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I am a 26 year old female SharePoint Enthusiast. I work for B&R Business Solutions from my home in Olathe, KS. I have been working with SharePoint since I attended the Portal University in 2005. I hold a BA in Computer Science from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. I love playing Rockband, organizing user group meetings, working with MOSS, attending Code Camps as a speaker, and having bizarre conversations about geek things with cool people. If you have any comments or questions fill out the contact form and I will try my best to help.

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August 2008 Entries

Inside the Index and Search Engines: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (PRO-Developer) Review


i told my current boss to buy this book, because it looked to be the only SharePoint Search book on Amazon.  It covers the basics, such as setting up content sources, crawling, adding scopes, etc...  Honestly, I know a lot of that stuff from experimentation and working with SPS 2003.  I didn't really care so much for anything, but Chapter 8.  To be honest I am not a book reader.  I am a book skimmer.  I pretty much go into the index or the Table of Contents and get to the pieces that I need for the task at hand.  So I opened up and skimmed through Chapter 8 and noticed the book had some code samples.  I downloaded the code samples at MS Press and went to town.  I started up a new user control on our test server and just pasted in anything to do with the FreeTextSearch.  It has this really nice SQL-like query system, where you can basically do wildcard searching and all kinds of other nutty searches.  I would definitely recommend buying the book just for this chapter, so you can dive a little deeper into the search object model and create your own search web parts and user controls.  Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Index-Search-Engines-PRO-Developer/dp/0735625352/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219357475&sr=8-1

As you know I don't usually pimp books that often, so seriously what are you waiting for buy the book?  Oh yeah and if you really want to learn about writing content sources in code and some other nifty stuff he has that in there too...As usual I'll catch you guys later...Did anyone else realize I am over 100 entries?

posted @ Thursday, August 21, 2008 5:34 PM | Feedback (0) |


Looking for Panelists for the KC Office Geeks


I am trying to start up a panel where a bunch of SharePoint experts (maybe 5 or 6) sit in front of the KC Office Geeks and answer questions members ask.  They could range from SharePoint to any office development topics.  I am thinking about doing this on our June 4th, 2009 meeting.  If you are interested in sitting on the panel fill out the contact form on my blog and I will get back to you as soon as I can.  I will probably have the people on the panel talk about there area of expertise for about 5 minutes or so then after each person talks maybe let the people ask the questions afterwards.

posted @ Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:17 PM | Feedback (0) |


Creating Dynamic Controls with Javascript


I was working on a search hack and needed the session state from ASP .Net controls and the ids from html controls using this hack: http://www.tqcblog.com/archive/2007/10/26/creating-a-custom-advanced-search-box-in-moss-2007.aspx.  So I came up with a creative solution.  I would add the html controls in the background.  Here is some code if you would like to add your own hidden html controls or just create some for fun:

var currentElement = document.createElement("input");
currentElement.setAttribute("type", "hidden");
currentElement.setAttribute("name", "YourName");
currentElement.setAttribute("id", "YourID");
currentElement.setAttribute("value", "YourValue");
document.getElementById("DivName").appendChild(currentElement);

You are going to want to create a div or a span to add your elements or you can do document.body.appendChild.  SharePoint for some reason did not like that statement, so I created a div before the button to add the elements.  You do not need to add a hidden element.  You can add a checkbox, but remember to add an element.display = "none"; or it will display the item.  If you have any comments or questions send them my way.  Hope you all have a good week!

posted @ Wednesday, August 13, 2008 4:14 PM | Feedback (1) |


Hartford Code Camp..Big Trip in T-1.5 Days...


For those of you guys in the area the 1st Hartford Code Camp is Saturday from 9 am to 5pm at New Horizons Learning Center in Bloomfield, CT.  I will be there and speaking about basics in SharePoint Development.  Here is the link for the Code Camp to sign up: http://ctdotnet.org/CodeCamp.aspx.

I'm pretty excited, because this is my first trip to New England.  I decided to fly into Hartford around 11 am on Thursday and rent a car, so that I could drive all the way up to Bar Harbor, Maine and back down again on Friday.  It will be jam packed with awesome.  I am staying at a B&B in the area called Anne's White Columns, because I wanted the full experience.  I am not planning anything, except for where I am staying.  I will stop along the way at anything that looks really cool.  So far from what I have looked at via Frommer's there is a lot of awesome on the way up.  On Friday on my descent from Maine I will be stopping in Nashua, NH to visit some old World of Warcraft buddies.  Then on Saturday the code camp will take up most of my time.  If I am still up for it I am either going to drive into Boston or Providence after I check into the hotel by BDL.  That should pretty much conclude my stay.  I am hoping to take a ton of pictures and get a ton of great experiences. 

In planning this trip I made a pact with myself.  Next summer I am going to fly into England and travel Europe.  I am going to take the train all over western and northern with only a Frommer's Guide.  I have been thinking about doing this for several years.  I figure next summer is perfect, because my boyfriend should be graduating around May.  I keep reading Joel Oleson's Blog about his travels and it just makes me sad.  I have been to Israel.  It was a beautiful trip, but I really don't count it.  There is a program called Birthright Israel for Jewish people between the ages of 18 and 26.  It was the most incredible experience in my life.  I saw the Kotel (Western Wall), Tzipori (a really cool town where they make homemade candles that has a rich story related to the Kabbalah), almost fell off of Masadah, and I hiked this really cool area with Red Rocks.  I have a good passport until November 2010.  Hopefully, from next year on I can try and hit a new country every year or more if my plan goes well.  Anyway, I promise to post pictures from my trip and the code camp.  My camera is ready for action.  Expect another post sometime early next week.

posted @ Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:33 PM | Feedback (0) |


How I got Started Programming


One of the cooler people I know, Lee Brandt, tagged me in this blog post: http://www.codebucket.org/archive/2008/08/09/how-i-got-started-programming.aspx.  So here goes...

How old were you when you started programming?

That is questionable...I started building Websites in HTML on AOLPress, HotDog, and Notepad when I was 15 years old.  If you don't count HTML, then I was 16.  I wrote a "Hello World" Program on my TI-82 Graphing Calculator in 10th grade.

What was your first language?

HTML/Graphing Calculator Language

What was the first real program you wrote?

In the Winter of 2001 I wrote a maze program for my first programming class in college.  It was pretty.  You could feed it a text file and it would find the path for the maze based on a bunch of X's.

If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?

Yeah.  I would have learned ASP a little sooner and skipped over PHP.  I would have forced myself to learn more C# and ASP .Net in my senior level software engineering course.  You can't really go about thinking what would have happened over what did happen.  I would not be the same person.

If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?

Join user groups.  Get more involved in the community.  You can learn so much more in a user group than you can in school sometimes. 

What's the most fun you've ever had ... programming?

It really varies with age.  When I was in high school I had the best time staying up really late and building static HTML pages and graphics in Photoshop.  When I was in college I loved that maze program and for some weird reason working with linked lists.  Nowadays most anything with C#, ASP .Net, and SharePoint and that is so vast...What parts I like changed based on the challenge that I am dealing with at that point in time.

One thing you have to realize is that if you are happy with what you are doing, then everything is the most fun.  If you are sad with what you are doing, then it is the exact opposite. 

tagged next:

JD Wade
Paul Galvin
Rob Foster

posted @ Monday, August 11, 2008 12:29 PM | Feedback (0) |


Where is my search assembly?


I am hacking the Advanced Search Form, so I realize each scope has an id.  I want to get the id that corresponds to my scopes in a drop down list (later on a drop down list checkbox perhaps).  So I add the proper assemblies to my test asp .net page and all works well.  Then I copy my control into my SharePoint Test Site User Controls area...It states that I am missing an assembly when I load the page...I check the web .config and sure enough it is missing this reference tag in the <assemblies> section:
<add assembly="Microsoft.Office.Server.Search, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71E9BCE111E9429C"/>

So for anyone working with search you may want to check your web .config prior to working with the search object model.

posted @ Wednesday, August 06, 2008 9:54 AM | Feedback (0) |


Kansas City Office Geeks Meeting on Windows Workflow Foundation


The Kansas City Office Geeks will be meeting on Thursday, August 7th at 5:30 pm at Centriq Foss to discuss WIndows Workflow Foundation here is some information:

Featured Product/Topic: 2007 Microsoft Office System

Recommended Audience: Developers

Creating Custom Workflows with SharePoint
 




Presented: Jeff Julian



Sponsor: AdvantageTech - Food Provider for the Meeting 



Date: Thursday, August 7th (Each meeting will be on the 1st Thursday of the month) 



Time: Food at 5:30pm; Presentation from 6:00pm - 7:00pm 



Location: 



    Centriq Foss Training 

    8700 State Line Road, Suite 200 

    Leawood, KS 66206 

    Phone: 913-322-7000



Description: 



Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services provides a robust, customizable work environment for users to create, collaborate, and store valuable business information. Now, with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, you can attach custom business processes to these documents or list items using Windows Workflow technologies. During this session, Jeff Julian will define what Windows Workflow is, how SharePoint uses it, and demonstrate workflow in a few demos.  



Bio: 



Jeff Julian is an accomplished software consultant focused on Microsoft® technologies. His ability to solve business challenges and passion for the software community was evident when Microsoft awarded him the Most Valuable Professional award in the area of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Jeff is also the founder of the largest blogging site of Microsoft professionals named Geekswithblogs.net. Recently, Jeff was an author on the released Wrox title, Professional SharePoint 20007 Development. You may contact Jeff by email at jeff@ajisoftware.com.




Sponsor Information:




Our strategy has always been to find not only the best candidate technically, but find the one that fits with your culture. The only way we can do that is through meeting with you and gaining an in-depth understanding of your business, culture, and process. Once we have developed a understanding of your organization on every level, we move into our internal service delivery mode, offering the most capable recruiting anywhere. Each of our consultants is offered health insurance, paid vacation, paid holidays, sick leave, 401k, payroll services, direct deposit, expense reimbursement potential, and a variety of offerings specific to each consultant where appropriate. We do business on three different platforms: contract, contract to hire, and permanent placement. All of these issues are discussed with the consultants during the recruitment phase. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best Regards, 



Kansas City Office Geeks

So far we have 8 people signed up, but that includes myself.  Here is the Click to Attend: https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=130094.
If you have not clicked on the link please do so that way we can get an accurate count for food.

posted @ Tuesday, August 05, 2008 11:59 AM | Feedback (0) |