Vyapin Blogs

Our flagship SharePoint migration product, DocKIT for SharePoint 2007 has come out with a feature rich new version. This new version of DocKIT for SharePoint 2007 v3.9 is a significant release from the solution’s usability standpoint. Usability is something that we keep constantly improvising on.

Our DocKIT customers would now be bestowed with the following provisions with the new release:

1. Web Services Component Indicator: DocKIT has in it now a provision to indicate to the user about the existence of DocKIT Web Services component in the destination SharePoint server. The user has to specify the SharePoint site URL and its corresponding credentials to verify the existence of DocKIT Web Services component. It can be accessed from the Tools Menu of the application (Tools–> Test DocKIT Web Service). The new feature is expected to avoid any Web Services Component mismatch. DocKIT Web Services component indicator has been incorporated based on suggestions from some of our DocKIT’s customers.

2. Support for Forms Authentication: DocKIT now supports a Forms Authentication validating the users against the corresponding SharePoint environment. With this feature, DocKIT extends its support to websites configured with Forms Authentication validation type. DocKIT would automatically initiate Windows Authentication or Forms Authentication depending on the destination SharePoint site configuration settings.

We also added forms authentication to our SharePoint to Windows file system migration tool, SPListX quite recently: http://www.vyapin.com/blogs/index.php/2010/03/10/splistx-for-sharepoint-2007-v31-released/.

3. Elapsed Time Display: Users can view the time taken for a particular task to migrate documents to the destination SharePoint document library. DocKIT now keeps the user informed about the time involved in migrating documents and this would help the user in scheduling migration tasks.

4. Profile Manager Tool: Users now can define the User Profiles and their credentials through the Profile Manager tool. Windows-based credentials and Forms-Based credentials can be defined through this. Using this, the users can just select their corresponding credentials without manually entering them every time.

For a 30-day free trial version or to upgrade to the latest version of DocKIT software, visit the product home page at http://www.vyapin.com/products/sharepoint/moss-2007/dockit/sharepoint-2007-file-migration.htm.

This week continues to be special as we have rolled out a major version of Admin Report Kit for Exchange Server (ARKES) v6.0.

ARKES, a powerful reporting solution for Microsoft Exchange Server is the next to follow our SPListX 3.1 release. The new feature-rich ARKES version is certain to add value to your IT infrastructure.

ARKES v6.0 offers the following new features and benefits to our customers:

1. Support to Exchange Server 2010: The new ARKES supports Microsoft’s latest version of Exchange Server 2010. ARKES over a period of last 7 years has evolved in line with the Exchange Server’s hierarchy since Exchange Server v5.5. ARKES is now compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010/2007/2003/2000. ARKES no more supports Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 owing to functional difficulty in achieving backward compatibility.

2. Generate reports for specific objects: ARKES now enables users to generate specific information on recipient objects or recipients in specific Organizational Units. This would allow the user to pull out ‘spot-on’ information without having to generate reports across the vast hierarchy.

3. E-mail ARKES reports: ARKES reports can now be distributed through e-mails. This is a significant enhancement to the previous report export & print feature.

4. SQL Database: ARKES is now scaled up by SQL database keeping in mind Microsoft Access’s storage and functional limitations. SQL Database would ensure improved application performance and storage optimization.

5. Multi format Reporting: ARKES now has the ability to export or print reports in a variety of report formats. This would go a long way in addressing our users’ domestic compliance and documentation needs.

6. Extended support to Microsoft Windows 64-bit platform.

7. Improved GUI: ARKES now has a highly interactive GUI definitely marking a new milestone from the solution’s usability standpoint.

You can read more information about the product at:
http://www.vyapin.com/products/exchange-audit/exchange-server-reporting.htm

We have made a significant and much improvised release of SPListX for SharePoint 2007 version 3.1 recently. We have included a powerful feature to export documents and list items from SharePoint lists based on ‘Search Criteria’ provided by the user. This new feature uses the built-in SharePoint Search facility in the background to deliver the results.

With the new SPListX for SharePoint 2007 version 3.1, users have the following new provisions:

1. Search Criteria: Export SharePoint list items with file attachments, version histories and metadata based on SharePoint Search results. Previously the user had the choice to export list items through the browse option or export them using an external batch file. Now, with the new ‘Search Criteria’ feature choice, the user can search for matching list items to export using Keywords or Advanced Search options at a site collection level or farm level. This feature was designed to leverage SharePoint’s Search feature, which is its value proposition.

2. Search Validation Settings: The user can validate the search results for a given search criteria (Keywords or Advanced Search). The ‘test search’ feature helps the user to verify the search results, thereby allowing the user to fine tune the search criteria to retrieve better results.

3. Support for Forms authentication: Prior to the current version, SPListX allowed only the users registered with the corresponding Active Directory domains to be validated against the SharePoint environment. But with the current release, SPListX supports users registered outside the Active Directory environment too. SPListX would initiate Windows authentication or Forms authentication automatically, depending on the destination SharePoint site.

4. Fully qualified domain name format: SPList X now supports a fully qualified domain name, i.e. username@domain format in all its user validation.

The ‘Search criteria’ function and the other functionalities were eagerly awaited by many our existing customers. SPListX with these new features incorporated is certainly bound to add value to your existing SharePoint infrastructure.

For a 30-day free trial version of SPListX, visit the product home page at: http://www.vyapin.com/products/sharepoint/moss-2007/splistx/sharepoint-2007-list-export.htm

One of the most common scenarios in SharePoint migration is the migration of File shares and folders from various sources – file servers, desktops and other storage devices. While the need for migrating files and folders is quite common, the task of getting this accomplished becomes very complex if there are a large number of files and folders to migrate. You will need an automated solution that will take care of some of these complexities. A large migration typically involves migrating and tagging tens of thousands of files (documents) from legacy file shares and folders into a new SharePoint repository while retaining the existing taxonomy or moving to a completely new taxonomy.
Most file system users will not be familiar with the concept of document metadata. They are more familiar with the term file properties. The concept of document metadata originates from Document Management Systems (DMS), where documents are stored and made searchable on a wider set of keywords and phrases. Document libraries in SharePoint are akin to Document Management Systems in the way they store documents and properties for search and retrieval. However, these properties need to be presented to SharePoint during migration in a certain manner that makes the search and retrieval more powerful and elegant. You may migrate / propagate metadata fields from the document properties stored within the file or using an external metadata file / database. Mapping and tagging existing file properties and adding additional properties to documents in SharePoint, especially for a well structured taxonomy can be a laborious process. Thus, migrating files and folders along with metadata needs an appropriate solution that will break down the migration into several different tasks (automated batch processes), with several different rules to process the files and folders.
Our SharePoint migration tool for File shares and folders, DocKIT, allows users to move folders and files along with metadata (using an external metadata file and file properties) from file system to SharePoint libraries based on the folders/files added by the user using the DocKIT user interface. Some of the supported metadata elements that typically define the source content are:

• Custom properties defined in the external metadata file
• Summary file system properties - Title, Subject, Author, Category, Keywords and Comments
• File properties such as Manager, Company, DateLastPrinted, DateLastSaved, RevisionNumber, Version, WordCount etc. in the case of MS-Office documents
• Original Created Date & Last Modified Date of source documents
• Author (Created By) and Editor (Modified By) of source documents
• Content Approval Status & Approval Comments

Please click the following link to know more about Vyapin’s DocKIT: http://www.vyapin.com/products/sharepoint/moss-2007/dockit/sharepoint-2007-file-migration.htm

NTFS Permissions reports on Files, Folders and Shares using Admin Report Kit for Windows Enterprise.

There are several powerful features available in Admin Report Kit for Windows Enterprise to generate reports on NTFS permissions on files and folders residing in servers and workstations across multiple domains in the network. All reports may be scheduled and generated for multiple computers, users, and groups for multiple domains as a batch job.

The Permissions Reports section under the built-in reports feature (out-of-the-box reports) includes specific reports that report exclusively on reporting the access permissions assigned to users and groups on files, folders and shares. Our NTFS permissions reporting tool has several flavors of reports designed specifically for the administrator’s convenience. The following questions can be easily answered using these multi-dimensional reports:
1. Given a selected set of Users and Groups, which files and folders do they have access to across computers in a domain?
2. Given a selected set of files, folders and shares across computers, which users and groups have access to these?
3. Which users have inherited access permissions by virtue of their group membership (even though they may not have been granted explicit permissions)?
4. What permissions have been assigned to users both explicit and inherited through nested groups? One single report showing both.
5. What are the net effective permissions for users and groups on a set of folders?
6. How are nested groups affecting NTFS permissions on files and folders?

Here is a walkthrough of how to generate NTFS Permissions Reports using Admin Report Kit for Windows Enterprise (ARKWE):

Click on the Permissions Reports menu item under the Built-in Reports button in the toolbar.

The following NTFS Permissions Reports are available:

List of permissions for specific users and groups on folders
Reports the folder permissions assigned to specific users and/or groups on a selected set of folders.

List of permissions for folders
Reports the permissions associated with a selected set of folders.

List of permissions for specific users and groups on files
Reports the files permissions assigned to specific users and/or groups under a selected set of folders.

List of permissions for files
Reports the permissions associated with files under a selected set of folders.

List of all permissions for folders (Inherit & Explicit)
Reports the permissions for users assigned in the folders directly and inherited by means of nested groups.

List of effective permissions for users and groups on folders
Reports the effective permissions for users and groups for a set of folders.

List of effective permissions for users and groups on files
Reports the effective permissions for users and groups for files available in a set of folders.

Apart from the above out-of-the-box NTFS Permissions Reports, several standard customizable reports on various share and folder resources are available. These may be customized and scheduled as batch jobs for multiple computers and domains.

Please click on the following to download and evaluate the above features in Admin Report Kit for Windows Enterprise.
http://www.vyapin.com/products/windows-audit/windows-reports.htm

Businesses using Microsoft SharePoint technologies host loads of information that are constantly created, modified, accessed and processed by its users. SharePoint servers store this information in what are called ‘Lists’ that typically resembles an Excel spreadsheet.
As you may be aware already, you can import Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet to SharePoint [In your SharePoint site, select Site Actions -> Create -> Custom Lists -> “Import Spreadsheet” hyperlink under the Custom Lists header]

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets may do what organizations generally require, but have limitations when the data volume is large or when there are several participants, as may be the case in many organizations.

The following are some of the areas where the users would sometimes feel the pain when importing Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet data to SharePoint 2007:

1) Limited support of data types or data classification
2) Import data to all SharePoint list types, including project tasks, issue tracking, custom lists etc.
3) Missing link between SharePoint and source data
4) Tracking changes to the data
5) Handling complex queries and conditions to filter data

SPList Manager for SharePoint 2007 (SPListM), our list management solution helps users overcome these pain points and in this blog post we will explain on how it does it.

1) Limited Support of data types:

Importing an Excel spreadsheet in SharePoint supports only custom lists and is not compatible with built-in data types such as People, Lookup and Business Data etc. Consider the situation where the user has to retrieve a huge chunk of business data relating to a unique id say Customer ID. All the data associated with Customer ID spread across various spreadsheets has to be referred and interpreted manually. SPListM on the other hand can help users retrieve information across multiple lists by referring to the Customer ID. It retrieves all information associated with the Customer ID and presents it for the user. SPListM supports all SharePoint standard data types. It would be appropriate to term SPListM as a generic SharePoint ‘list processing tool’ as it supports all widely used data types. This feature has managed to attract several SPListM customers and is rightly its value proposition.

2) Import data to all SharePoint list types:

As said earlier, importing list types such as project tasks, issue tracking, custom lists etc. to SharePoint would be a tough task, especially the ones with file attachments. SPListM offers a simple solution to import metadata (or list items) and associated file attachments to SharePoint lists such as Tasks, Calendar, Contacts, Survey, Discussion Boards, Announcements, Links, Issue Tracking and Custom Lists. For example, SPListM can easily let the user regularly update the project tasks or a custom list through an external batch file and could prove quite efficient by saving several man hours.

3) Missing link between SharePoint and the source data:

There is only a one-way communication between a Microsoft Spreadsheet and SharePoint services. Changes made to SharePoint list items is restored back to a spreadsheet (content source) while the vice versa is not possible. If the changes made to the spreadsheet source are to be updated in SharePoint list, it has to be exported to SharePoint as a new list. The link between the content source and the destination (SharePoint list) is terminated and this could prove costly when data undergoes constant changes. Consider a situation where loads of information is constantly dumped into an Excel spreadsheet and needs to be updated in the SharePoint site. It would be increasingly difficult for the user to export it every time or update the voluminous information manually in a datasheet view. SPListM could prove extremely handy in this situation as the updates could be defined in the import task wizard or through an external metadata file. SPListM does not necessarily establish a two-way communication with the SharePoint. But it still makes a one-way communication complete and more effective.

4) Tracking changes to data (versioning):

It is increasingly difficult for the user to keep track of the changes made to the content sources as the changes made would only be exported to SharePoint as a new list. As a result of which, ‘versioning’ is made impossible. In situations where a list has to be approved by other SharePoint users, it would be impossible to keep track of changes made by each user. Updating a list item with SPListM can help you maintain versions and track changes made by users in a collaborative environment.

5) Handling complex queries and conditions:

It would prove a daunting task for the user while attempting to conditionally import data using complex queries from a spreadsheet to a SharePoint site in an automated manner and more so if it involves a lot of data. In a situation where data is often exported to a spreadsheet and the user has to migrate the same to a SharePoint site, Excel’s filter options could be very useful. But what if the user wants to impose conditions at various levels and do a major cleansing of data? SPListM has the ability to impose conditions at various levels and could do this cleansing as easy as a cake walk. It allows the user to apply multiple logical conditions and can update the list items with ease. The updating could be done either through the basic import task wizard option or through an external batch descriptor file.

SPListM has been engineered in such a way as to fill the potential pitfalls a user faces while importing Microsoft Excel spreadsheet data to a SharePoint list. SPListM supplements Microsoft Excel’s capabilities in enhancing business productivity.

To try and evaluate SPListM, you can download a 15-day trial version at http://www.vyapin.com/products/sharepoint/moss-2007/splistm/sharepoint-2007-list-management-tool.htm.