Profile: Scot Hillier | Planet SharePoint.org

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Scot Hillier Profile

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Landed Here	May 15, 2008
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Posts: # / 1st / Latest	44 - Nov 07, 2007 - Sep 01, 2010
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Why are my date fields wrong in Business Connectivity Servces?
Scot Hillier
When you create an External Content Type and External List that has a DateTime field using the SharePoint Designer, the DateTime field is normalized to UTC using the following XML associated with the TypeDescriptor for the DateTime field. [read].
Posted: Wed, Sep 1st '10

Uploading and Downloading Options in SharePoint 2010
Scot Hillier
There are a wide variety of approaches for uploading and downloading files in SharePoint 2010. The following table provides a description of each and detailed considerations follow. Approach Description WebDAV File management through HTTP Copy web service Out-of- ... (More) [read].
Posted: Tue, Aug 31st '10

Calling BCS External Lists from Workflow and Sandboxed Solutions in SharePoint 2010
Scot Hillier
Many developers experience security issues when trying to access External Lists through workflows and Sandboxed Solutions. Read the P&P guidance here to avaoid these issues: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff798353.aspx [read].
Posted: Wed, Aug 25th '10

Using Business Connectivity Services to Display SharePoint 2010 ULS Logs
Scot Hillier
When things go wrong in SharePoint, the Unified Logging Service (ULS) logs are one of the main places to go for more information. The problem is that these text files are often hard to read and digest. In this post, I'll take a look at using Business Connectivity Services (BCS) to create a list of ... (More) [read].
Posted: Thu, Aug 5th '10

Creating Multiple and Parallel Tasks in SharePoint 2010 Workflow
Scot Hillier
Here are two screen casts for creating tasks in SharePoint 2010 workflows: Parallel Tasks Multiple Tasks [read].
Posted: Wed, Aug 4th '10

New BCS Tools from Microsoft
Scot Hillier
The BCS team has just released two new tools: The Solution Packaging Tool The BCS Artifact Generator The Solution Packaging Tool allows you to create VSTO click-once packages for External Content Types. The BCS Artifact Generator allows you to create custom UI for use in Outlook. Very usefu ... (More) [read].
Posted: Mon, Jun 28th '10

My SharePoint 2010 Publications
Scot Hillier
These are the SharePoint 2010 books and videos I am involved with: The Business Connectivity Services chapter for the Wrox book Professional SharePoint 2010 Development. Co-author with Ted Pattison and Andrew Connell for the MS Press book Inside Microsoft SharePoint 2010. I am the ... (More) [read].
Posted: Sun, May 16th '10

Tech Days Recordings
Scot Hillier
Recently, I finished up the Tech Days conference in Belgium. Follow this link to see the recorded sessions from that conference including my presentations on Sandboxed Solutions, LINQ to SharePoint, WCF Data Services, and Business Connectivity Services. Tech Days Recordings [read].
Posted: Wed, Apr 21st '10

Web Parts for Synchronizing with SharePoint Workspace
Scot Hillier
I just finished a new addition to the Sandboxed Solutions project on Codeplex. This is a set of two web parts. One web part lists all of the sites in the current collection. The other lists the SharePoint lists in the current site. Each item is presented as a hyperlink. When clicked, synchronization ... (More) [read].
Posted: Mon, Apr 12th '10

SharePoint Pro Conference
Scot Hillier
This week, I’m at the SharePoint Pro conference in Las Vegas. Info on my sessions is below. If you’re looking for the session code go to hillier.codeplex.com. Best Practices for Accessing SharePoint 2010 List Data Level: 300 In this session, attendees will learn the best ways to access and man ... (More) [read].
Posted: Wed, Mar 17th '10

Detecting the Sandbox in SharePoint 2010
Scot Hillier
When you create Sandboxed Solutions, these features are capable of running either inside or outside of the sandbox. Because there are many restrictions on solutions running in the sandbox, you may want to detect if the current solution is running inside the sandbox. The following code will do it: ... (More) [read].
Posted: Sat, Feb 20th '10

SharePoint Pro Summit 2010
Scot Hillier
The SharePoint Connections Conference has been renamed to SharePoint Pro Summit 2010 and will be held this spring in Las Vegas at the Bellagio hotel for those of you who can stand a third trip to Vegas in under a year. This promises to be a big SharePoint community event. The list of speakers is ... (More) [read].
Posted: Mon, Jan 18th '10

Setting up PowerShell ISE for SharePoint 2010
Scot Hillier
PowerShell is a great companion for SharePoint 2010. As a developer, I find the best way to use it is through the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). The only problem is, the SharePoint snap-in doesn't load automatically when I start PowerShell ISE. So, here are the steps I follow to get ISE ... (More) [read].
Posted: Mon, Jan 18th '10

Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SharePoint Announced
Scot Hillier
Paul Andrew posts some of the new capabilities of VS2010 for SharePoint developers. Keep an eye on this - it's what we've been waiting for! http://blogs.msdn.com/pandrew/archive/2008/11/10/visual-studio-2010-tools-for-sharepoint-announced-at-teched-emea-developers-2008.aspx [read].
Posted: Mon, Jan 18th '10

SPDisposeCheck Released
Scot Hillier
SPDisposeCheck is a tool that checks your SharePoint code for undisposed SPWeb and SPSite objects. It is not completely foolproof (false positives are possible), but it is an excellent tool that should be run on all production code before release. [read].
Posted: Mon, Jan 18th '10

New Blog and Site
Scot Hillier
My blog is now located at www.shillier.com, hosted by rackspace, and running on the Community Kit for SharePoint:Enhanced Blog Edition! I have moved the favorite article from the old blog to the new blog. See you there! Scot [read].
Posted: Fri, May 1st '09

Sending InfoPath Forms to the Records Center in MOSS 2007
Scot Hillier
The Records Center in MOSS 2007 is a great place to archive documents, but it expects you to use it only with Document Libraries. So, is there a way to use the Records Center with InfoPath forms? The answer is "yes" and the steps are below. In my walkthrough, I am assuming you have a Form Library in your intranet from which you want to send forms to the Records Center. Create a Records Center The first step is to create a Records Center for your farm. This is done by creating a new Site Collecti [read].
Posted: Tue, Apr 21st '09

Versioning and Approval Scenarios in SharePoint 2007
Scot Hillier
When it comes to versioning and approval options in SharePoint 2007, there are several configuration settings that lead to multiple scenarios. These scenarios can be confusing for administrators and end users. To get to these options for any Document Library, select Settings>>Document Library Settings>>Versioning Settings. The key settings for this discussion are: Require content approval for submitted items No versioning Create major versions Create major and minor (draft) versions [read].
Posted: Fri, Feb 27th '09

Integrating External Document Repositories with SharePoint Server 2007
Scot Hillier
Yesterday my article Integrating External Document Repositories with SharePoint Server 2007 went live. This article show how to take external repositories (Documentum, Interwoven, etc) and surface them in SharePoint as if they were a document library. This project goes way beyond a few web parts to integrate capabilities such as workflow and custom metadata. There is also a Code Gallery project with the implementation. Although the project is not a full CMIS implementation, it is based on the CM [read].
Posted: Wed, Feb 4th '09

Using SoftArtisans OfficeWriter with the Business Data Catalog
Scot Hillier
The following is a reprint of my article found here OfficeWriter is a set of .NET libraries that can create, edit, and read Excel and Word binary file formats. This makes OfficeWriter an elegantly-simple solution for integrating Excel and Word documents with portals like Microsoft SharePoint. Using OfficeWriter, you can create solutions that convert SharePoint data into richly formatted, full-featured Excel reports and Word documents. Because OfficeWriter is a server-based solution, it is highly [read].
Posted: Tue, Dec 9th '08

Creating a Scope and Tab for MOSS Search Center
Scot Hillier
I am occasionally asked how to create a tab in the MOSS Search Center to search a given scope. This process is often confusing to administrators because it involves the creation of a scope, making the scope available, and then the creation of not just one, but two tabs in Search Center along with ASPX pages. Before beginning, this article assumes that you already have the Shared Services Provider (SSP) properly set up and that you have a "Search Center with Tabs" site available in your portal. F [read].
Posted: Wed, Jul 30th '08

Is VSeWSS 1.2 Ready for Prime Time?
Scot Hillier
Microsoft recently released Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services v1.2. As many of you know, I have been lukewarm about VSeWSS since its first release. I have written articles describing other development approaches including Ted Pattison's STSDEV tools, Andrew Connell's CodeRush toolset, and even my own development methodology. So I thought it was time to revisit VSeWSS given that this latest release finally works in Visual Studio 2008. My conclusion? Although VSeWSS cont [read].
Posted: Sun, Jul 6th '08

Troubleshooting SharePoint: When Good Servers Go Bad
Scot Hillier
This article is a summary of my presentation at Office Connections held in Orlando April 30, 2008. It summarizes the most-common issues with SharePoint, how to avoid them, and how to fix them. Here is a list of topics: Install Service Pack 1 Runaway Transaction Logs Runaway SharePoint Logs Protected Memory Errors IISWAMREG Admin Service Errors Timer Job Errors Update Conflicts Performance Issues Customization Errors Security Errors � Install Service Pack 1 The first recommendation is to make s [read].
Posted: Tue, Apr 29th '08

Making Excel Services and Excel Work Better Together
Scot Hillier
I just completed an MSDN article that focuses on making the Excel Services experience more like the Excel client experience when importing two-dimensional data for analysis. The idea was to provide similar capabilities in Excel Services for importing, analyzing, and displaying imported data. If you're looking to use Excel Services as a reporting platform or as the basis for dashboards, check out this article. [read].
Posted: Sun, Apr 27th '08

Disposing SPWeb and SPSite
Scot Hillier
Read this great article by Roger Lamb and become a better SharePoint developer. [read].
Posted: Thu, Apr 3rd '08

Building a MOSS Workflow with Visual Studio 2008 and InfoPath
Scot Hillier
Visual Studio 2008 offers a somewhat better environment for creating SharePoint workflows. Creating, debugging, and deployment are all simpler, but not yet where we would like them to be. In this article, I'll show you how to create a complete workflow for automating the employee performance review process. You will create InfoPath forms, a workflow assembly, and a feature. The article will walk you through everything you need to create MOSS workflows using InfoPath and Visual Studio 2008. You c [read].
Posted: Wed, Apr 2nd '08

10 Solutions Every SharePoint Developer Should Know How to Create
Scot Hillier
After working on the CodePlex Features project, it became clear to me how SharePoint developers need solid solution examples they can draw on. This became the kernel of an idea to create a set of "Top 10" features that are used across a wide variety of SharePoint projects. So I sat back and thought about the solutions that I get asked to create over and over. For example, almost everyone wants the ability to aggregate tasks from multiple lists across a site collection or syndicate announcements [read].
Posted: Sat, Mar 1st '08

Applying Unique Constraints to SharePoint List Columns
Scot Hillier
SharePoint lists and libraries are really not intended to be used as databases. However, there are several capabilities of database tables that would be nice to have in SharePoint. One of those is the unique field. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to designate a column in a SharePoint list or library as unique? I thought so, so I created an Information Policy to enforce unique constraints on columns. The complete code and solution file for the Unique Column Policy can be found on my CodePlex proje [read].
Posted: Wed, Feb 27th '08

Hiding Individual Menu Items on SharePoint Toolbars
Scot Hillier
Have you ever wanted to hide a menu item on the standard SharePoint toolbar? For example, suppose you wanted to prevent end users from using the "Open In Window Explorer" or the "Export to Spreadsheet" actions. And furthermore, suppose you only wanted to do it for a single library? This was the task I was given recently. � Your first thought would be to use the HideCustomAction element in a custom feature. This element is specifically designed to hide items on SharePoint toolbars and menus. In [read].
Posted: Wed, Feb 27th '08

Writing to the SharePoint Unified Logging Service
Scot Hillier
SharePoint uses a logging service that makes entries in the log files located at Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\LOGS. Out-of-the-box, SharePoint logs almost everything to these files, and I have seen them get quite large. Therefore, you should "throttle" the log writing, which can be done in the "Diagnostic Logging" section of the Central Administration site. Once you discover the log files, you'll want to be able to write to them from your own features. Thi [read].
Posted: Fri, Jan 25th '08

Upgrading to SharePoint 2007 Service Pack 1
Scot Hillier
I recently undertook my first SP1 installation. To keep it safe, I started by upgrading one of my Virtual PC development environments. In this case, I had a single server with MOSS, Visual Studio, and Office. The environment was a very clean install. Others who had environments that were upgraded from SPS2003 or used extensive customizations have reported problems. The detailed upgrade steps can be found here. Before attempting an upgrade to a production farm, read the article, and plan, plan, p [read].
Posted: Thu, Dec 20th '07

Feature Deployment Error
Scot Hillier
When deploying features, you may receive the error "Some of the files failed to copy during deployment". This usually means that the Timer Service is not running on the server where the files have not properly deployed. Run this at a command prompt: NET START "Windows SharePoint Services Timer" I generally recommend recycling the Timer Service on all servers in the farm before doing any feature roll outs or Web Application creation operations. So before beginning, run this from a command promp [read].
Posted: Sun, Dec 16th '07

Error When Deploying Workflow InfoPath Forms
Scot Hillier
When developing workflows for use with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), using InfoPath forms services, many people have received the following error: The following location is not accessible, because it is in a different site collection This error is related to the structure of the workflow.xml file. Specifically, the section of the file should be laid out with no line breaks in the elements. These line breaks are what cause the problem. Here's a typical example of a WRONG MetaData se [read].
Posted: Sun, Dec 16th '07

SharePoint and Office Service Packs Released
Scot Hillier
MOSS http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AD59175C-AD6A-4027-8C2F-DB25322F791B&displaylang=en WSS http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4191A531-A2E9-45E4-B71E-5B0B17108BD2&displaylang=en Office http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9EC51594-992C-4165-A997-25DA01F388F5&displaylang=en � � Be sure to read this article before proceeding http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945013 � � [read].
Posted: Tue, Dec 11th '07

What's Your Process for Developing SharePoint Features and Solutions?
Scot Hillier
As a SharePoint developer, you spend your days building Features and Solutions. So, it's important to have a repeatable process for creating and delivering them. Over the past year, I have tried several approaches. Eventually, I arrived at a process that works well for me. In this article, I'll outline my approach and touch on some alternatives that I have seen. My complete solution can be found on CodePlex. Goals for My Approach For my solution, I really wanted to be able to develop in Visual S [read].
Posted: Tue, Nov 27th '07

Managing the Hierarchical Data Store
Scot Hillier
The Hierarchical Object Store in SharePoint allows you to create objects and save them as children of other objects. You can, for example, create custom data objects and save them as children of Web Applications, Sites, or Webs. For a while now, I've wanted to use this system to create a centralized application data management utility. The idea was to manage app settings centrally for the whole farm. This is similar in approach to the "Manage Configuration Modifications" solution I wrote for cen [read].
Posted: Wed, Nov 7th '07

Where is My Timer Job?
Scot Hillier
SharePoint Timer Jobs are great for accomplishing tasks asynchronously throughout the farm. You can create your own custom Timer Job by inheriting from SPJobDefinition. Recently a question arose regarding the exact nature of custom Timer Job execution. Specifically, which servers in the farm actually run the Timer Job? Well, it turns out to be a pretty simple answer. The SPJobDefinition class has a property called LockType. When set to SPJobLockType.Job then the job only runs on the server where [read].
Posted: Wed, Nov 7th '07