Even Mien

Reading List: The Pragmatic Programmer

2009-06-03T12:25:00.001-07:00

The current book on my reading list is The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master.

It’s the top rated recommended book from StackOverflow after Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction.

Fixing “web page not available” in Chrome

2009-05-28T06:06:00.001-07:00

I love Google Chrome, but at work I incessantly get “web page not available” errors. Usually refreshing the page (F5) will get it to load right, but I was getting sick of it and about to kick Chrome to the curb.

At first, I though it only happened on MSDN sites and it was a Microsoft conspiracy. However, then it started cropping up all the time.

Here’s a setting that I disabled that seems to help:

Options > Under the Hood > Uncheck “Enable phishing and malware protection”

I wouldn’t recommend this for most users, but we already have this type of protection through our corporate network.

StackOverflow - My New Addiction

2008-09-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

I can't stop going to StackOverflow. I think it's the combination of respecting the founders through their blogs beforehand, the use of reputation points to force you to get involved and the narcisissm of checking the views and votes to my questions and answers.

See, a question I asked recently got mentioned in an article about StackOverflow: http://tagedge.com/2008/09/24/stack-overflow/ (Guess which one.)

This is bad...

SPD: SharePoint Designer 2007 won't take my license key

2008-04-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

I was banging my head on getting SPD installed. I tend not to think that the specific CD that I used would affect which key I should use. Silly me...

"SharePoint Designer 2007 (For Use with TechNet Media)"

SharePoint: Display site title

2008-04-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

Normally, the site title is included in through a content placeholder.

<Title ID=onetidTitle><asp:ContentPlaceHolder id=PlaceHolderPageTitle runat="server"/></Title>

I needed on my master page directly though, since it wasn't always in every page layout.

<Sharepoint:ProjectProperty id="onetidProjectPropertyTitle" runat="server" property="Title" />

SharePoint: Batch file to deploy WSP

2008-04-09T08:10:00.001-07:00

PATH "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin" stsadm -o deactivatefeature -name SPRSS -url http://localhost stsadm -o retractsolution -name SPRSS.wsp -immediate -url http://localhost stsadm -o execadmsvcjobs pause stsadm -o deletesolution -name SPRSS.wsp stsadm -o addsolution -filename SPRSS.wsp stsadm -o deploysolution -name SPRSS.wsp -url http://localhost -immediate -allowGacDeployment -force stsadm -o execadmsvcjobs pause stsadm -o activatefeature -name SPRSS -url http://localhost pause

SharePoint: VSeWSS on workstation

2008-03-31T13:48:00.001-07:00

Keywords: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools, VSeWSS, VSeWSS.exe

Error Message:“This product can only be installed if Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 has been installed first”.

Regedit:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0] "Sharepoint"="Installed"

I do not believe this works with VSeWSSv11.exe. You'll probably need to do this instead:

http://blogs.msdn.com/martinv/archive/2008/03/19/new-registry-file-for-developing-moss2007-projects-in-a-workstation-xp-or-vista.aspx

SharePoint: MasterPage with inline code results in "Code blocks are not allowed in this file"

2008-03-31T12:28:00.001-07:00

Edit web.config:
<PageParserPaths>
<PageParserPath VirtualPath="/_catalogs/masterpage/*" CompilationMode="Always" AllowServerSideScript="true" IncludeSubFolders="true" />
</PageParserPaths>

Tool: Color Cop

2008-03-31T05:21:00.001-07:00

Color Cop is a simple utility that helps you to match colors, which I find indispensable when doing web design work. Whether you call it a color picker, a color selector, a color chooser or a whatchamacallit, you're going to need it.

http://colorcop.net

One tip is to click n' hold the eyedropper and then release it when over the color you want to select. (AJAX is slowly re-paving those neuron paths for click n' hold.)

SharePoint: Where to put .pdb file when .dll is in GAC?

2008-03-27T12:56:00.001-07:00

Put your .pdb files here:

 C:\Windows\Symbols\dll\

This will allow you to debug code which is in the GAC.

SharePoint: Determine which application pool is associated with process ID for w3wp.exe

2008-03-27T12:50:00.001-07:00

When debugging SharePoint, you will want to know which PID is associated with your main site. You'll determine this by finding out which application pool is serving w3wp.exe.

Command:

   c:\windows\system32\cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\iisapp.vbs

Results:

   W3WP.exe PID: 4804   AppPoolId: SharePoint - 80      
W3WP.exe PID: 7896   AppPoolId: SharePoint Central Administration v3

SharePoint: "Service Unavailable" when specifying user for Application Pool

2008-03-20T15:11:00.001-07:00

Open local security policy (Start>Run>secpol.msc)
Open Local Polices
Go to User Rights assignment
Open up the “Log on as Service“ right
Add user
Reboot

SharePoint: Always show a link to the homepage in a breadcrumb

2008-03-17T13:55:00.001-07:00

Master Page:

   <div id="breadcrumbSection">      
    <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">       
        <tr>       
            <td>       
                <a href="<% $SPUrl:~SiteCollection/%>" runat="server">Home</a>&nbsp;       
            </td>       
            <td>       
                <!--- Breadcrumb --->       
                <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb" runat="server">       
                <asp:SiteMapPath SiteMapProvider="CurrentNavSiteMapProviderNoEncode" id="ContentMap" SkipLinkText="First*Point" NodeStyle-CssClass="ms-sitemapdirectional" runat="server"/>&nbsp;       
                </asp:ContentPlaceHolder>       
            </td>       
        </tr>       
    </table>       
</div>

CSS file:

   .breadcrumb a:first-child      
{       
    display: none;       
    visibility: hidden       
}

SharePoint: How to hide the title of a web part?

2008-03-17T06:17:00.001-07:00

In order to hide the title (and toolbar) of a web part:

Choose Edit > Modify Shared Web Part
Go to the 'Appearance' section
In the 'Chrome' Type drop-down, choose 'Border Only'

SharePoint: Link to top of site collection

2008-03-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

To link to the top level of a site collection, include an anchor link with SharePoint-specific processing instructions such as this:

   <a href="<% $SPUrl:~SiteCollection/%>" runat="server">Intranet</a>

Make sure to include the runat="server" to force the control to be processed on the server and not the client. Otherwise, you will get an error like this:

   Parser Error
    Description: An error occurred during the parsing of a resource required to service this request. Please review the following specific parse error details and modify your source file appropriately. 
         
Parser Error Message: Literal expressions like '<% $SPUrl:~SiteCollection/%>' are not allowed. Use <asp:Literal runat="server" Text="<%$SPUrl:~SiteCollection/%>" /> instead.

How To: Restart File Transfer Manager

2008-03-06T04:47:00.001-08:00

Steps to resume / restart File Transfer Manager:
Open up a command prompt
Go to %systemroot%\Downloaded Program Files
Run TransferMgr.exe

If you go through Windows Explorer, the program does not show up.

To create a shortcut to File Transfer Manager:
Open File Transfer Manager
Click Options
Choose 'Place application shortcut on desktop'

SharePoint Designer 2007 - Cache Out of Sync

2008-03-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

Delete temporary file in SDP:
'Site' 'Site Settings' 'Advanced' 'Delete (temporary) Files'

Delete WebSiteCache:
Vista: %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
Windows 2003/XP: %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebsiteCache

My Diet Personality

2008-01-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

I just took a quiz on Diet.com and found out my Diet Personality. It was dead on.

Your eating personality is Nighttime Nibbler

Nighttime Nibblers consume most of their daily calories from dinner and nighttime snacking. You eat a large evening meal and then repeatedly snack until it's time for bed. The next day, you awaken feeling full and without an appetite. But by late afternoon and into the evening, you start feeling ravenous again and the nighttime eating cycle continues.

Your exercising personality is All-or-Nothing Doer

All-or-Nothing Doers alternate between working out excessively and being sedentary. You are a goal-oriented, driven person who approaches exercise like you do other life projects. You're either on track with your exercise program, working out to the max, or you're off, which means you're on the couch and out of the gym.

Your coping personality is Persistent Procrastinator

Persistent Procrastinators talk endlessly about needing to lose weight but can't make it happen. Things get in the way - like work projects, family vacations, or even dentist appointments. You see others starting new weight loss programs and wonder if your time will ever come.

2008 Personal Goals

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I know that writing out goals is an important step in realizing them, so hear are my goals for the year.

Lose weight, gain energy, get stronger
Learn Spanish
Become an expert in SharePoint
Become a Principal Consultant
Blog regularly
Learn speed reading
Learn to type
Be pain free from tendonitis
Learn PowerShell
Learn Team Foundation Server