SharePoint and .Net 2.0

I ran into a couple of problems with Sharepoint and the 2.0 Framework the other day. None of the custom web parts I have written were working properly. in fact they wern't working at all. In the past i did all of my testing with the 2.0 Framework on a Virtual Sharepoint server, which just had a default install of Sharepoint. Our corporate Intranet is very heavily customised and includes several custom web parts [server controls actually] (written by yours truely) that were added to the template files. The biggest offender was my "TopNav" control (which renders a dynamic drop down, tabbed control based on the portal layout of the site). The TopNav was killing the portal. This didnt surprise me overmuch since its one of the more complex controls.
With the TopNav removed, the portal would render, but every other control spit out a "Object not set to an instance of an Object" error. So far, the only way I have seen to get around this is to open the projects in VS 2005 and re-compile the projects. This of course up-sizes the code to 2.0. Thats not really a bad thing, but then you are committing yourself to 2.0 at that point. Well, I guess you already did that when you installed the framework on your server. Oh well.

Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, RSS Sharing, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Share Files

Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, RSS Sharing, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Share Files

this is great. give them a look.

HOWTO: Install a .Net 2.0 WebPart in Sharepoint 2003

Yes, you too can write all your web parts in VS 2005 and host them on your existing Sharepoint 2003 install. Its kind of tricky thou so I'll try and explain the steps.

1. Download and install "Son of SmartPart" from here

2. Follow the installation Guide included in the ZIP file you just downloaded.

3. **IMPORTANT** You MUST change the root web site to run as ASP.Net 2.0xx. If you do not do this your site will not function properly.

3a. Also, you need to make the Web.Config changes found here or your hosed. Dont run the stsadm command like the article, it won't work (or it didn't for me anyway). Just make the changes that it says the command will make.

4. Remember to add your user control to the UserControls folder and the assembly for it to the BIN folder.

5. Done! Thats it, you can now run a User Control developed in .Net 2.0 Framework on your Sharepoint 2003 portal.

Enjoy!

Sharepoint is weird

So, I had an issue today where Document Libraries, only under "My Sites", would not display. They threw a very helpful "An unknown error has occured". Of course this only seemd to happen on My Site Doc Libs, not anywhere else on the portal. To make a long story short, apparently the spsHeader_Personal.ascx file does not like the PersonalProperty tags. No idea why. All the other header files work fine with them. Oh well, word to the wise.

Yahoo! UI Library - Now with more Y!

My coworker Matt sent this link along: Yahoo! UI Library it looks pretty cool if you need to write rich client web applications. AJAX too!

My objects in VB.NET 2.0

M-Dollar: My oh My: Loving the My objects in VB.NET 2.0

Great article on the new My classes in .Net 2005

css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design

css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design

This is a good site for learning CSS, and for seeing how powerful it can be in action.

Visual Studio 2005 Launch Party!

Visual Studio 2005
I went to the launch party yesterday. Wow, pretty cool. I mean the breakouts were just ok, but I got full retail copies of Studio and SQL Server just for attending. Free certifications too. Nice.

Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Logo Partner List

Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Logo Partner List

Gates: We're entering live era of software: ZDNet Australia: News: Software

Gates: We're entering live era of software: ZDNet Australia: News: Software
WOW!!! It's about time they did something like this. They were about to get left behind.

Screen Scraping, ViewState, and Authentication using ASP.Net

Screen Scraping, ViewState, and Authentication using ASP.Net
This works great as long as you aren't using forms auth. If you are then nevermind...

How to enable an ASP.Net application to run on a SharePoint virtual server

This LINK will save your life if you need to run ASP.Net applications on the same box as SharePoint. Trust me.

The SharingPoint

The SharingPoint
This is a great site a buddy of mine runs. Read it for help on Sharepoint

First Post

I try and try to be a good blogger, but it never seems to take. I am going to try it again here.