How do I – Restore access to SharePoint 2010 Central Admin pages when I get Unexpected Error Occurred

If you’re having issues accessing your SharePoint 2010 Central Admin pages, but SharePoint just gives you the infamous “Unexpected Error” message, this might help.

First thing you want to do is check the Windows Event Log for errors in the w3wp.exe process.  If you see the following error:

06/16/2010 09:30:31.53  w3wp.exe (0x1468)                        0x0534 SharePoint Foundation          Runtime                        Unexpected System.Security.Policy.PolicyException: Required permissions cannot be acquired.    at System.Security.SecurityManager.ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence, PermissionSet reqdPset, PermissionSet optPset, PermissionSet denyPset, PermissionSet& denied, Boolean checkExecutionPermission)     at System.Security.SecurityManager.ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence, PermissionSet reqdPset, PermissionSet optPset, PermissionSet denyPset, PermissionSet& denied, Int32& securitySpecialFlags, Boolean checkExecutionPermission) b4efe4b0-ba91-4f03-a888-a952b8372fb4

The error reflected here indicates that the executing process was unable to get the proper execution permissions from the CLR i.e. trust levels aren’t where they need to be.  Time to dig into the  web.config for the Central Admin site.

Look for the “trust level” node in web.  Odds are it’s set to “WSS_Minimal”.  You’d want to change that node to be:

<trust level=”Full” originUrl=”” /> Then simply give IIS a quick kick and retry access to Central Admin.  All should be well now… IMPORTANT NOTE:  USING FULL TRUST AS IN THIS CASE, IS NOT RECOMMENDED AND IS NOT A BEST PRACTICE!  THIS IS SIMPLY A QUICK FIX. For best practices on implementing Code Access Security in SharePoint, please see this awesome article my friend Andrew Connell wrote.

Cheers
C

How do I – Solve the problem where the MS Word Document Information Panel dropdown does NOT show all the values from the source SharePoint list

I was asked this question last night. “Why doesn’t all my lookup list values show up in the Document Information Panel in Office?”

This one is a tricky little one to try and debug. Unless you know a little about what is going on in the plumbing of SharePoint and how it works behind the scenes, you may spend more time hunting this than you should. Hopefully this post will save you some time. 

Back to the problem…

Let’s start with the source list against which the lookup is done. Let’s define a list called “TestDropdownSource”. There’s nothing special about this list. Just add a couple of records to the list.

As you can see here, the All Items view for this list is just showing the first 3 entries, even though we have 5 records in the list.

If we look at the definition of the view in question, and then scroll all the way down and expand the “Item Limit” section, we see that I defined the number of items to display as 3 for the purpose of this demo.

Now we create a new document library called “TestSource”. We add a new column to the library and use a lookup to our source list. The library looks like this:

When we look at the Columns, we notice the “LookupValue” field.

When we look at the definition of the “LookupValue” field, we notice that it gets its information from the “TestDropdownSource” list’s Title field.

If we now add a new document to the document library (which is set to use Word), Word will open and the Document Information Panel will show the “LookupValue” field. When we open the dropdown list, we notice that ONLY 3 items are shown.

That is the problem that we are trying to solve. To fix this, we go back to the list definition for the “TestDropdownSource” list.

We open the default view’s definition. In this case, we only have the “All Items” view, but if you have more views defined, you are interested in the default view. That is because Word’s implementation of the SharePoint web services uses the default view of the source list rather than a targeted view.

Once in the view’s definition, we are going to set the number of items back up to 100.

A quick check and we see all 5 items displayed in the view.

Now simply create a new document again (or open an existing one).

And check the DIP… all should be well… 

Cheers
C

How do I – Filter values in two lists of custom classes using Linq

I originally titled this post “Linq – So wonderful and oh so damn frustrating”, but then decided that the post probably warrants its current name since someone might actually be trying to do the same thing and search for examples of how to achieve that.  There are tons of examples of just how cool Linq is and I’m not saying that it isn’t, but man it can be so frustrating to work with at times.  Now I’m not going to pretend that I’m a Linq expert.  I’m not.  I know just enough to be dangerous.  Linq has been useful to me in the past, but this week I stumbled across an issue that just drove me batty!

<rant>
Just this weekend I was telling Jess (my wonderful SciFi, geeky wife) that 80% of a developer’s time is spent figuring out why code (methods & APIs) does NOT work the way it’s supposed to.  Not how we THINK it’s supposed to work, but how it was PUBLISHED and advertised to work. 
</rant>

OK, off my soapbox and back to the Linq issue…

I have a class defined as SystemFile.  I’m basically trying to compare a folder with all its files and sub folders to another folder with its files and sub folders.  In the process I have two lists of SystemFile containing the info about the two folders I wish to compare.  Using Linq to compare the lists, we can define a comparer class of type IEqualityComparer<T> to do the comparison of our custom class and assist in the filtering.  My comparer class is defined thus:

public class SystemFileGACComparor : IEqualityComparer<SystemFile>
{
    public bool Equals(SystemFile source, SystemFile target)
    {
        if (source.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\temp"))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            if (source.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\tmp"))
            {
                return true;
            }
            else
            {
                if (source.FullPath == target.FullPath)
                {
                    return true;
                }
                else
                {
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    public int GetHashCode(SystemFile source)
    {
        return source.FullPath.GetHashCode();
    }
}

A note about my logic.  The easiest code implementation of the Equals() method could have been simply as

   return (source.FullPath == target.FullPath);

but since I am actually comparing GAC folders in this case, there are the the “Temp” and “Tmp” folders to consider (and exclude) in my comparison.  Since “Tmp” is used during installation and “Temp” during uninstallation of of assemblies, they will have temporary GUID values in their path names which will always be different between systems.  As a result, we have to exclude anything from these folders in our comparison.  For that reason, I added the checks for these folders in the path of the source being checked.

With the comparer class in place, let’s implement it.  The code is straight forward thus:

SystemFileGACComparor compare = new SystemFileGACComparor();
IEnumerable<SystemFile> sfSource = LoadFileListFromXML("1WEB.xml");
IEnumerable<SystemFile> sfTarget = LoadFileListFromXML("1APP.xml");
List<SystemFile> lstOnSourceNotTarget = sfSource.Except(sfTarget, compare).ToList();

First we define a an instance of the comparer class for use.
Then we load the XML dump of our two lists into an IEnumerable<SystemFile> structure so that Linq can work on them.
Now simply ask Linq to compare the two lists and produce a list with the differences.  Per the published MSDN documentation, the Except() method will take our sfSource and remove any records that it finds in sfTarget that match, finally returning what remains.

For the record, here is what I’m comparing:

1WEB.xml

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<GAC>
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\adodb.dll” FileName=”adodb.dll” Size=”110592″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.119-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\__AssemblyInfo__.ini” FileName=”__AssemblyInfo__.ini” Size=”196″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.703-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” FileName=”7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB” FileName=”ADODB” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.703-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.718-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.718-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\envdte.dll” FileName=”envdte.dll” Size=”245760″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.968-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\__AssemblyInfo__.ini” FileName=”__AssemblyInfo__.ini” Size=”194″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” FileName=”8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE” FileName=”EnvDTE” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\30ROE94YXW\One.MasterPages.dll” FileName=”One.MasterPages.dll” Size=”6144″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\30ROE94YXW” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\30ROE94YXW” FileName=”30ROE94YXW” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\5ZY4HSUIYK\One.EVMS.Dashboard.dll” FileName=”One.EVMS.Dashboard.dll” Size=”837632″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\5ZY4HSUIYK” CreatedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.183-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.277-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.183-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\5ZY4HSUIYK” FileName=”5ZY4HSUIYK” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” FileName=”temp” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly” CreatedAt=”2009-07-14T00:58:28.892-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T17:33:53.016-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T17:33:53.016-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\tmp” FileName=”tmp” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:18:45.924-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T17:35:50.969-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T17:35:50.953-04:00″ />
</GAC>

1APP.xml

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<GAC>
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\adodb.dll” FileName=”adodb.dll” Size=”110599″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.119-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\__AssemblyInfo__.ini” FileName=”__AssemblyInfo__.ini” Size=”196″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.703-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB\7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” FileName=”7.0.3300.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:27:58.103-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.671-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\ADODB” FileName=”ADODB” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.703-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.718-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-07T14:29:40.718-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.1__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\envdte.dll” FileName=”envdte.dll” Size=”245760″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.968-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.1__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\__AssemblyInfo__.ini” FileName=”__AssemblyInfo__.ini” Size=”194″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.1__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” FileName=”8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:42:59.953-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.625-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC\EnvDTE” FileName=”EnvDTE” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\GAC” CreatedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-07-13T11:43:16.64-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\33ROE94YXW\One.MasterPages.dll” FileName=”One.MasterPages.dll” Size=”6144″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\30ROE94YXW” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T10:43:21.996-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\33ROE94YXW” FileName=”30ROE94YXW” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T15:27:36.922-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\53Y4HSUIYK\One.EVMS.Dashboard.dll” FileName=”One.EVMS.Dashboard.dll” Size=”837632″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”false” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\5ZY4HSUIYK” CreatedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.183-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.277-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-04T08:56:07.183-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp\53Y4HSUIYK” FileName=”5ZY4HSUIYK” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” CreatedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T10:51:38.965-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\temp” FileName=”temp” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly” CreatedAt=”2009-07-14T00:58:28.892-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T17:33:53.016-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T17:33:53.016-04:00″ />
  <File FullPath=”C:\Windows\Assembly\tmp” FileName=”tmp” Size=”0″ IsReadOnly=”false” IsFolder=”true” DirectoryName=”C:\Windows\Assembly” CreatedAt=”2010-07-07T14:18:45.924-04:00″ LastModifiedAt=”2010-10-11T17:35:50.969-04:00″ LastAccessedAt=”2010-10-11T17:35:50.953-04:00″ />
</GAC>

When we run through the code and break after the Except() method, this is what we see for the sfSource an sfTarget:

As we expected, we see all the files in the sfSource.  Now let’s look at the value of the results list lstOnSourceNotTarget:

Hmm… that’s curious… I expected the three EnvDTE records to be there, but the \temp\ files SHOULD have been filtered out by our comparer class’ Equal() method, right?

Confused, I set a break inside our comparer class and rerun our code to see what is actually being compared and filtered.  This is what we see:

Breaking here:

First break

Second break

Third break

Fourth break

Fifth break

Sixth break

Seventh break

And ???

Hmm… Seven breaks for 14 files and NONE of them were the 4 that shows up at the end with \temp\ in the name.  WTF???!!!

Are you confused?  I sure am!!!

The closest thing to a “rationalization” I can make for myself on this is that it has something to do with Linq’s LAZY nature.  So the items doesn’t get checked unless I iterate over them.  (I thought that’s what the Except() method was doing, but oh well…).

OK, enough time spent on something that DOESN’T WORK AS PUBLISHED!!!

Let’s get a workaround in place…

We can use the Where() method in Linq to get the subset of records that actually contains the string we’re trying to parse out and then reversing our logic, we can pass that set of records to the Except() method to exclude them from the original list.  Our new code looks like this: 

SystemFileGACComparor compare = new SystemFileGACComparor();
IEnumerable<SystemFile> sfSource = LoadFileListFromXML("1WEB.xml");
sfSource = sfSource.Except(
    sfSource.Where(filter => filter.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\temp")), compare).Except(
    sfSource.Where(filter => filter.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\tmp")), compare);
IEnumerable<SystemFile> sfTarget = LoadFileListFromXML("1APP.xml");
sfTarget = sfTarget.Except(
    sfTarget.Where(filter => filter.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\temp")), compare).Except(
    sfTarget.Where(filter => filter.FullPath.ToLower().Contains(@"c:\windows\assembly\tmp")), compare);
List<SystemFile> lstOnSourceNotTarget = sfSource.Except(sfTarget, compare).ToList();

We start by taking the list and applying the Where() method against it.  Inside the Where() method expression, we use the .FullPath property and convert its value to all lower case using the ToLower() method.  Once in all lower case, we use the Contains() method to check for the “temp” reference.  This will produce a list of only the records that actually contains the “temp” values.  Passing that off to the Except() method leaves us with the original list MINUS the records containing “temp”.

Wash, rinse, repeat…

We simply drop in a second Except() with the same code and a reference to “tmp” instead and tada!  We have a list that doesn’t contain either “temp” or “tmp”.

Finally, we can move onto the next problems that doesn’t work as published…

Cheers
C

How do I – Resolve the LocalAppData environment variable issue when launching Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate after installing FeatureBuilder.vsix

1. Once you’ve installed Feature Builder in a Windows XP environment, you may get the following message when launching it.
   
   
   
2. In order to create the required variable, begin by right clicking on “My Computer”.
3. On the popup menu, click “Properties”.
   
   
   
4. On the System Properties window, select the “Advanced” tab.
5. On the Advanced Tab, click “Environment Variables”.
   
   
   
6. On the Environment Variables modal window, click “New”.
   
   
   
7. On the New User Variable modal window, enter the Variable Name as “LOCALAPPDATA”.
8. Set the Variable Value as “%PROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data”.
9. Click “OK”.
   
   
   
10. The new environment variable should now show in the list.
11. Click “OK” again.
    
    

Cheers
C

Microsoft MVP yet again

On Friday, I was honored to receive the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award for SharePoint once again. As always, I’m humbled by the award and inspired to continue my efforts in support of the SharePoint community that we all love and share.

Cheers
C

How do I – Uninstall PowerPivot for SharePoint 2010

Given how much effort is was to get PowerPivot installed and working in the first place, you may never need this post, but just in case something goes wrong and you have to uninstall it to start over, here’s how to do that:

1. Launch Programs and Features via Start/Control Panel/Uninstall a Program.
   
2. Locate the “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)” entry and select it with a left click.
3. The Uninstall/Change button becomes active.  Click it.
   
4. Windows may warn you that there are other users that’ll be affected.
5. Click “Continue” to ignore the warning and proceed.
   
6. The SQL Server configuration tool opens.
7. Click “Remove”.
   
8. Setup will load all the support rules.
9. Once all rules were loaded, click “OK”.
   
10. Change the “Instance to remove feature from” dropdown value to “POWERPIVOT”.
11. Click “Next”.
    
12. Ensure that “Analysis Services” and it’s sub categories under POWERPIVOT is checked.
13. Click “Next”.
    
14. Setup runs all the removal rules.
15. Once the rules have run successfully, click “Next”.
    
16. On the Ready to Remove screen, click “Remove”.
    
17. Once setup has removed PowerPivot, you’ll be taken to the Complete screen.
18. The status should indicate that the removal was successful.
19. Click “Close”.
    
TROUBLE SHOOTING TIP
If you have previously removed PowerPivot and am trying to reinstall it again, the installation may fail because the removal didn’t cleanup everything properly.
If you install PowerPivot and go to the Solution administration page, there’s a .wsp for PowerPivot called “powerpivotfarm.wsp”.  If this solution shows an error with a message of “Some of the files failed to copy during deployment of the solution”, then the uninstaller didn’t cleanup everything successfully.

Looking at the error above, the Microsoft.AnalysisServices.SharePoint.Integration.dll assembly didn’t get deployed to the GAC.
If you browse to the GAC via Windows Explorer, you’ll see this:

OK, so it is NOT there.  That’s what we expected because that’s what the error indicated.
Ah… but wait… there’s more…
Open a command prompt on the server.
Now manually change directory to the GAC_MSIL folder and do it dir for that DLL.
And what do we get?…

It seems that the folder was not cleaned up successfully during a past uninstall.  The installer isn’t smart enough to figure out that’s the right folder to put the DLL and simply throws an error.  It wants to create the folder from scratch.
Us the RD command to remove the offending folder and then retry your installation.  Odds are it’ll work this time.


Cheers
C