Remote Blob Storage (RBS) in SharePoint 2010

In this article, we will know about a new feature in SharePoint 2010 which allows the remote storage in SharePoint.

What is Remote BLOB Storage?
     Ø  BLOB – Binary Large Object

Ø  Remote BLOB Storage (RBS) is a library API set that is incorporated as an add-on feature pack for Microsoft SQL Server.

Ø  It can be run on servers with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2 Express. To run RBS on a remote server, you must be running SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise edition.

Ø  RBS is not supported for Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Ø  In Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, RBS can be used for content databases only.

Why RBS?

It provides the following benefits:

Ø  BLOB data can be stored on less expensive storage devices that are configured to handle simple storage.

Ø  The administration of the BLOB storage is controlled by a system that is designed specifically to work with BLOB data.

Ø  Database server resources are freed for database operations.

When to Go for RBS?

Ø  Large Database of Mostly Binary Data

Ø  Digital Asset Management Databases

Ø  When Storage Tiers Need to be Implemented

Ø  When Storage Needs to be Optimized

You can expect to benefit from RBS in the following cases:

Ø  The content databases are larger than 500 gigabytes (GB).

Ø  The BLOB data files are larger than 256 kilobytes (KB).

Ø  The BLOB data files are at least 80 KB and the database server is a performance bottleneck. Then, RBS reduces the both the I/O and processing load on the database server.

RBS Advantages over EBS (External Blob Storage)

Hope this explains about the basics of RBS in SharePoint 2010.

I came across a good article explaining about Configuring Remote Blob Storage for SharePoint 2010. Here is the link.

Happy Sharing!

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CAML Query to Get Data from SharePoint List

To know about the Basics of the CAML query read this article.

To know about using CAML query builder to create CAML queries, read this article.

In this article, we will learn how to use CAML query in Microsoft Visual Studio

Scenario:

I have a custom list named “Product List” with the columns named Title, Price, Quantity and Is Available.

I want to retrieve the products with price greater than 1000 and lesser than 10000. Then I have to order the results depending upon the quantity in descending order.

Using the CAML query builder, I have created a CAML query for the above scenario and the query is as follows:

<Query><Where><And><Gt><FieldRef Name="Price" /><Value Type="Number">1000</Value></Gt><Leq><FieldRef Name="Price" /><Value Type="Number">10000</Value></Leq></And></Where><OrderBy><FieldRef Name="Price" Ascending="False" /></OrderBy></Query>

Implementing CAML Query in Microsoft Visual Studio

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;

namespace UsingCAMLQuery
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            const string camlQuery = @"100010000";
            try
            {
                using (SPSite objSite = new SPSite("sitename"))
                {
                    using (SPWeb objWeb = objSite.OpenWeb())
                    {
                        // Building a query
                        SPQuery query=new SPQuery();
                        query.Query=camlQuery;
                     
                        // Retrieving the data from the List
                        SPList objList=objWeb.Lists["Product List"];
                        SPListItemCollection items= objList.GetItems(query);

                        // Prinitng the header
                        Console.WriteLine("{0,-25} {1,-20} {2,-15} {3}", "Title", "Price", "Qunatity", "Is Available");

                        foreach (SPListItem objListItem in items)
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine("{0,-25} {1,-20} {2,-25} {3}", objListItem["Title"], objListItem["Price"], 
                                                                             objListItem["Quantity"], objListItem["Is Available"]);
                        }

                    }
                    Console.ReadLine(); 
                }
 
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error Occured:", ex.Message);
            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

The full solution can be downloaded from the following link. 
Please free to comment and share this post if it helps you!

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The list cannot be displayed in datasheet view for one or more of the following reasons in SharePoint

I was easily changing my list view by edit in data sheet view and in standard view. 

After sometime, when I tried to edit a SharePoint list in DATASHEET view, I got the following error which doesn't allow me to view the list in the datasheet view and shown up a error as shown below:

Solution:

Clearly, the problem is due to some DLL's in the MS office is creating this problem.

Hence, either of the following solutions will help you to fix this error:

Microsoft Office diagnostics

Run the Microsoft office diagnostics tool by navigating to the following location:

Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Office -> Microsoft Office Tools -> Microsoft Office Diagnostics

This will repair the office setup installed in the machine. you may see the following screens running once started

Once completed, you will see the following screen:

                            

Installing Office2007 SharePoint Components

I read a wonderful article for this and the link is

http://neganov.blogspot.com/2009/11/cannot-edit-sharepoint-2007-list-in.html

Either of the above solutions will help you in fixing this issue.

Hope this saves some one’s time. Happy Sharing!

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Using CAML Query Builder for SharePoint

To know about the Basics of the CAML query read this article.

Download Link

Use the following link to download the CAML Query builder.

http://www.u2u.be/res/Tools/files/CamlBuilderSetupv4.0.0.0.zip
Update: CAML query builder for 2007, 2010, 2013 and SP Online link

How to use CAML Query Builder to create a query

Following are the steps for using the CAML query builder to create a CAML query

1. Open the CAML query builder. Type the URL to connect to the SharePoint site and check Credentials of the current user to login

2. Once clicked connect, you will see the following window SharePoint site with all the lists and libraries in the site in a tree view structure which is shown below: 

3. Now we will create a new query on a list named “Product List” as shown below:

4. We will start creating a new query which is as follows:

5. You will find the query being created depending upon your selection from the list

6. Clicking on Execute, you will see the query being executed and the result is being displayed in the result tab as shown below:

The Query created is:

<Query>

           <Where>

                       <Gt>

                              <FieldRef Name="Quantity" />

                              <Value Type="Number">0</Value>

                      </Gt>

          </Where>

          <OrderBy>

                       <FieldRef Name="Price" Ascending="True" />

          </OrderBy>

</Query>

Hence, CAML Query Builder allows us to create the queries very easily so that it can be used in the SharePoint programming.

Now, we will have a question, how to use this query in the Visual Studio to retrieve the data from a list.

To know how to use CAML query in Visual Studio programming, read this article.

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Import Excel Sheet to SharePoint List

In this article, we will learn how to export the excel data to the SharePoint list.

Steps:

1. Click on Site Actions -> More Options 

2. Now click on the Lists -> Select Import Spread Sheet from the type -> then Click Create 

3. Give the Name and Description of the List to be created and then browse the Excel Sheet to be uploaded

4. Clicking on Import option, you will find see a popup window opens. Select Range of Cells in the Range Type

5. This option allows you to select the table columns and rows in excel as shown below. After selecting, you will see the selected field’s column and row data being populated in the Select Range field in the popup window

6. Now click on Import in the popup window. Your SharePoint list will be created from the Excel Sheet and the values are also populated as shown below:

You may face some issues while importing the Excel Sheet to SharePoint and the solution is follows:

Error: “Method ‘Post’ of object ‘IOWSPostData’ failed” in SharePoint

Solution:

 Ø  Open the Excel Sheet Add-In EXPTOOWS.XLA which will is available at the following location C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\1033 by default.

 Ø  Press Alt+F11 to display the Visual Basic code editor. Locate the form named "PublishForm" under the folder "Forms" and open the code view of this form.

 Ø  Search (Ctrl+F) for the line "lVer = Application.SharePointVersion(URL)" and place a new line "lVer=2" after that line.

 Ø  Now try to import the Excel Sheet to the SharePoint, you will not get any errors.

Error: "The specified file is not a valid spreadsheet or contains no data to import"

Solution:

This error occurs when the site you are opening do not have permission to file system. To give permission follow the below steps:

In Internet Explorer click Tools --> Internet Options -> Click Security tab --> Select Trusted Sites --> In the Sites add your URL here.

Now you will be able to import the file properly.

Hope this post helps you! Please free to comment and share this post.

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