web page.
But sometimes, we need to download the images or copy the content from the web pages. Following are the different steps:
1. In the web page, only Right Click is disabled. Hence, we will use LEFT CLICK. Point the image and left click on the image and then drag the image to the desktop or to the address bar in the browser. Hurray! You can save the image.
2. In Internet Explorer, we can disable the active scripting and copy the image. The reason behind this is kind of scripting is written using “JAVA SCRIPTS”.Got to IE -> Tools -> Internet Options -> Security Tab -> Custom level -> Go to Scripting -> Active Scripting -> Disable -> Click OK and restart the browser
3. In Mozilla Firefox  the steps is as follows:
Open the browser -> Go to Tools -> Options -> In the Content Tab -> Uncheck or Deselect the Enable JavaScript -> Restart the browser
There are many third party tools which enable to download the images and contents. But the above are the few easy steps to achieve the goal!

Jul 25, 2012

SharePoint 2013

Everyone knows SharePoint 2013 server and SharePoint 2013 foundation has been released with many new features by Microsoft.
 
Here are the few links for the SharePoint 2013 for the start up:  
 Let’s start using SharePoint 2013 and start collaborating more than ever!

Jul 1, 2012

Visual Studio Workflow in SharePoint

Part II
To know about the Basics and Advantages of using Visual Studio Workflow
read this article.
In this article, we will how to Create a Simple Sequential Workflow Console Application.
Steps:
1. Open Microsoft Visual Studio -> File -> New Project -> Select Visual C# -> SharePoint -> Workflow -> SequentialWorkflowConsoleApplication

2.  You can see the required DLL’s added in the solution for running the work flow in the Solution Explorer

3.  From the Toolbox -> Select Code -> drag and drop inside the designer view as shown below. Double Click on the codeActivity1 -> you will be navigated to Code behind page of the solution.


4. I have initialized a variable with get and set methods and activity for the code1 as shown below:

5. Now, go to the Design view -> From Toolbox -> Drag and drop IF ELSE activity and the code activity for IF and ELSE branch

6. Right click on codeActivity2 and click Generate handlers to create handlers the activity and do the same for codeActivity3
7. Now, we will set the condition for the ifElseActivity1 and 2. Right Click on ifElseActivity1 -> Properties -> Condition -> Select Declarative Rule Condition


8. Give the Condition Name and then Click on Expression for setting the condition:
9. Following are the conditions set for both the activities:


10.Now,if you click on any one of the activity -> properties -> select the name
then -> you can see the two conditions being used in the solution as shown:

11. Finally, I have added the message to be returned for the both activities

12. Now build the solution and then execute the code:

Here is the full solution. Click to download. Happy Sharing!
Hope, you have enjoyed this article.
Please free to comment and share this article, if it helps you!
Happy Coding!!

Visual Studio Workflow in SharePoint

Part I
To know about the Basics of Workflow in SharePoint, read this article.
To know about the Creating a Designer Workflow, read this article.
To know about the New Features added in SharePoint Designer 2010, read this article.
In this we will learn about Basics of Visual Studio Workflows in SharePoint.
Windows Workflow Foundation -WWF:
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a Microsoft technology for defining, executing, and managing workflows.
Why Visual Studio Workflow is necessary?
From the business perspective, we need some custom workflows to be designed and developed in order to meet the requirements. By using designer, we cannot achieve all the custom actions and hence Visual Studio workflows are necessary.
Moreover, Visual Studio is a known environment to the developers (working with Microsoft Software’s) and hence the design and development is very easy.
Software Requirements
  Ø  Windows Server 2003 R2 Download
  Ø  Microsoft .NET framework 3.0 Download
  Ø  Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Download
  Ø  Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 with SP1 Download
  Ø  Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SDK Download
  Ø  Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for Windows Workflow Foundation Download
   Limitations of using Designer Workflow:
  Ø  A major disadvantage is that, you can create only Sequential Workflows using designer and not the State Machine workflows.
  Ø  We cannot write custom code and custom activities for workflows while creating using designer.
  Ø  Maintenance and upgradeable methods are very less.
To know how to create a sample Sequential Workflow using Visual Studio, read this article Visual Studio Workflow in SharePoint.

Prevent Outlook from Sending Emails with a Blank Subject

Objective:
In the IT Industry, Outlook is most popularly used as the Email client. The subject line is a very important part of any email. Many times has it happened to you that you have sent an email through Outlook without a subject line? After clicking the Send button, you realize that you have made a mistake (What if it is a case you have sent a mail without Subject to a Client or a Manager?)
By default, Outlook does not validate a mail with a blank subject and here is the solution.
Steps:
1. Open MS Outlook -> Tools -> Macro -> Visual Basic Editor
2. You will see Visual Basic Editor will be opened 
 3. Click ThisOutlookSession which will open the Code Editor paste the below code in the Editor -> Save it and Close the window.
Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
   Dim strSubject As String
   strSubject = Item.Subject
   If Len(Trim(strSubject)) = 0 Then
       Prompt$ = "Subject is Empty. Are you sure you want to send the EMail?"
      If MsgBox(Prompt$, vbYesNo + vbQuestion + _
            vbMsgBoxSetForeground, _
            "Email Subject is Empty") = vbNo Then
        Cancel = True
      End If
  End If
End Sub
4. Now, restart the outlook. You will be prompted with a window where in Click on Enable Macros.
5. Now try sending an email without subject, you will be prompted for entering a Subject in the Email.