Microsoft Excel has a very complex COM object model that we can interact with in Windows PowerShell. We can read from .xlsx files as well as.csv files

In this blog i am focusing completely on script with out focussing on theory. Comments are given for the code where ever required.

PowerShell script to read data from .xlsx file:

# Adding PS Snapin

$snapin = Get-PSSnapin | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell'}

if ($snapin -eq $null)

{

   Write-Host "Loading SharePoint Powershell Snapin" -ForegroundColor Green

    Add-PSSnapin "Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell"

}

# This is a common function i am using which will release excel objects

function Release-Ref ($ref) {

([System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject(

[System.__ComObject]$ref) -gt 0)

[System.GC]::Collect()

[System.GC]::WaitForPendingFinalizers()

}

# Creating excel object

$objExcel = new-object -comobject excel.application 

$objExcel.Visible = $True 

 # Directory location where we have our excel files

$ExcelFilesLocation = "D:\Users\"

 # Open our excel file

$UserWorkBook = $objExcel.Workbooks.Open($ExcelFilesLocation + "Users.xlsx") 

# Here Item(1) refers to sheet 1 of of the workbook. If we want to access sheet 10, we have to modifythe code to Item(10)

$UserWorksheet = $UserWorkBook.Worksheets.Item(1)

 # This is counter which will help to iterrate trough the loop. This is simply row count

# I am taking row count as 2, because the first row in my case is header. So we dont need to read the header data

$intRow = 2

Do {

 # Reading the first column of the current row

 $FirstName = $UserWorksheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 1).Value()

 # Reading the second column of the current row

 $SecondName = $UserWorksheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 2).Value()

 # Reading the first column of the current row. I am assuming that this is an email id field

 $userLogOnEmail = $UserWorksheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 3).Value()

 # Read only login name from the above email id

 $pos = $userLogOnEmail.IndexOf("@")

 $userLogOnName = $userLogOnEmail.Substring(0, $pos)

          "First Name: " + $FirstName

          "Second Name: " + $SecondName

          "Log on email Name: " + $userLogOnEmail

          "Only alias truncated upto @: " + $userLogOnEmail

           # Move to next row

           $intRow++

           } While ($UserWorksheet.Cells.Item($intRow,1).Value() -ne $null)

# Exiting the excel object

$objExcel.Quit()

 #Release all the objects used above

$a = Release-Ref($UserWorksheet)

$a = Release-Ref($UserWorkBook) 

$a = Release-Ref($objExcel)

PowerShell script to read data from .csv file:

This is quite easily doable compared to .xlsx file .Very less code is not required for this. we don't need to create excel object for reading .csv files.

# All the date in the user excel will be imported

$UserList = IMPORT-CSV D:\Users\users.csv

# This foreach will loop all the rows in the above userlist

FOREACH ($User in $UserList) {

# "FirstName" is the header name of the column in the excel sheet

$UserFirstName = $OrmUser.FirstName

# "SecondName" is the header name of the column in the excel sheet

$UserSecondName = $OrmUser.SecondName

# "UserLogonName" is the header name of the column in the excel sheet

$UserLogOnMail = $User.UserLogonName

# Read only login name

$pos = $OrmUserLogOnMail.IndexOf("@")

if($pos -ge 0)

{

$userLogOnName = $OrmUserLogOnMail.Substring(0, $pos)

 }

}

Reading .xlsx vs reading .csv files:

It is easy to read data from .csv files compared to .xlsx files. if we have .xlsx files with us, we can just "save as" them to .csv files (What i did in my case :)).

The following are some of the advantages of reading data from .csv files compared to other:

1. No need to create excel object while reading from .csv files

2. Using Import-CSV, the execution speed will be increased

3. No need to create objects for each worksheet and workbook

Saving data inExcel File:

The following is the simple code that can be used to save the data in excel file

$objExcel = new-object -comobject excel.application 

$objExcel.Visible = $True 

$FinalExcelLocation = "D:\Users\FinalUsersList.xlsx"

# Create final worksheet

if (Test-Path $FinalExcelLocation) 

{ 

    # Open the document 

    $finalWorkBook = $objExcel.WorkBooks.Open($FinalExcelLocation) 

    $finalWorkSheet = $finalWorkBook.Worksheets.Item(1) 

}

else { 

    # Create It 

    $finalWorkBook = $objExcel.Workbooks.Add() 

    $finalWorkSheet = $finalWorkBook.Worksheets.Item(1)

}

# Add Header

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item(1,1) = "User Name";

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item(1,1).Font.Bold = $True 

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item(1,2) = "Email"

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item(1,2).Font.Bold = $True 

# As the first row is already filled with header, the row count will start from 2

$FinalExcelRow = 2   

Do {

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item($FinalExcelRow,1) = "Sample"

$finalWorkSheet.Cells.Item($FinalExcelRow,2) = Someone@sample.com

$FinalExcelRow++

  }

# To wrap the text           

$d = $finalWorkSheet.UsedRange 

$null = $d.EntireColumn.AutoFit()

if (Test-Path $FinalExcelLocation) 

{

    # If already existing file is opned, save the file

    $finalWorkBook.Save()

}

else

{

    # If a new file is created, save the file with the given name

    $finalWorkBook.SaveAs($FinalExcelLocation)

}

This provides few lists OOB for creating tasks, storing documents, and recording decisions etc. one small suggestion for those who want to use this template, this template will not support much customization. For example customizing this site like changing home page in SharePoint designer or modifying the OOB list column names may cause the site to behave in a weird manner.

This template supports both single meeting workspace or recurrent meetings workspace i.e. multiple meetings with in the same workspace as shown below.

In case of recurrent meetings, Instance Id will be maintained for each occurrence. What does this mean?

If we select May 22, 2012 occurrence as shown above, it will maintain a respective Instance Id for the selected occurrence. This instance id is created based on the date of the selected occurrence. If we have only one meeting in the site then the Instance Id is -1.To know more about this instance id, click here

All the lists in side this site template will store list items based on the current selected recurrence. This means, if we store two records in the objective list for the selected occurrence they will not be visible for the other occurrences. Anyhow we have an option to see all the meetings inside the list/library also :)

A SharePoint site by using Meeting workspace template can be created by using Outlook also, to know how to do, see my blog here.

To Modify Home page:

However If you still want to change modify home page, we can do that by using Content Editor webpart and JQuery. Put the following code in content editor webpart on the home page. This code adds two links to the left nav by append the required html to the existing left panel.

<script src="https://blogs.msdn.com/_layouts/jquery-1.6.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">

$(document).ready(function() {

$("#s4-leftpanel-content").append("<div
class='s4-ql'><div class='menu vertical menu-vertical'><ul
class='root static'><li class='static'><a class='static menu-item' href='Lists/All%20Tasks/My%20Tasks.aspx'><span
class='additional-background'><span class='menu-item-text'>My
Tasks</span></span></a></li><li
class='static'><a class='static menu-item' href='pages/Reports.aspx'><span
class='additional-background'><span class='menu-item-text'>Reports
(All
Tasks)</span></span></a></li></ul></div></div>");
});

</script>

This script requires “jquery-1.6.2.min.js” file to be present in the _layouts folder.

This site can’t be saved with content. That means, if we save this site as template it will not include the content inside lists, libraries, etc, but it will have content editor webpart and any text/HTML code inside it. That is the reason I selected Content Editor webpart for adding links in the home page

Approval Workflow to copy items from one list to other.

 My requirement says based on approving the records in list A, list items from List B should get copied to List C. This copy may include copying multiple items also. To copy one item at a time, we have OOB SharePoint designer action. But to do this bulk copying, I preferred JQuery. The following are the steps I followed to do this.

1. Create an OOB approval workflow which will approve the records in List A by using SharePoint designer.
2. Copying from List B to List C can be implemented by using JQuey(See the code below with comments).
3. Now the toughest task comes here to invoke copying part once the records in List A got approved.
   1. That means calling Jquery from workflow which is not possible.
   2. Put a button on click of which approval window will be opened by using JQuery. Once the user clicks on approve in approval window, this event will be captiured in the JQuery and the copying task should be done in JQuery.

Code for the button click to copy and approve

This code is included as part of content editor webpart

<div>

<script src="https://blogs.msdn.com/_layouts/jquery-1.6.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">

// To make sure the required JS files got loaded

ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(EnsureScriptsLoaded, "jquery-1.6.2.min.js");

ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(getWebSiteData,"sp.js");

ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(EnsureScriptsLoaded,"sp.ui.dialog.js");

function EnsureScriptsLoaded() {

    //Blank
method -To ensure script files loaded

}

 // This click is triggered on button click which will do both approve and copy jobs

function ApproveTasks() {

// Get the context object

var context = new SP.ClientContext.get_current();

var web = context.get_web();

site = context.get_site();

context.load(site);

var meetingList = web.get_lists().getByTitle('ListA');

var query = SP.CamlQuery.createAllItemsQuery();

allItems = meetingList.getItems(query);

context.load(allItems);

context.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, this.success), Function.createDelegate(this, this.failed));

}

function failed(sender, args)

{

 alert("failed. Message:" + args.get_message());

}

function success(sender, args)

{

var recordCount = allItems.get_count();

if(recordCount >0)

{

var meetingItem = allItems.itemAt(0);

currentWeb = url of the current web;

var siteUrl = url of the current site;

 this.ItemID =Id of the cuurent item;

 this.itemURL = Item URl;

 this.workflowName = "Name of the workflow";

 this.listId = meetingItem.get_item('GUID');

 this.itemURL= decodeURIComponent(this.itemURL);

 this.workflowName= decodeURIComponent(this.workflowName);

 this.itemURLID= itemURL + ItemID + "_.000";

     //Get Context details

var thisSite = $().SPServices.SPGetCurrentSite();

    var currentUser = $().SPServices.SPGetCurrentUser();

   currentUser = currentUser.toLowerCase();

       //AJAX call to get current user task

   
$().SPServices({       
operation: "GetToDosForItem",

        item:itemURLID,

        async:false,

       completefunc: function (xData, Status) {

      var respToDoID = '';
var respToDoListID = '';

           var respToDoContentTypeId = '';

            var isTaskFound = false;           
var respToDoStatus = '';           
var isTaskFormOpened = false;           
$(xData.responseXML).find("[nodeName='z:row']").each(function
() {               
isTaskFound = true;              
respToDoStatus = $(this).attr("ows_Status");               
//Checking assigned task status               
if (respToDoStatus == 'Not Started' || respToDoStatus == 'In Progress')
{

var respToDoAssignedTo = $(this).attr("ows_AssignedTo");                   
var grp = respToDoAssignedTo.substring(respToDoAssignedTo.indexOf(';#')+ 2);                   
respToDoAssignedTo = respToDoAssignedTo.toLowerCase();                  
respToDoID = $(this).attr("ows_ID");                   
respToDoListID = $(this).attr("ows_TaskListId");                   
respToDoContentTypeId = $(this).attr("ows_ContentTypeId");

var u = thisSite +'/_layouts/WrkTaskIP.aspx?List=' + respToDoListID + '&ID=' + respToDoID +'&ContentTypeId=' + respToDoContentTypeId + '&IsDlg=1';

//Approval window popup will open

SP.UI.ModalDialog.showModalDialog({title: "Approve Request Process", width: 700, height: 470, url: u,allowMaximize: false, dialogReturnValueCallback:DialogCallbackMethod });

                        isTaskFormOpened = true;

                   }                        
});

             if(isTaskFound == false) {

           alert('No tasks found to approve');

            }

           else if (isTaskFound == true && respToDoStatus == 'Completed' && isTaskFormOpened == false) {

               alert('No tasks found to approve');

            }

        }

    });

}

else

{

alert('Workflow not started on the meeting details item. Contact system administrator');

}

}

else

{

alert('No records in found');

}

}

// Custom callback function after the dialog is closed

function DialogCallbackMethod(dialogResult, returnValue) {

// If user clicks on approve

    if(dialogResult == 1) {

// Copy list items from List B to List C

      CopyTasksToAllTasks();

    }

}

function CopyTasksToAllTasks() {

context = new SP.ClientContext.get_current();

 var web = context.get_web();

 list = web.get_lists().getByTitle('ListB');

context.load(list);

 destlist = web.get_lists().getByTitle('ListC');

context.load(destlist);

var meetingDetails = web.get_lists().getByTitle('ListA');

context.load(meetingDetails);

 var query = SP.CamlQuery.createAllItemsQuery();

meetingdetailsItems = meetingDetails.getItems(query);

 context.load(meetingdetailsItems);

 allItems = list.getItems(query);

fields = list.get_fields();

context.load(fields);   

 context.load(allItems);

context.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, onListItemsLoadSuccess), Function.createDelegate(this, onListQueryFailed));

 }

 function onListItemsLoadSuccess(sender, args) {

 var TextFiled = "";

  var ListEnumerator = allItems.getEnumerator();

 var meetingItem = meetingdetailsItems.itemAt(0);

 var status = meetingItem.get_item('WorkflowStatus');

while(ListEnumerator.moveNext())

 {

 var item = ListEnumerator.get_current();

var itemCreateInfo = new SP.ListItemCreationInformation();

// add an empty list item to List C

newItem = destlist.addItem(itemCreateInfo);

// copy title from List B to List C. Repeat the same
for all the fileds

var title = item.get_item('Title');

if(title != null)

{

newItem.set_item('Title', title);

}

// Update the new item

newItem.update();

context.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, onListItemsLoadSuccess1),

Function.createDelegate(this, onListQueryFailed1));

}

}

function onListItemsLoadSuccess1(sender, args) {

// To reload the page on successful copy

SP.UI.ModalDialog.RefreshPage(SP.UI.DialogResult.OK);

}

 function onListQueryFailed1(sender, args) {

 alert("failed. Message:" + args.get_message());

 }

 function onListQueryFailed(sender, args) {

 alert("failed. Message:" + args.get_message());

 }

</script>

<a id="CopyTasksListToAllTasksList" onclick="ApproveTasks();" href="#">

<img title="Copy" id="imgCopyTasksListToAllTasksList" src="https://blogs.msdn.com/_layouts/images/icodct.gif" border="0" alt=""/> Approve Request</a></div>

• If you want to create the site from custom site template, upload the site template to the “Solutions” of the SharePoint site collection. To do this open the site collection and navigate to Site Settings --> Galleries -->Solutions as shown below. If not custom site template, you can skip this step

• Open outlook, create a new Meeting.

• Fill all the information like To, subject and location. Create a ecurrence based on the requirement. Select the Recurrence Pattern and click on ok. Now meeting got created in the outlook

• Click on “Meeting Workspace” icon on the top of the ribbon

If this icon is not visible, follow the steps below to configure this

•  Click on the arrow on the right inide of the “Meeting Workspace” icon shown above and select “More Commands” option. The following popup will come.

• Select “Meeting Workspace” and click on “Add”. Click on Ok

To add this button to ribbon, follow the steps given here

• On clicking on the Meeting Workspace icon, a window will be opened on the right side. Click on “Change Settings” link

• click on “Change Settings” if you dont find any settings or want to change the settings, the following window will be opened

• Under first dropdown “Select a location”, click on “Other…” link to select a different site collection. It will open “Other  Workspace Server” popup

Enter the new  Project site collection url on this popup and click on Ok

• Under the second section “Select a workspace”, select “English” as template language. In template type section, select the template which is saved in step2. click on Ok to save the settings

•  Click Create button to create the workspace. The final window is as shown below

• Click on the link to open the created workspace in browser to make further configuration or entry of other items like meeting details, agenda etc.

Localization means displaying the content in several languages which will help the user across the globe to access the content. As the reports being one of the important tools and are used in various ways as per the requirement of the user, the localization of report plays major role. It is a normal requirement for any project accessed around the world

Why localization:

Localization is the process of customizing your application for given culture and locale. To display any content of the project in multiple languages, it is not practical to develop the same project in multiple languages.  In the same way to make the report available in different locales, it is not a best way to develop different .rdl files. By using localization we can make a single .rdl file available across different locales.

How to localize the report:

Microsoft has not provided a way to add .resx(resource file) to the report project. The way around is to use custom assembly which can be used across multiple projects. Follow the following steps to create a custom assembly

• Start the Visual Studio, select File-->New-->Project

• Select appropriate language(My case visual C#), select Class Library and give the name in the text box and click on OK button

• To add .resx file to the solution, right click on the project and add a new item and select Resource file

Add the required resources in the .resx file in Name – value pair model.

• Add the following method to the class file so that the user can access these resources from outside.

Build the project and get the dll from bin folder.

Our dll is ready. Use the following steps to use the dll in the report designer

• Open visual studio for reports(SQL Server Business Intelligent Development Studio). Click on File-->New-->Project

• Select “Report Server Project” and give the proper name and click on OK

• Right click on Report folder, select “Add new report”. Enter appropriate values in the report wizard. For connection string, click on “Edit” button and select the appropriate details.Finally click on finish to create the report.

Click on “Next” and in the next step, select the query and finish the other steps. We can write the query by using query builder also. Select appropriate columns to be displayed in the reports. It may look something as follows

 Now the localization part requires to be added. First navigate to “Report Properties” and add the as show below

Finally the last step is to use the function in the assembly. To do this, right click on the textbox and select “Expression”, the following window will we displayed. We have to write the code there

This expression calls the GetString method with the name of the resource which will return the value of the resource as per the current locale

Problem you may face

The most common issue the developer may face is, Inspite of adding the new resource to .resex file it will not be show in the report. The reason for this is the dll is not updated in the location specified in the references of the report. We have to build the new dll and copy that dll to the location which is referenced in the report properties