SharePoint 2010 - SharePoint 2010 just got quicker. The latest patch is doing it’s job!

I’m running Windows 7 on a Dell Latitude E4300 4GB RAM with SharePoint Server 2010 installed for development and demo purposes. In the beginning SharePoint was running with an acceptable performance, but sometimes there would be a little wait here and there.

A few days ago Microsoft released an update for SharePoint Foundations 2010, which it claimed would improve stability and performance.

Guess what? After it was installed, I browsed my SharePoint sites using Chrome – man, it was lightning fast! Was it Chrome? Don’t think so. Same quick response in Internet Explorer 8! The performance is noticeably MUCH quicker. Great job guys!

This is the patch I installed:
Update for Office SharePoint Foundations 2010 (KB2032588)

“Microsoft has released an update for Office SharePoint Foundation 2010, 64-bit Edition. This update provides the latest fixes to Microsoft WSS 2010, 64-bit Edition. Additionally, this update contains stability and performance improvements.”

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=f6f1d567-a21f-4770-80ba-f7d6e05f11aa

SQL Versions – Tip of the day

I was installing SharePoint 2010 – wait, what about the pre-requisites?
- SQL 2005 SP3 with Cumulative update package 3
- OR SQL 2008 SP1 with Cumulative update package 2

So what version have we got? Here’s the tip of the day (for me and to you to share), run this SQL Query to find out:

SELECT serverproperty('productversion'),
       serverproperty('productlevel'),
       serverproperty('edition') 

This should give you information to determine the version number, the release level (RTM or Service Pack), and the edition (Express, Standard or Enterprise).

For convenience, I’ve added the version numbers required for SharePoint 2010:
- SQL 2005 SP3  - 2005.90.4035
- SQL 2008 SP1 – 2007.100.2531.0


For more version numbers go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321185.

Referenced from this Microsoft KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321185

From Developer to Architect?

For a few years now, I’ve been coding on .NET, SharePoint, and the like. I went to University and learnt about Object Orientation. I hardly noticed nor appreciated the many OOP concepts that I’ve unconsciously applied to my coding/solution design. Dare I say it, I think this may describe many developers with around 2-4 years of coding experience up their belts.

I recently started reading a few articles online and came to realisation of the extent to the level of OOP concepts that have actually been applied. It made more sense why some of solutions worked better than others (of which include both .NET and SharePoint solutions).

Like many others, I’ve just had the time to understand and learn how to use API’s and/or how to ‘structure’ code to get the job done in the least amount of time with the best quality (least amount of bugs), but never to understand some software architecture concepts. Take my tip, re-learn the concepts that reflect what you already know – a design pattern.

Here are the links I have referred to:

• Introduction to Object Oriented Programming Concepts (OOP) and More
• Design Principles and Design Patterns
• Object Oriented Design Principles and Patterns

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 – Certifications?

I just read an official note that there will be new four SharePoint 2010 certifications – and they are not specific to either SharePoint Foundation 4 or SharePoint Server 2010.

These exams are:

• 70-667: TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Configuring
• 70-668: PRO: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Administrator
• 70-573: TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Application Development
• 70-576: PRO: Designing and Developing Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Applications

According to this blog post, the exams are expected to be available in June/July timeframe. More details here.

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 – ItemAdded/ItemAdding List Event Receivers and SPFieldUserValue.User not returning SPUser

 

The Problem
I recently had to develop an Event Receiver that would require reading off the SPUser object of the item. What I found is that, at times when the exact name of the user is entered (and you click OK on the NewForm.aspx page without clicking the check name   button), the SPFieldUserValue will return

–1;#domain\username

rather than

23;#domain\username.
 

This is a problem when you try to access the SPFieldUserValue.User (SPUser type) property and it returns null.

The Solution
The solution was to get the SPFieldUserValue as a string, and then use the username to then try and resolve for the SPUser object. My rough cut out code is attached – quickly modified for this example. (*Use at your own risk. Is also why I don’t usually post code on my blog!)