Migrating InfoPath forms from SharePoint 2010 to Online

Introduction
InfoPath was never built for SharePoint to begin with - that's the fact that many people miss. It was retrofitted to support SharePoint so that forms solutions could be used on SharePoint
There are limitations inside InfoPath that could not have grown with the SharePoint trajectory. Because of that, Microsoft turned to researching a Web-based solution for the design and creation of forms in SharePoint or somewhere online instead of doing it on a desktop, which InfoPath does
How InfoPath forms are used in SharePoint 2010?
When you customize the SharePoint List/Library with InfoPath form then one of the following solutions is implemented:

1. Customizing the default SharePoint List template(customizing the new, edit & display forms/views) - forms connected with "Item Content Type". This can be connected with SharePoint Designer to automate business process with workflows - example: Send emails

2. Customizing the SharePoint Form Library where "Form Content Type" is used to store the forms. User will fill the form and submits the form back to the form library

3. Advanced solutions involves two types of implementations
i) Using data connections - data from Database, Web Service (.asmx / WCF services), XML, etc.
ii) Using custom code/sandbox solutions - writing custom codes for custom events using C#/VB scripts https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ee526362.aspx

Problems/Issues/Known facts

1. There will be no InfoPath 2016, but InfoPath 2013 is filling that role.
SharePoint 2016 works with InfoPath 2013, which will be supported until 2026 as if it were part of Office 2016.
2. InfoPath 2013 is now available in the Microsoft Download Center.
3. Microsoft has provided guidance that the successor to InfoPath will be PowerApps, but with caveats: feature parity with InfoPath is not a goal, and InfoPath will still be preferred for some scenarios involving offline work and rich XML documents, for example.

4. Office 365 will support InfoPath browser forms in SharePoint Online ‘until further notice‘. There were indications that support might end one year after the release of Office 2016, but that date has now passed.
5. InfoPath browser forms with code do not work with the Managed Solutions Gallery (2013, 2016)6. InfoPath browser forms with code do not work on SharePoint Online. Reference: Removing Code-Based Sandbox Solutions in SharePoint Online
7. InfoPath browser forms do not work on mobile devices when SharePoint Online mobile view is enabled.
8. There are reports of problems using InfoPath 2013 with Outlook 2016 email.
9. Microsoft's Forms Preview is determined not to be InfoPath replacement
Reference: https://blog.formotus.com/enterprise-mobility/microsoft-announces-future-infopath
10. InfoPath form in SharePoint Online doesn’t support some web service data connection which are supported in SP 2010
This issue occurs because loopback protection is enabled in the SharePoint Online environment. Loopback protection must be disabled for InfoPath forms to be able to connect to a SharePoint Online web service. This works only when loopback protection is disabled. For security reasons, loopback protection is always enabled in SharePoint Online. This is a known limitation of InfoPath forms in the Office 365 SharePoint Online. But as confirmed by Microsoft. it is not possible to disable it due to security issue.
Error message when you connect an InfoPath form to a SharePoint Online web service: "An error occurred while connecting to a Web Service"
Only the following web services are supported:
 lists.asmx
  CheckOutFile
  CheckInFile
 usergroup.asmx   GetUserCollectionFromGroup
  GetUserCollectionFromSite
  GetGroupCollectionFromWeb
 UserProfileService.asmx  GetUserProfileByName  (If you are using User Profile Service connections and classic authentication?  You might have to update rules/formatting to handle the claims usernames now that are standard in 2013/Online)
  GetUserPropertyByAccountName
  GetCommonManager
  GetUserMemberships
  GetCommonMemberships
References: Microsoft on the Future of InfoPath
InfoPath 2010 features unavailable in Web browser forms
Microsoft's next steps/strategy

1. InfoPath 2013 will remain the latest version and no more new versions will be released
2. The guidance (from Microsoft) is that InfoPath will still be supported through 2026, which is a long time in terms of software technology.
Support
Reference: https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2016/01/20/sharepoint-server-2016-and-project-server-2016-release-candidate-available/
3. Microsoft is going to deprecate SharePoint Designer, too, which I understand is used to build sites, workflows, create themes, page layouts and many other uses.
4. Microsoft's answer is that SharePoint Designer 2013 will work with SharePoint Server 2016, just like InfoPath 2013 will work with SharePoint Server 2016. This is good for SharePoint On-Premise users
5. For SharePoint Online (Office 365), Microsoft's answers are:
Microsoft Power Apps in place of InfoPath forms (Power Apps not a complete replacement/alternative to InfoPath forms but still this is an option available now)
Microsoft Flow in place of SharePoint Designer for workflows
The above features/additions are made keeping Cloud first and Mobile first strategy in the mind
Other Considerations
There are a couple things to think about when you’re complete. 
1. You’ve changed the version of SharePoint. If you’re upgrading say from Office 2010 to Office 2013 and InfoPath 2013 has some changes from 2010 to think about
2. Check all your data connections and ensure they work
Hopefully this allowed you to migrate a complex InfoPath list form from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013/Online with relative ease.
Happy Share(ing)Point! 

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Slide Library in SharePoint Online

When you try to migrate from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint Online (Office 365), Slide Library template is not listed as app in the Create App section.
You can still get it with a direct URL. I would not depend on it being there forever as the Slide Library is officially not in SharePoint 2013, but for now you can create one.
The direct URL to create the old Slide Library:
http://yourserver/sites/yoursite/_layouts/15/slnew.aspx?FeatureId={0be49fe9-9bc9-409d-abf9-702753bd878d}&ListTemplate=2100

Update 22/05/2017:
Even though above solution works as expected in SharePoint 2013 & SP Online it is advisable not to use since Microsoft may remove this feature in future.

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Challenges to be considered before migrating from SharePoint 2010 to 2016

1. Identifying the business owners for each site / site collection
2. Data Cleansing - identifying the old contents/obsolete data for archiving
3. Identifying the intranet links embedded inside the documents (while migrating to SharePoint Online) 
4. Optimize and define databases - Perform re-organization of content. For example, as you determine what will be brought over to the new environment, you may end up archiving some ‘less-used’ content to a ‘read-only’ or ‘slower’ server.Consider moving read only data to a separate SQL instance or even separate SQL farm where the data is read-only. You may also want to consider moving less frequently used content to SQL servers that have less resources and keep the higher performing SQL servers for the frequently used/collaborative content, perhaps your ‘old’ SQL server.
5. Size of data to be migrated – this will affect the migration time
6. Any good migration should involve a content audit. Data security (legal & audit implications should be considered) –confidential documents which are restricted for internal use cannot be migrated to SharePoint Online. Key ‘things’ like ‘Highly Visible or Critical Areas’, ‘Executive Users Permissions’, ‘Large AD Group Users’ assignments, ‘Highly Used’ Features, ‘Heavy Customizations’, Integration with other systems, etc. must be identified, and documented in order to identify where the critical data and functionality exists. Depending on the access to the content, an appropriate ‘services’ and ‘security’ model can be included in the SharePoint migration planning (and later validation).
7. SharePoint 2010 cannot be directly migrated to 2016 and it needs to be migrated to 2013 and then to 2016 version (when Database upgrade approach is opted as an option for migration)
8. If tool based migration (like Sharegate, Metalogix) approach is used, then direct migration from 2010 to 2016 is possible
9. 10 GB is the new soft limit for file sizes in SharePoint 2016
10. If custom master page is used, then the existing master page needs to be upgraded /recreated from 2010 -2013 –then 2016 version for using it in SharePoint 2016
11. While using database upgrade (2010 to 2013 and then to 2016) approach, SharePoint 2010 sites will be made read only during migration process
12. Any custom farm solutions should be upgraded to SharePoint 2016 before use
13. The same connectivity/integrations to external systems in SharePoint on-premises environment may not be achieved in SharePoint Online
14. New user ID’s needs to be created in SharePoint Online. New/ existing permission levels needs to be created in SharePoint Online
15. End users needs to be trained for new UI/navigation, etc.

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External List in SharePoint Limitations

When I tried to connect the external DB to the SharePoint using external content types, I found lot of issues or limitations for the end users. This is same in external lists as well. I am using SharePoint 2010.

No look up:

Unfortunately the only thing that you can do a look up on in an external list is on the ID column, anything else and you are out of luck.

No Attachments:

Attachments options are not available.

No RSS Feeds:

RSS feeds is also greyed out and it really helps when you need updates from SharePoint list

No Workflows:

Workflows are very important in SharePoint lists and it plays a vital role in different business requirements. But workflows are disabled in external lists

No Ratings:

In all the SharePoint lists, you will see an option of Rating Settings under General Settings where the Rating can be enabled but this is disabled
No Inline Editing or Datasheet View:
Inline editing allows you to edit list items in list view itself. Datasheet view is a where you can easily change the data for multiple items. Neither of these is available.

No Versioning or history:
You cannot see version history for an External List. It does make sense, in many of the external systems there is no concepts of version
No Item Level Permissions:
You cannot configure item level permissions for external list items
No Export to Excel Option:
This is a frequently used option which allows the end users to export the list data to excel. But this is disabled
No Open with Access / Create Visio Diagram / Open Schedule: 
Though this not used frequently, sometimes we may need this but this is also disabled

I gone through BCS in SP 2013, it is improved a little bit:

1. Export to Excel option is included
2. Sorting and Filtering are improved
3. Event receiver on external lists is introduced

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Migrate SharePoint 2010 to 2013

In this article, we will learn how to migrate SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013. This migration is applicable for OOTB features migration not for Custom Solution migration to SharePoint 2013.

Steps:

      1. Change the Authentication mode of SharePoint 2010 application to Claims using the PowerShell command

$WebAppName = ""
$account = ""
$wa = get-SPWebApplication $WebAppName
Set-SPwebApplication $wa –AuthenticationProvider (NewSPAuthenticationProvider) –Zone Default

2.   We have to take the backup of solutions (WSP) from SP 2010 and deploy it in the SP 2013 farm. Use the following PowerShell command to back up the WSP

$farm = Get-SPFarm
$file = $farm.Solutions.Item("Backup.wsp").SolutionFile
$file.SaveAs("C:\Backup.wsp")

3.   Now, deploy the solution to the SP 2013 farm using the following command:

Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath "C:\Backup.wsp" 

(rebuilding the solution in Visual Studio 2012 is required sometimes)

     4.  Now take the backup of Content DB from SP 2010 and attach in SP 2013 database server

Note: This will automatically update the DB schema for SQL server 2012 (which is previously lower version in SP 2010)

    5.   Create a new web application in SP 2013 and after creating the web application detach the Content DB (which is newly created for SP 2013 now)

    6.   Now, attach the backup Content DB (taken from SP 2010) using the following command

Mount-SPContentDatabase -name -WebApplication 

Note: This will automatically update the Dictionary and other required update for SP 2013.

    7.   Now deploy the List templates and other backups from SP 2010 if required.

Note: This is applicable only for OOTB solutions. If you have custom solutions, then you have to re-build the code using Visual Studio 2012 and then deploy the solution.

Hope this helps you and please free to comment and share this post.

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Unexpected error occurred while communicating with Administration Service

Scenario:

I ran into the following issue when attempting to access  Fast search features such as:

1. FAST Search keywords

2. Fast Search site promotion and demotion

3. Fast search user context

Solution:

I checked my Administrators group in the SP server. Fast Search ADMIN account configured is added in the Administrators group. Though I am unable to access these features.

Then found the resolution from a TechNet article.

1.   Create a group named FASTSearchKeywordAdministrators in the SP server (this group is not automatically created during default installation).

2.   Add the Fast Search ADMIN account (account configured for fast search) to this group.

Then tried accessing the features and everything works as expected.

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The feature being activated is a Site scoped feature which has a dependency on a Site Collection scoped feature which has not been activated. Please activate the following feature before trying again: SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure f6924d36-2fa8-4f0b-b16d-06b7250180fa

Some times while activating the Publishing feature in SharePoint through the options in Site Settings we will get this error:
The feature being activated is a Site scoped feature which has a dependency on a Site Collection scoped feature which has not been activated. Please activate the following feature before trying again: SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure f6924d36-2fa8-4f0b-b16d-06b7250180fa

Reason:

The reason being the "SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure" feature has to be enabled at SITE COLLECTION level, then it has to be activated at SITE LEVEL enable the feature. So that we can create Publishing pages in SharePoint.

Solution:
It can be done in many ways (2 ways mentioned below):
1. We can use the Site Settings -> Site Collection Administration -> Site Collection Features to enable this feature.
2. Then Site Settings -> Site Administration -> Site Features -> Enable this feature.
3. We can also achieve this using STSADM command as shown below:

STSADM.EXE -o deactivatefeature -id f6924d36-2fa8-4f0b-b16d-06b7250180fa -url "http://SiteURLHere/" -force

Then,

STSADM.EXE -o activatefeature -id f6924d36-2fa8-4f0b-b16d-06b7250180fa -url "SiteURLHere" -force

Hope this helps you!

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Web Part with Custom Tool Part in SharePoint

To know about Basics of Creating a Custom Web Part with Validations and Deploying it in the SharePoint, read this article.

In this article, we will know how to create a custom web part in SharePoint with Custom Tool Part (Custom Properties).
Before creating a custom web part with custom tool part, we will know about the basics of Custom Tool Part in SharePoint.

What is custom tool part?
The Custom tool part is part of the web part infrastructure, which helps us to create a custom user interface for the web part properties which is different from default property pane.

Difference between Standard Tool Box and Custom Tool Part Properties
Below is the difference between the Sandbox and Custom Tool Part properties in a web part:
Sand Box Tool Box Properties:This is the tool box that comes by default and it contains Text Boxes, Check Boxes and Drop down lists to fill or select the data. But this tool box does not contain any dynamic controls for displaying the dynamic data from the SharePoint list or libraries. This is something like hard coding the values in the .cs file of the web part.
Custom Tool Part Properties:With the Custom tool part or tool box can contain any asp controls in it and it can bind the data to from the database or list and libraries. Hence displaying the dynamic values or data is possible using this tool box.

List of attributes used for creating a Custom Tool Part

 Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd584174(v=office.11)

Two Classes used in the Web Part Tool Pane Creation

WebPartToolPart – represents a tool part that can be used to show and modify Web Part base class properties.
CustomPropertyToolPart – used to show and modify the custom properties created in the web part.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and share this post if it helps you!

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How does Ribbon in SharePoint 2010 works?

A file called CMDUI.XML stays at the web front end which contains the Out-of-Box site wide Ribbon implementation i.e. all the Ribbon UI for the entire site. In addition to this you have a CustomAction for each ribbon component.

These CustomActions have CommandUIExtentions block which has CommandUIDefinitions and CommandUIHandlers which make up the activity of the ribbon component.

So, when the ribbon is loaded the CommandUIDefinition merges with Out-of-Box definition in the CMDUI.XML

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Workflows in SharePoint

What is a Workflow in SharePoint?

Ø  In simple words, we can say workflow is a serious of activities occurs in steps which will produce an output at the final step.

Ø  In SharePoint, workflow is an automated movement of documents or items through a sequence of actions or tasks that are related to a business process. 

Ø  Business process is a sequence of steps that occurs on a document or a task or an item and finally produces a result as an outcome.

Types of Workflows

Basically, there are two fundamental types of workflows in the SharePoint:
                       

   1.   Sequential workflow

It represents the steps that execute in order until the completion of last activity. It is represented graphically in flowchart with start, end and all the sequential activities in between.

Example

   
  2.   State-Machine workflow

It represents a set of states, transitions and actions. As sequential workflows, it does not have prescribed execution flow and need not have an end. It can have any number of states and transition and it can any items related to any transition.

Example

The different types of workflow in the various versions of SharePoint present by default are listed below:

Ways for creating workflows in SharePoint

The different ways of creating the workflows in SharePoint are as follows:

    1.   In SharePoint site directly

    2.   SharePoint Designer

    3.   Microsoft Visual Studio with workflow extensions installed (WWF- Windows Workflow Foundation) – basically called custom workflows

    4.   Third party tools like K2 Black Perl, Nintex, etc.,

What are the pre-requisites for creating a workflow in SharePoint?

    1.  There should be a at least one list or document library to create and associate a workflow.

    2.   If you do not have a single list or document library in your site, you will be prompted for creating a list or library.

    3.   If you want your workflow to be associated with custom columns or settings in the site, then those changes should be made before you create the workflow so that it will be available in the designer.

Advantages

 Ø  Allow the business activities to be automated, enabling actions such as document review, approval, issue tracking and signature collection.

 Ø  Allow the document to be routed to one person to another for approval by assigning a task to each person. This is followed by analysis, review, and approval and finally the document is published. Hence making the document management easier.

 Ø  Also improves the collaboration in an enterprise.

To know about creating a designer workflow in SharePoint using SharePoint designer 2007, read this article.


To know about the new features added in SharePoint Designer 2010, read this article.

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Configuring Enterprise Search in SharePoint 2010

Hi All,

Read the useful arcticle which explains about Configuring the Enterprise Search in SharePoint 2010. A step by step explanation with screens is explained in this artcile.

Configuring Enterprise Search in SharePoint 2010 

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Inserting a web part into SharePoint page without designer

In the article “Inserting a web part into SharePoint Page without designer”, we have discussed about inserting a web part in New/Edit/Display from.aspx in without using designer the lower versions of SharePoint (WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007).

Now, in this article we will discuss about inserting a web part into the New/Edit/Display form.aspx page without designer in SharePoint 2010.

Now, suppose that we have custom list named “City”

Now, go to the List Settings of the custom list “City”

Under General Settings -> Advanced Settings

In the advance settings, we have an option for the Launching the forms in dialog when click on NEW for inserting a new value in a list.

Here, now we will disable that option by selecting NO in launch forms in a dialog as shown below:

Now, we will click on “New Item” for inserting a new item in the custom list

Now, we will be navigated to the newform.aspx without popup dialog since we have disabled it.

The URL in the address bar will be as below:

http://SiteName/Lists/City/NewForm.aspx?Source=http%3A%2F%2F%2D%3A2020%2FLists%2FCity%2FAllItems%2Easpx%3FInitialTabId%3DRibbon%252EListItem%26VisibilityContext%3DWSSTabPersistence&RootFolder=

In the above URL delete the URL before NewForm.aspx, we will have

 http://SiteName/Lists/City/NewForm.aspx

In this URL in the address bar, append “?ToolPaneView=2”

http://SiteName/List/City/NewForm.aspx?ToolPaneView=2

Click Go in the address bar, then you will see the Add Web Parts option for inserting into the newform.aspx page.

In the similar way, we can insert the web part into editform.aspx and displayform.aspx

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Cascading dropdown (or) Filtered Values in Lookup Columns in SharePoint

Update: 27/06/2017

To know about implementing Cascading drop down or filtered lookup in SharePoint 2013 or SP Online using REST API, read this article: Cascading drop down in SharePoint using REST APIUpdate: 06/07/2017

To know about implementing multi-value lookup column and filtering values, read this article: Multi value Lookup Columns in SharePointTo know about the Basics of Lookup Columns read this article.Also, to know about the Enhancements of Lookup columns in SharePoint 2010 read this article.

Problem:

In SharePoint the cascading or the filtered values in the lookup columns are not present by default.

In this article, we will achieve this using the simple JavaScript.

Solution:

Consider the simple scenario that the user needs to input the values of Continent, Country, State and City which has to be the filtered values.

Steps:

1. Create four lists with the following column and corresponding types

Note: 

I haven’t used the default title column for any of the lists above and I have hide it from the default view.

To know how to hide the default title column from the list read this article.

2. The screen shots of the four custom lists created in the step 1 are shown below:

3. Now, we will create another custom list for testing the cascading dropdown in the SharePoint. Create a custom list with the following column and corresponding types

The screen shot of the created list is shown below:

4. When we click on the dropdowns in continent, country, state or city we will get the unfiltered values as shown below:

5. Now we add the java script to achieve the solution

General Code to be added:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

// Execute the following JavaScript after the page has fully loaded, when it's ".ready" $(document).ready(function(){ $().SPServices.SPCascadeDropdowns({ relationshipList: "Display Name of Master List", relationshipListParentColumn: "Parent Column Internal Name from Master List", relationshipListChildColumn: "Child Column Internal Name from Master List", parentColumn: "Parent Column Display Name from List/Library", childColumn: "Child Column Display Name from List/Library" }); });

Description of the code

Note:

To know how to get the Internal Name of a column in a list in SharePoint, read this article.
Download of JQuery referred in the code can be found from jquery.com and codeplex.com

For ease of download for the readers, I have uploaded the script in the below links. Click to download the jquery-1.4.2.min.js and jquery.SPServices-0.5.3 min.js

Code in our case:

6. Now, we will insert this JQuery and achieve the cascading dropdown.

7. Click on New in the created custom list (Cascading Lookup Demo) as shown below:

8. Now, we will insert a Content Editor Web Part in the newform.aspx to place the JavaScript code in it.

 To know how to insert a web part in the NewForm.aspx without using SharePoint Designer read this article.

How to Insert a Web Part in NewForm.aspx without SharePoint designer

9. After inserting the web part, paste the code and save the web part.

Note: Place Content Editor Web Part below the list form or else the Java Script added won’t work.

10. We are done! Now, we will check the cascading drop down. So, when the continent is selected only countries with respect to the continent should be displayed (Filtered values) and then the state, city in the same case.

The results of various scenarios are shown below:

I have checked for the empty values scenario also. What if the child column is empty or does not contain values. Then after inserting the value, it should add empty values in the column as shown below:

After inserting the values the list is as follows: 

Advantages:

Ø  We can simply achieve the cascading drop down in lookup columns in SharePoint without using any third party tools

Ø  No need of SharePoint designer to achieve this result

 Disadvantages:

Ø  This won’t work in the Data Sheet View since we are inserting the J query in the aspx page only.

Ø  When the number of items in a look up column is greater than 20 then your drop down will change as follows:

We had more than 20 states in the States List (28 items with lookup values)

This happens only in the IE and not in the Chrome or any browsers.

Have a look at the page in the Chrome Browser:

The reason for this variations and the fix is explained well in this article. Below is the link

SharePoint Lookup field: how does it work and how to add JavaScript event handler function to it? 

Hope you have read a nice article.

Please free to comment. Always, your comments help me to write more.

Share this post to others if this helps you!

Note:

I have updated the code of this article on 08.06.2012 since readers of this article requires the following:

1. What is the case if there are more than 2 values (4 cascading or filtered values – using more number of variables)?

2. What is the case if there is an empty string in the child value?

3. To explain the solution with more details for ease of reading and understanding for the readers.

Update: 27/06/2017To know about implementing Cascading drop down or filtered lookup in SharePoint 2013 or SP Online using REST API, read this article: Cascading drop down in SharePoint using REST APIUpdate: 06/07/2017To know about implementing multi-value lookup column and filtering values, read this article: Multi value Lookup Columns in SharePoint

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