Jul 25, 2017

Power View report in SharePoint

Introduction:
Welcome to Business Intelligence Article series, readers ๐Ÿ˜‰ Yes, we are going to learn in detail about Business Intelligence (BI), Creating Reports, Data Refresh, Integrating the BI reports with SharePoint, etc. in the forthcoming articles.
For every business function automation or where you have large data stored - BI reports play a vital role in analyzing the existing data, improving from the past experience and predicting the future of business, etc.
In this article, we will learn how to create Power View reports from SharePoint list and integrate with SharePoint in detail.
So, make sure you subscribe (look at the options at right top corner) to get the latest articles in your email or notified about the latest articles!
Articles in SharePoint Business Intelligence (BI) series: ๐Ÿ”—

Power BI in SharePoint Online
Creating reports using OData Feed in Power BI
Power View report in SharePoint
Create Power BI report and publish in SharePoint
Environment:
SharePoint Online - Office 365 (should work in SharePoint 2016 & 2013 versions as well)
Excel 2016 - Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus (should work for Excel 2013 versions as well)
Why Power View?
If you have already migrated or migrating to SharePoint Online and want to create reports/dashboards in SharePoint then following are the options available:
1. Using Excel Services/Excel Web Part
2. Power BI
3. Using third party solutions
4. Custom solutions using JQuery chart plugins
๐Ÿ’กIf you look at the above options, using Excel Services and Power BI are the easiest ways one can create reports in SharePoint. 3rd and 4th options need in depth knowledge in customization to build reports. But for using Power BI you need to buy a separate license. Obviously, we will go for the Excel Services/Excel Web Part option which comes with MS Office๐Ÿ˜Ž
So what BI features are available in SharePoint 2013/2016 (on-premises) but not available in SharePoint Online?๐Ÿค” 
1. Performance Point Services (PPS dashboards)
2. Scorecards and Dashboards
3. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) in SharePoint Integrated mode
For more information of what is not supported in SharePoint Online in Office 365, refer this article.๐Ÿ”—
Creating Power View reports in SharePoint:
1. For this demo, I have created a SharePoint List named "Finance Sample Data" using the data from Finance Sample records downloaded from Power BI site. Click to download. ๐Ÿ”— It has around 700 records which is very less when we compare the data load which is 1 Million records.๐Ÿ˜ฎ
2. Let's go ahead connect the data from SharePoint to Excel and create excel dashboards. If you are using Excel 2016 and don't see the Power View option in the ribbon, read this article to enable it.๐Ÿ”—
3. Open Excel -> new workbook -> Data -> New Query -> From Online Services -> From SharePoint Online List -> Enter the SharePoint Site URL -> Select the list "Finance Sample Data" from the list -> Click on Edit button at the bottom right corner to edit or you can load all columns as per your requirement -> You can choose columns or remove unwanted columns -> Load the data to Excel

4. Once the data is loaded it will open the blank Power View report. Now, it is time to add the report. ๐Ÿ’กRemember Power View is a Silverlight based application and Power BI is HTML based application. Power View cannot be customized within the report. But Power BI is customizable. You can click any columns at the right side menu and add filters.
5. In the same way add data by dragging the fields. I have added the 4 report sections as shown below. The final report created in Power View is:
6. Also, when you click on the chart area, it will filter according to the data relationship and filter the data automatically ๐Ÿ˜ƒ
7. Now, its time to publish the report to SharePoint so that we can display the report in a separate page. Very important, if you don't follow the below step you will get an error when linking the report in excel access web part. 
Instead of uploading the report to Document Library -> click on Save As -> Connect to the SharePoint Online site (if not connected already) -> then click on the site to view the libraries -> publish to the desired library

8. Add a new SharePoint page -> Insert Excel Web Access web part -> Add the link to the excel sheet published in SharePoint library -> Save it to view the Power View report in SharePoint.

9. Final report published in the SharePoint looks like below:
10. Next what? We forgot about the Data Refresh option. In the excel sheet -> click on the Data tab -> Connections -> Properties -> Usage as shown below:
As usual, I have shared the List used (List Template with content), Excel report created. Click here to download.
Please free to comment. Always. your comments help me to write more.๐Ÿ˜ƒ Share this post to others if this helps you!๐Ÿ˜‡
Don't forget to subscribe to the posts to get notified about new tutorials by clicking the Subscribe button on the top right corner and follow us in social buttons as well.

Display SharePoint List or Library in Data table

Introduction:
Today we are going to learn an interesting article of how to use DataTables.js JQuery ๐Ÿ”— in SharePoint(2013, 2016, Online - O365).
Since SharePoint 2013 has released, the way how the data is created, updated & displayed has changed a lot - I mean Client Side scripting has become more powerful. Server Side Coding in SharePoint (JSOM - Java Script Object Model) has the following uses or advantages over server side coding which are:
1. Faster data rendering
2. Easy to debug from browser
3. Easy & faster validation response to end users
4. Just add a content editor web part and add the code ๐Ÿ˜
5. No IIS reset required
6. Just use client desktop and no SharePoint installation required
7. No Visual Studio (why spent extra money on license?๐Ÿ˜Ž)
8. Just use a Editor to write and format the code.
๐Ÿ’ก I have recently started using Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Give a try, you will never use other editors. What a powerful editor! Download from this link and it is FREE ๐Ÿ”—
Scenario:
What if you were given a task to display a list or a library in a SharePoint page which has 1000's of records in it. Also, it has to load faster, need a free text search, paging features, etc.? But you have no server side access for coding or server deployments allowed ๐Ÿ˜œ
Solution: 
Obviously, any SharePoint developer will go for the option SharePoint Java Script Object Model (JSOM). But how to create a table, searchable content, etc. DataTables.JS is a Table plug-in for JQuery. It is used for display the HTML content as Table.
Let's not wait and create a custom SharePoint list(here named it as Finance Sample Data). Download the data used for this example here ๐Ÿ”—
This is how the logic/solution for this scenario is implemented:
1. Upload the JQuery, DataTable.JS, CSS, Images required in Site Assets Library(best practice in SharePoint)
2. Create a simple text file in which add the reference to JS, CSS, Images, etc. Then add the DIV tags for creating a section and then add a TABLE tag for displaying the content, then document.ready() function and finally custom JS functions. You can also have HTML file and JS files separately.
3. In document.ready(), call the custom function which will query the data using CAML query (I haven't tried using REST API since there will be an issue when you query 1000 items at a time or when paging is enabled, if you have any thoughts share it in the command), load the JSON data as HTML tags and draw a data table using the data objects.
๐Ÿ’ก Learn the basics of CAML query in SharePoint by reading this article: CAML Query tutorial for SharePoint ๐Ÿ”—
Code for reference:
<!-- JS References -->
<script src="../../SiteAssets/Scripts/jquery-1.12.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="../../SiteAssets/Scripts/jquery.dataTables.min.js"></script>

<!--CSS References-->
<link href="../../SiteAssets/CSS/jquery.dataTables.min.css" rel="stylesheet">

<!--HTML TAGS-->
<div id="divFinanceReportTable">
    <h3>
        <div>
            <p id="FinanceReportTitle"><b>Finance Sample Data</b></p>
        </div>
    </h3>
    <table style="width: 100%;" id="idFinanceReportList" cellspacing="0">
    </table>
    <div></div>
</div>

<!--Document.ready()-->
<script>
    var txtHTMLFinanceReport = "";
    var tableFinanceReport;
    var allFinanceReportData;

    $(document).ready(function () {
        //Load Finance Report List on page load
        SP.SOD.executeFunc('sp.js', 'SP.ClientContext', loadFinanceReportList);
    });

    //Load Tools from Tools List
    function loadFinanceReportList() {
        var currentClientContext = new SP.ClientContext.get_current();
        var currentWeb = currentClientContext.get_web();
        var financeReportDataList = currentWeb.get_lists().getByTitle('Finance Sample Data');
        var camlQuery = new SP.CamlQuery();
        var loadFinanceReportQuery = new SP.CamlQuery.createAllItemsQuery();
        var query = '<View><Query><OrderBy><FieldRef Name="ID" Ascending="TRUE"/></OrderBy></Query></View>';
        loadFinanceReportQuery.set_viewXml(query);
        allFinanceReportData = financeReportDataList.getItems(loadFinanceReportQuery);
        currentClientContext.load(allFinanceReportData);
        currentClientContext.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, this.success), Function.createDelegate(this, this.failed));
    }
    function success() {
        var segment = null;
        var country = null;
        var product = null;
        var unitsSold = null;
        var manufacturingPrice = null;
        var salesPrice = null;
        var grossSale = null;
        var sales = null;
        var profit = null;

        var USCurrency = { style: "currency", currency: "USD" };

        txtHTMLFinanceReport = "";

        var Header = "<thead>" +
            "<tr>" +
            "<th>Segment</th>" +
            "<th>Country</th>" +
            "<th>Product</th>" +
            "<th>Units Sold</th>" +
            "<th>Manufacturing Price</th>" +
            "<th>Sales Price</th>" +
            "<th>Gross Sale</th>" +
            "<th>Sales</th>" +
            "<th>Profit</th>" +
            "</tr>" +
            "</thead>";

        txtHTMLFinanceReport += Header;
        txtHTMLFinanceReport += "<tbody class='row-border hover order-column dataTable' role='grid'>";

        var listEnumerator = allFinanceReportData.getEnumerator();

        while (listEnumerator.moveNext()) {
            var currentItem = listEnumerator.get_current();

            if (currentItem.get_item('Title') != null) {
                segment = currentItem.get_item('Title');
            } else {
                segment = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Country') != null) {
                country = currentItem.get_item('Country');
            } else {
                country = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Product') != null) {
                product = currentItem.get_item('Product');
            } else {
                product = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Units_x0020_Sold') != null) {
                unitsSold = currentItem.get_item('Units_x0020_Sold');
            } else {
                unitsSold = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Manufacturing_x0020_Price') != null) {
                manufacturingPrice = currentItem.get_item('Manufacturing_x0020_Price');
                manufacturingPrice = manufacturingPrice.toLocaleString('en-US', USCurrency);
            }
            else {
                manufacturingPrice = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Sale_x0020_Price') != null) {
                salesPrice = currentItem.get_item('Sale_x0020_Price');
                salesPrice = salesPrice.toLocaleString('en-US', USCurrency);
            } else {
                salesPrice = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Gross_x0020_Sales') != null) {
                grossSale = currentItem.get_item('Gross_x0020_Sales');
                grossSale = grossSale.toLocaleString('en-US', USCurrency);
            } else {
                grossSale = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('_x0020_Sales') != null) {
                sales = currentItem.get_item('_x0020_Sales');
                sales = sales.toLocaleString('en-US', USCurrency);
            } else {
                sales = "";
            }

            if (currentItem.get_item('Profit') != null) {
                profit = currentItem.get_item('Profit');
                profit = profit.toLocaleString('en-US', USCurrency);
            } else {
                profit = "";
            }

            txtHTMLFinanceReport += "<tr>" +
                "<TD>" + segment + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + country + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + product + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + unitsSold + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + manufacturingPrice + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + salesPrice.toLocaleString() + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + grossSale + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + sales + "</TD>" +
                "<TD>" + profit + "</TD>";
            txtHTMLFinanceReport += "</tr>";
        }
        txtHTMLFinanceReport += "</tbody>";

        //Bind the HTML data to the Table
        $("#idFinanceReportList").append(txtHTMLFinanceReport);

        tableFinanceReport = $('#idFinanceReportList').DataTable(
            {
                "columnDefs": [
                    { "targets": [0], "visible": true, "width": "15%" },
                    { "targets": [1], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [2], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [3], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [4], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [5], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [6], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [7], "visible": true, "width": "8%" },
                    { "targets": [8], "visible": true, "width": "8%" }
                ]
            }
        );

        tableFinanceReport.draw();
    }
    function failed(sender, args) {
        alert("Data Reterival Failed: " + args.get_message());
    }

</script>

4. Now upload the text file either in a Document Library or preferably in Site Assets. Create a SharePoint page and then add a Content Editor web part. Refer the text file in the Content Editor web part and save it. That's it, we will see a very nice Table rendering the data as shown below:
5. The DataTables.JS has inbuilt functionalities which are listed below:
  • Free text search option (very fast)
  • Abililty of change the number of records display (25, 50, 100..)
  • Paging with Previous and Next options
  • Displays the number of items displayed and also changes the number according to paging
  • Ability to sort the columns both ascending & descending
  • Ability to query a column but hide it from view - if that specific column is required for internal data rendering logic or comparison or etc.
Cool, isn't it? 
Download the Custom List Template with contents (.STP file), JS files, images, text file which has the entire code from this link.๐Ÿ”—
Please free to comment. Always. your comments help me to write more.๐Ÿ˜ƒ Share this post to others if this helps you!๐Ÿ˜‡
Don't forget to subscribe to the posts to get notified about new tutorials by clicking the Subscribe button on the top right corner and follow us in social buttons as well.
Happy Shar(Point)ing!

Update 25/07/2017
After reading our blog post, one of our readers shared Angular JS code for implementing the same concept in our Facebook page. Here is the code for reference as a bonus to the readers ๐Ÿ˜Š
////....ANGULAR JS CODE....../////
angular.module('SPapp',['datatables'])
.controller("Splist",function($scope,$http,DTOptionsBuilder){
$http(
{
method:"GET",
url: GetsiteUrl() +"/_api/web/lists/getbytitle('Test')/items?$Select=Title,Job_x0020_Number,Approvl,Username/FirstName&$expand=Username/Id",
headers: { 
"Accept": "application/json;odata=verbose"}
}
).success(function(data,status,headers,config){
$scope.listdata = data.d.results;
}).error(function(data,status,headers,config){
});
$scope.dtOptions = DTOptionsBuilder.newOptions()
.withDisplayLength(10)
.withOption('bLengthChange', false);
});
function GetsiteUrl(){
var urlparts = document.location.href.split("/");
return urlparts[1] + "//" + urlparts[2] + "/" + urlparts[3];
}
////....END of ANGULAR JS CODE - SAVED as spapp.js......///// 

////....SharePoint Code saved as Text File....../////
<!-- JS References -->
<script src="../../SiteAssets/js/jquery-1.12.0.js"></script>
<script src="../../SiteAssets/js/jquery.dataTables.min.js"></script>
<script src="../../SiteAssets/js/angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="../../SiteAssets/js/angular-datatables.min.js"></script>
<link href="../../SiteAssets/js/jquery.dataTables.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="../../SiteAssets/js/spapp.js"></script>
<!--HTML TAGS-->
<div ng-app="SPapp" ng-controller="Splist">
<table datatable="ng" dt-options="dtOptions" id="myTable" class="table table-striped table-bordered" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Title</th>
<th>Username</th>
<th>Approvl</th>
<th>Job Number</th>

</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<th>Title</th>
<th>Username</th>
<th>Approvl</th>
<th>Job Number</th>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr ng-repeat="listdatas in listdata">
<td>{{listdatas.Title}}</td>
<td>{{listdatas.Username.FirstName}}</td> 
<td>{{listdatas.Approvl}}</td>
<td>{{listdatas.Job_x0020_Number}}</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table> 

</div> 
////....SharePoint Code....../////

Jul 19, 2017

Enable Power View in Excel 2016

We will soon learn how to create Business Intelligence reports using Power BI and integrate SharePoint & Power BI in this blog. Make sure you subscribe to get emails and updates on latest articles ๐Ÿ˜Ž
When I tried to create a Power View report using Excel 2016, I couldn't find where is the Power view option from Ribbon in Excel 2016
Did Microsoft remove it from normal ribbon view? ๐Ÿ˜ฃI feel that this is an important option and it should be in normal ribbon view.
Though there are some articles out there, I want my readers to know the step by step guidelines to enable the Power View in Excel 2016 ๐Ÿ˜€
1. Click Excel -> Blank work book -> File -> Customize Ribbon -> Choose from Commands drop down -> Select Commands not in the Ribbon -> look for "Insert a Power View Report" -> I am adding it in a group which I created called "Reports" as shown below:
2. Once you add this you should be able to see the Power View option in the Ribbon in the section whichever you added (here it is in Insert -> Reports) as shown below:
That's it, you should be able to add Power View reports from the ribbon as usual in a click.
Bonus for the readers of this article:
Where is the Power Query option in Excel 2016?
If you use Excel 2013, after enabling Power Query after installation you will see the option in a separate tab as shown below:
But in Excel 2016, Microsoft changed it as shown below:
๐Ÿ’ก๐Ÿ”— If you are interested reading about Power Query and Power Map, read this article
Happy reading! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

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Jul 7, 2017

Multi value Lookup Columns in SharePoint

I couldn't find anything obvious for accessing SharePoint Multi-value lookup columns and filtering the values so chucked this together, hopefully useful for someone๐Ÿ˜ƒ
In continuation to my previous article on Lookup Columns, we are going to learn about Multi-value lookup columns in SharePoint.
At the end of this article, I am going to give a bonus to the readers of this article ๐Ÿ˜Š
Let's go ahead and create two source lists for this demo:
1. States 
2. Cities (State is a lookup column from States list)
3. The third list will be used to implement the Multi-value lookup column and also we are going to implement filtering multi-value lookup columns in this article. I have created a list named "Multi value lookup demo" which has State and City as lookup value from the first two lists created. Make sure, you select Allow multiple values options as shown below:

The new item form without filtering looks as shown below:
Following are the functionalities to be implemented & issues/challenges needs to be considered while implementing filtering multi-value lookup columns in SharePoint:
1. An option can be double clicked to select or clicked Add button to select a value
2. An option can be double clicked to deselect or clicked Remove button to deselect a value
3. More than one option can be selected and can be bulk added to the selected values
4. The JQuery implemented should satisfy the above conditions while filtering
5. When State is selected, the values of Cities should get filtered. In the same way, when a value from the deselected then the values from Cities should be removed
I have added a Script Editor web part in New item form and added JQuery as reference. Also, added the JS code which will implement the filtering functionality.
If you want to implement the same functionality in Edit item form, following the same steps just mentioned above.
I have used CAML query to do the filtering functionality which is shown below:
$(document).ready(function () {
    //Call multi-value lookup function on selecting State
    $("select[title='State possible values']").dblclick(function () {
        multiValueLookup();
    });
    //Call multi-value lookup function on removing State
    $("select[title='State selected values']").dblclick(function () {
        multiValueLookup();
    });
    //Call multi-value lookup function on clicking Add - State
    $("input[value='Add >'][id^='State_']").click(function (){
        multiValueLookup();
    });
    //Call multi-value lookup function on clicking Remove - State
    $("input[value='< Remove'][id^='State_']").click(function () {
        multiValueLookup();
    });
});
function multiValueLookup() {
    var items = "";
    var citiesListName = "Cities";
    $("select[title='City possible values'] option").remove();
    $("select[title='State selected values'] option").each(function (i) {
        var clientContext = new SP.ClientContext.get_current();
        var oList = clientContext.get_web().get_lists().getByTitle(citiesListName);
        var camlQuery = new SP.CamlQuery();
        camlQuery.set_viewXml("<View><Query><OrderBy><FieldRef Name='Title' /></OrderBy><Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='State' LookupId='TRUE'/><Value Type='Lookup'>" + $(this).val() + "</Value></Eq></Where></Query></View>");
        var items = oList.getItems(camlQuery);
        clientContext.load(items);
        clientContext.executeQueryAsync(success, failure);
        function success() {
            var pn2 = "";
            var pn1 = "";
            var ListEnumerator = items.getEnumerator();
            while (ListEnumerator.moveNext()) {
                var currentItem = ListEnumerator.get_current();
                if (currentItem.get_item('Title') != null) {
                    var pn1 = currentItem.get_item('Title');
                    if (pn2 != pn1) {
                        items = "<option value='" + currentItem.get_item('ID') + "' title='" + pn1 + "'>" + pn1 + "</option>";
                        $("select[title='City possible values']").append(items);
                        pn2 = pn1;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        function failure(sender, args) {
            // alert('Request failed. ' + args.get_message() + '\n' + args.get_stackTrace());
        }
    });
}

The above code is self explanatory and I have added few screenshots below for reference:
When an value is selected
When an value is deselected
The added value in the multi-value lookup demo list
Cool isn't it? ๐Ÿ˜Š Very simple as well.
If you have read my previous article on Cascading Lookup Columns in SharePoint, you would have noticed that I have implemented the functionality using REST API.
You may think why I didn't implement multi-value lookup column using REST API? so the bonus is here. I have implemented the above functionality using REST API as well. I will add the code in download link and you can follow either of the way to implement this functionality ๐Ÿ˜Ž
This is tested in SharePoint Online and I am sure it should work for SharePoint 2013, 2016 & 2010 as well.
To download, lists templates, JS code using CAML, JS code using REST API, click this link. ๐Ÿ”—
Please free to comment. Always, your comments help me to write more.๐Ÿ˜ƒ Share this post to others if this helps you!๐Ÿ˜‡