Using the SPListItem.Url property

If you are wondering in using the SPListItem.Url property, it is returning a value like http://localhost/Lists/MyList/2_.000

You cannot use this url for navigating in your web ui. To get a proper "web" url, you have to tailor your code a little bit differently to retrieve the correct path to the DispForm.aspx page or whereever you want to go:

SPList list = site.Lists.GetList("MyList");
SPListItem item = list.Items[id];
list.Forms[PAGETYPE.PAGE_DISPLAYFORM].Url + "?ID=" + item.ID;

Activating custom timer jobs as a feature

When you are developing custom timer jobs and deploy them as a feature, you have to make sure it is a "WebApplication"- or "Farm"-Feature.
If you try to activate a feature with a custom timer job from inside a SharePoint Site, you will get the following error: The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'proc_putObject'

Of course, there are several possible ways, how to work around this issue:

• You could give the IIS Application Pool User Account the appropriate permission
• You could turn off unsafe updates in your code
• You could change the permissions of your SharePoint config database

Everyone of these actions breaks the rule of separated permissions. The right way would be to rescope your feature and activate it through Central Administration. Ideally, it is another person who has to activate the feature, as well (namely the Farm Admin ;-)).

BizTalk Server 2009 Announced

Microsoft announced an updated Roadmap for BizTalk Server highlighting the next release of BizTalk and outlining plans for future releases.
BizTalk Server 2006 R3 will now be called BizTalk Server 2009. This new name combined with the forward looking roadmap clearly showcases the future of BizTalk, which until now was a little unclear. It shows Microsoft’s long-term strategy to enable the connected enterprise. BizTalk Server allows service-oriented applications to connect and builds with other components (e.g., Windows Server, .NET, Visual Studio, SQL Server, and SharePoint) a “Real World SOA” application platform.

What to expect:

Service Oriented Architecture and Web Services

• Enhanced support for messaging based on Web services
• Updated SharePoint Server Integration
• Expanded Business Activity Monitoring
• BizTalk Adapter Pack
• WCF Adapter SDK
• BizTalk Adapters for Host Systems
• Enterprise Service Bus Guidance
• Enhanced Partner Solutions

Business to Business Integration

• Integrated Support for EDI and AS2 Protocols
• Comprehensive RFID Platform Infrastructure

DataViewWebPart prompting for credentials with WSS SP3

The Data View Web Part is one of my favourite Web Parts. Its ability to integate data from legacy systems into the Sharepoint Look&Feel is great.

Some days ago, it was the source of some serious frustration. On the system with one of my clients we have a series of WSS 2.0 sites that use the DVWP to show several views on sharepoint lists and data from an external web service. Things were working great... until we deployed that system to a new environment and the site started prompting users for credentials. The prompt was not going away even you enter the correkt password. We tried several things like checking the account settings, resetting the password, checking and changing the WebServices´ authentication method back and forth, checking Sharepoint settings, resetting IIS and pulling our hair out. Even setting accounts to Administrators didn't help. Why? We compared the two systems. The new system was a fresh installation with all possible updates (including WSS SP3!).

After searching the web we found the following description at Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948919/en-us
There appears to be some serious issues with the DVWP after installing WSS SP3 (which comes down with Automatic updates... and cannot be uninstalled). This one really hurts the credibility of SharePoint.
If you haven’t installed SP3 yet it’s probably worth waiting a while. If you have already installed it (and if you have automatic updates turned on you probably have), unfortunately there isn’t an uninstall option. The hotfix above is not freely available, you have to send a request to Mircosoft. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.
We had no match for installing the hotfix. It fixed our problem and other side effects were not discoverd.