Workflows will fail to update a Person or Group column after applying the October CU for WSS 3.0. The December Uber update causes this issue, as well.

Workflow status error: "Error Occurred" and "Error updating a list item"

Cause:

Regression introduced by the October CU for WSS 3.0.

Resolution:

1. Install Windows SharePoint Services February Cumulative Update: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/961750.

Workaround:

If you are unable to install the SharePoint February CU, then here is a workaround:

1. Create a string variable in the workflow, and call it UserID.
2. Add the workflow action "Set Workflow Variable". Set the UserID variable to whatever user type column you are interested in (example: "Created By").
3. Add the workflow action "Build Dynamic String". In the dynamic string dialog, type "-1;#" (without quotes). Then, click "Add Lookup" to the workflow variable UserID. Click OK.
4. Still on the build a dynamic string action, set the variable to store in as UserID.
5. Change the workflow action to use the variable UserID when updating or setting the Person or Group type field.

NOTE: the same workaround works for FBA (forms based authentication) providers, as well.

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There is a collection of variables called ServerVariables that can access all of the IIS server variables. There are a lot of useful ones, and you can use these variables in your data view / form web parts as parameters.

Here are the basic steps access the variables:

1. On the Common Data View Tasks pane on your data view web part, click Parameters…

2. Click New Parameter, name the parameter MyServerVar (or, whatever you like), and set the Parameter Source to be Server Variable.

3. In Server Variable Name, enter in any of the available server variables (listed below). For sake of example, I am going to use LOGON_USER.

4. That’s it! Now MyServerVar can be used as a parameter in the data view / form web part. Use it to filter, sort, etc.

Here is a list of Server Variables you can use:

Source or read more about it on MSDN.

Note: A fun trick to see what the server variable values actually are is to output them into your data view: <xsl:value-of select=”$MyServerParam” />

Now whenever you change Server Variable Name (ex: LOGON_USER to AUTH_TYPE) the value will be reflected in your data view.

We are seeking an individual who is passionate about web technologies, such as Microsoft SharePoint / Designer. Specifically, we are looking for someone who has interest and aptitude in some of the following areas: HTML, CSS, XML, XSLT, JavaScript, SOAP, ASP.NET, SQL, web design + development, workflows, etc. Overall, we are a small and closely knit team, but make a large impact in the greater SharePoint ecosystem. It's a challenging position that requires cross-product knowledge, the ability to learn quickly, and a willingness to take on technically complex and politically challenging cases.

Anyways, enough of my little blurb about the team and the position. Read the official details here. Also, feel free to comment on this post or email us at blogspd@microsoft.com with any questions you may have.

Symptoms:

After changing to a customized master page, creating new items for several lists, along with several other operations, no longer works and result in an error message.

Error:

"An unexpected error has occurred."

Cause:

There may be several causes. One, is that the custom master page is missing necessary content place holders.

Resolution:

Method 1: Identify the missing content place holders by modifying the web.config.

1. Browse to c:\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\virtualdirectories\[port of web application]. Note: in this folder you will find a web.config file.
2. Open the web.config file in Notepad (or like-application).
3. In Notepad, click Edit -> Find, enter "custom" (without quotes). Click Find Next. You should find the following node: <customErrors mode="On" />. Change mode from "On" to "Off".
4. In Notepad, click Edit -> Find, enter "callstack" (without quotes). Click Find Next (change direction Up / Down, if needed). You should find the following node: <SafeMode MaxControls="200" CallStack="false" DirectFileDependencies="10" TotalFileDependencies="50" AllowPageLevelTrace="false">. Change the CallStack attribute from "false" to "true".
5. Save the web.config file, and perform an iisreset /noforce.
   
• NOTE: After performing the above steps, attempt to reproduce the error in the web browser. The error message should be descriptive in terms of what content place holder is missing. Take note of the place holder name.
  
6. Open the master page, and in code view add: <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderName" runat="server" />. Replace PlaceHolderName with that of the actual content place holder name that was shown in the error message from step 5.

Method 2: Find the missing content place holders manually.

1. Open SharePoint Designer 2007. Go to File | Open Site and connect to SharePoint site.
2. Expand out _catalogs -> masterpage -> open customized master page.
3. Go to Code view. Go to Edit | Find.
4. In the Find and Replace dialog, enter: "<asp:contentplaceholder" (without quotes). Click Find All.
5. Reference the occurrences found in the file with that of available content place holders:
• PlaceHolderBodyAreaClass
• PlaceHolderBodyLeftBorder
• PlaceHolderBodyRightMargin
• PlaceHolderCalendarNavigator
• PlaceHolderFormDigest
• PlaceHolderGlobalNavigation
• PlaceHolderHorizontalNav
• PlaceHolderLeftActions
• PlaceHolderLeftNavBar
• PlaceHolderLeftNavBarBorder
• PlaceHolderLeftNavBarDataSource
• PlaceHolderLeftNavBarTop
• PlaceHolderMain
• PlaceHolderMiniConsole
• PlaceHolderNavSpacer
• PlaceHolderPageDescription
• PlaceHolderPageImage
• PlaceHolderSearchArea
• PlaceHolderSiteName
• PlaceHolderTitleAreaClass
• PlaceHolderTitleAreaSeparator
• PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb
• PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea
• PlaceHolderTitleLeftBorder
• PlaceHolderTitleRightMargin
• PlaceHolderTopNavBar
• PlaceHolderUtilityContent
• SPNavigation
• WSSDesignConsole
  
6. Iteratively add any missing content place holders to the master page in the form of: <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="PlaceHolderName" runat="server" />. Replace PlaceHolderName with that of the actual content place holder name.
7. Save master page (Check In, and Approve if necessary) after each added content place holder, and test to see if error still occurs. 
   

NOTE: In SharePoint Designer 2007, go to View | Toolbars | Master page to bring up the master page toolbar. This may also help in identifying place holders currently used on the customized master page.

Additional Information:

• Modify the default SharePoint content placeholders
• How to: Create a Minimal Master Page
• Minimal or Base Master Pages 
  

I hope this helps some of you SharePoint branders out there running into similar problems. Certainly, there are few things more frustrating then finding out your beautiful and slick-looking master page is actually causing SharePoint to fail. With that said, I am interested in learning what kind of problems you've ran into with customized master page files with SharePoint, and how you resolved the issues.

When attempting to insert a custom list form in SharePoint Designer the form never displays in design view. There is no error message, and the form never gets inserted into the page.

Cause:

There may be multiple causes. Thus far, we've identified that it can occur because of a failed SP1 install for MOSS. If you take a look at the Netmon traffic and compare it to a healthy server all you'll notice it is missing SOAP calls. Note: The other thing that is odd about this issue is that all SPD users will experience it.

Resolution:

Method 1 - Fix the failed upgrade.

You'll need to reinstall SP1 using our recommendations:

• https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288269.aspx
• https://support.microsoft.com/kb/945013/

Method 2 - Clean up the user profile.

You'll need to clean up the user profile using these steps:

1. Close SharePoint Designer 2007.
2. Clear your Internet Explorer's temporary Internet cache.
3. Open My Computer and go to %System Drive%\Documents and Settings\%user%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebSiteCache (If you are running Vista, that path is different - look for %System Drive%\Users\%user%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebSiteCache).
4. Go to a directory that looks similar to the name of the website you were connecting to.
5. Delete the assembly with the name of your SharePoint Site.
6. Type %temp% at a run prompt and delete all the temp files in there.
7. Delete the contents of: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Web Server Extensions\Cache.
   

Documents copied from one document library to another using a SharePoint Designer workflow will not display if you use the Multipage Meeting Workspace. They will show up in SharePoint Designer under the destination document library. There is no error message. The documents are just not visible and gives the illusion that the workflow didn't copy the document.

Cause:

This occurs because the template sets the advance settings of the document library to no allow Sharing of List Items Across All Meetings (Series Items).

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create a site using the Multipage Meeting Workspace.
2. Create two document libraries. Name one source and the other destination.
3. Create a SharePoint Designer workflow that starts on new item creation. Also, use the copy list item action to move a document from Source to Destination.
4. Upload or create a document in source. Take a look at the destination library. There will be no documents. 

Resolution:

If you need this items to display and you don't need this functionality then set that setting to Yes under Advanced Settings and they will show up. The alternative is to think about using a different template as this will be a consideration for all future libraries under the Multipage Meeting Workspace.

After creating a custom new item form for a SharePoint list having a very large number of items, the new item form will take a very long time to load at browse time. There are no error messages.

Cause: 

The issue happens because the default value "0" of the ListItemID parameter of the data source in the new item form causes a very resource intensive query to be run at page load time. This causes the perfiormance issue during page load. The reason we include all those parameters is to make the datasourcecontrol extensible in design time. The datasourcecontrol can be used by another webpart or view on the page and it could still work. If you don’t need those scenarios, then removing them should still work in runtime.

Workaround:

1. Using the "Common Data View Tasks" pane for the new item form, click on "Parameters" to open the "Data View Parameters" dialog box.
2. Select ListItemID and delete "0" in the Default Value input box.
   
3. Leave the default value of ListItemID blank and click on OK.
   
4. Save the page, and browse to it.

Additional Advice / Tip:

When working with large data sets you may experience other slowness in SharePoint Designer while working with data views. In those situations, you may see SharePoint Designer as non-responsive for several seconds after changes are made and / or may seem very sluggish once it's responding. Quick fix is to click "Common Data View Tasks" pane for the data view, and select "Show with sample data". Instead of showing all of the data from the data source, it limits it to 5 sample items.
 

Cause:

Send Email action has SharePoint group(s) and/or workflow lookups in the To / Cc line.

Workaround: 

Make sure each SharePoint group has at least Read permissions for the site. Additionally, that in the Group Settings area of the Group Page, under Who can view the membership of the group, Everyone is selected.

1. On SharePoint site, click Site Actions -> Site Settings -> Modify All Site Settings.
2. Under Users and Permissions heading, click People and groups.
3. Select appropriate group(s), click Settings -> Group Settings.
4. Under Group Settings area, select Everyone for Who can view the membership of the group, click OK.

Additional Information:

Office Online - Send e-mail in a workflow