Archive for November, 2008

Sharepoint Totaling Calculated Fields

Written By Milo

In one of my last projects we needed to create a calculated field and present an average value. Unfortunately SharePoint totaling calculated fields was not possible out of the box and getting the correct average value was even challenging.

This was an easy tasks if we had the option to put code behind and deploy .NET dll binaries; but one of the client requirements did not allow code behind because of SLAs.

We were able to get the average of the calculated fields nonetheless without code behind binaries. The following are the out of the box and non-binary approach components we used to achieve it.

1. Data view webpart
2. XSLT
3. SharePoint Designer
4. Javascript
5. HTML

In the coming weeks, I’d find time to put in detail how to achieve this. But in any case, you may do research on the things above to be able to correctly total calculated fields and present it in whatever way you want.

Madcap Flare and SharePoint

Written By Milo

I have posted about a product called Madcap Flare and it seems to be a good tool together with SharePoint.

You should be able to import and export between various document and file types including non-Microsoft document types.

In summary:

Import Existing Content
Adobe® FrameMaker® (.fm, .mif, .book)
Microsoft® Word™
HTML/XHTML
RoboHelp® projects
HTML Help projects

Generate Multiple Outputs
Cross-browser, cross-platform Help (WebHelp or WebHelp Plus)
Microsoft® HTML Help (.chm)
Help for .NET applications or Windows® Vista (DotNet Help)
Adobe® FrameMaker® (.fm, .mif, .book)
Direct PDF
Microsoft® Word™ (.xml, .doc)
Direct XPS and DOCX
WebHelp AIR (Direct Adobe® AIR integration)

I am tempted to download a trial version of Madcap Flare and see if it works with SharePoint; but given that the product cost 899.00 USD, I don’t get excited to try it out.

But anyways, if any of you are thinking whether Madcap Flare and SharePoint is possible, below are things that might help you:

1. non-Microsoft file types are allowed in SharePoint provided they are not blocked by the administrator
2. For non-Microsoft file types to be searched, you need to install the corresponding iFilters for the specified application
3. To see a document icon for non-Microsoft file types, refer to this link
4. To correctly view documents in the explorer, install this hotfix.
5. Document versioning can still be enabled even with non-Microsoft file types.

Sources from eggheadcafe and techwr-l.

Madcap Flare

Written By Milo

I just came across a product called MadCap Flare and it looks like a good authoring publishing tool. It is officially described from it’s site as:

Flare™ — The New Industry Benchmark in Multi-Channel, Single-Source Publishing

With Flare, you have a complete authoring and publishing system with full support for maximum content re-use (single-sourcing) and you can publish to online, desktop, and print formats (multi-channel publishing):

1. Topic-based content development
2. Content reuse with conditional text, variables, snippets, outlines, and more
3. Flexibility with XML and CSS

You can easily create:

1. Policy and procedure manuals
2. Knowledge bases
3. Software documentation including online help with context sensitivity
4. Reference books, manuals, or illustrated guides
5. Hardware or maintenance manuals
6. And more

Flare integrates with all MadCap products so you can extend the power of Flare as your needs grow.

1. MadCap Feedback server provides reports on customer usage of your documents
2. Mimic, Capture, and Echo provide multimedia publishing integration
3. MadCap Lingo enables localization
4. Analyzer scans your project for suggestions to improve your project efficiency and consistency, and adds speed to your authoring
5. Contribute content using X-Edit Contribute and/or insert comments using X-Edit Review

You just won’t believe how easy your life can be. Imagine, the power and flexibility of content management but at prices anyone can afford. You choose the specific modules that you need and will actually use. Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?

How about Madcap Flare and SharePoint? If you have experience on this product, go and review it here for everyone’s benefits. It would be appreciated by the community.

1 Reviews