My Sharepoint Learnings

The max number of workflow running is by default set to 15. This is applicable for both SPD and visual studio workflows. The number does not include the workflow instances which is 'In progress' state. The number represents the number of active workflows using the processor and it is set for the entire farm and does not depend on the number of front end servers. The number can be configured using powershell command Set-SPFarmConfig More can be read from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607962(v=office.14).aspx The existing farm settings can be obtained using the command Get-SPFarmConfig Reference < http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607745(v=office.14).aspx > To know more about SharePoint workflow performance and scalability parameters read the msdn article - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd441390(office.12).aspx More about SharePoint 2010 workflow http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh237664(v=office.14)...

It might be required that in a serial workflow with mutliple stages, there might be more than one users. The workflow should proceed to next step, if one of them completes the step. For e.g., consider there are 2 groups of reviwers, say Group A and Group B. When an item is created, an email would be send to Group A users. If one of the members in Group A completes the task, it should send mail to Group B users. In such scenarios, create 2 sharepoint groups, one for Group A and one for Group B. Add all the members to the respective groups. Create the workflow in SPD and after first action, assign the task to Sharepoint Group A. Now if anyone of the users in Group A completes the task, the task status changes to completed and the next step would be continued. It does not require that all members in Group A complete the task assigned.

When trying to click on Open this task from Outlook 2010, it brings an error - " Outlook cannot open a new form. The form contains schema validation errors" Element '{ http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}div ' is unexpected according to the content model of parent element '{ http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/infopath/2009/WSSList/dataFields}Body '. As given in the error message, the issue is with the Body column of the workflow tasks list. For the approval workflow, there would be a tasks list. In the workflow task list, the Body column is Enhance Rich multi-line column. Change the setting to Plain text, instead of enhanced rich text. After that do an iisreset.

When inserting a dataview webpart in SP2010, checkboxes appear on the left side of each row. To remove it, do the following from Sharepoint- Go to the list - View Settings - in Tabular section, uncheck  'Allow individual inline editing' To do it in SPD, there is no direct setting- In the View tag of XSLTwebpart, add 'Tabular = False' e.g. before - <View Name="{123456788-A999-ABBC-VVYY-1234ABCDXX}" MobileView="TRUE" Type="HTML" Hidden="TRUE" DisplayName="TestView" Url="/SitePages/Test.aspx" Level="1" BaseViewID="1" ContentTypeID="0x" ImageUrl="/_layouts/images/generic.png"> after - <View Name="{123456788-A999-ABBC-VVYY-1234ABCDXX}" TabularView="False" MobileView="TRUE" Type="HTML" Hidden="TRUE" DisplayName="TestView" Url="/SitePages/Test.aspx" Level="1" BaseViewID="1...

Sometimes even as the administrator, the error " Access Denied by Business Data Connectivity" might come when trying to open external list To resolve the issue Go to Central Administration -> Application Management -> Manage Service Applications -> Business Data Connectivity Service* -> [Your Entity] -> Set Permissions Then set the permissions as re quired  Then do an IISReset    

External lists in Sharepoint 2010 can be used to read/add/update/delete data in any external data- source. To create external list, a external content type has to be created. Refer the below links on msdn on how to create external content type How to create external content type Creating SharePoint Server 2010 External Content Type Associations with SharePoint Designer 2010 Sharepoint-2010-external-content-type-to-read-data-from-sql-server-using-sql-authentication-and-secure-store-service.aspx The below links explain on how to create external list How to create external list https://www.nothingbutsharepoint.com/sites/eusp/Pages/sharepoint-2010-external-lists.aspx More about BCS functionality in msdn http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee557949.aspx

List forms can be customized using Infopath 2010. If the fields are kept mandatory, the red asterik sign appears on text fields. It would appear till the field is filled . Also alt text would come as 'Cannot be blank', which can be annoying at time. The alternative option would be to disable the Submit button till all the mandatory fields are filled. Click on Submit button, click on Manage Rules and Formatting Select the fields that are required and check on Disbale the control. For e,g, if in the form, say the fields, Name, Designation, Company Name are required, create the rule to evaluate-  Name is blank or Desingnation is blank or Company Name is blank. When the condition is true, Submit button is disabled. When all three are filled, the condition is false and therefore Submit buton is enabled.