SharePoint – Page 4

SharePoint 2013 Workflow: Copy files with REST API

May 1, 2017 Ben Prins Office 365

For a meeting solution on SharePoint Online (Office 365) we needed to copy files from one location to another. The solution we decided on was a workflow that asks the user for feedback and then copies the file to the desired library. This was done by creating a workflow with a web service using the CopyTo methode. Be aware that the CopyTo methode can only copy files within the same site. The methode cannot copy files between sites or site collections.

On the MSDN page you can find the details of the CopyTo methode.

Solution

Create a SharePoint 2013 workflow
Create a dictionary variable called JSONRequestHeader
Create a string variable called regURL
Add the action Build Directory, select JSONRequestHeader as the variable.
Add Accept and content-type to the directory with the following code:
```
application/json;odata=verbose
```

Then store the following URL to the variable regURL:

[%Workflow Context:Current Site URL%]_api/web/folders/GetByUrl('Original Document Location')/Files/getbyurl('Test.pdf')/CopyTo(strNewUrl='/sites/Meetingsite/DocumentNewLocation/Test.pdf',bOverWrite=true)

You can change file names to variable to the workflow can run on every item within the library
Create a string variable called currentItemName
Add the action Set variable, set the following code for the currentItemName variable

Change the regURL to:

[%Workflow Context:Current Site URL%]_api/web/folders/GetByUrl('Original Document Location')/Files/getbyurl('[%Variable:currentItemName%]')/CopyTo(strNewUrl='/sites/Meetingsite/DocumentNewLocation/[%Variable:currentItemName%]',bOverWrite=true)

Add the Call HTTP web service action to the workflow and set the “this” to the regURL
Set RequestHeaders to Variable: JSONRequestHeader
Set RequestType to HTTP Post

SharePoint Teams: Link web part

April 3, 2017 Ben Prins Office 365

A new Link web part has been added to the Team sites. With this web part you can add a link (website) to a page to create a link that displays information about the linked page.
The web part will create a clickabe tile that contains a title, description and a picture if possible of the linked page. The look and feel is the same as linking a web page in Slack or WhatsApp.

Solution

Open the home page of a teamsite
Set the page in the edit mode
Click on the plus icon and click on the Link web part
Provide the web part with a hyperlink and press enter. The web part will resolve the hyperlink and show some information of the website.
Click on the X next to the hyperlink to hide the hyperlink and save the changes

SharePoint 2013 Workflow: Check if list item exists

March 13, 2017 Ben Prins Office 365

For a customer we are building a complex approval process on Office 365 with SharePoint 2013 workflows. During the process we need to check if an list item (in an other list) existed. There is no default action that lets you do this. You can however us the set variable and if statement action to figure out if the item you are looking for exists or not. This is a useful trick to know when working with SharePoint 2013 workflows.

Solution

Create a SharePoint 2013 workflow.
Create a variable called ContractItemID, here we will try to store the ID of the list item we are trying to find.
Set the variable to 0 (zero).
Then we need to try and set the ContractItemID variable with the ContractID of the item we are searching. This can be from the same list or a different list.
I am trying to find the ID of a list item with a specific Contract Number.
If the workflow finds an ID the ID will be stored in the variable, if no item is found then the ContractItemID value will remain 0 (zero)
Use an if statement to determine if the list item exists.

SharePoint 2010 Workflow: Capture document set versions

February 1, 2017 Ben Prins Office 365

When a user changes a document set the version is not automatically capture, the user can capture the version by manually . Capturing a version manually is down with the Capture Version button located in the Document Set Tab in the ribbon. This is not the a secure way to make sure all versions are captured. With a SharePoint 2010 workflow (not workflow 2013) you can capture all the versions automatically. The solution has been tested on SharePoint 2013 On Premise and SharePoint Online (Office 365).

Solution

There is a small bug with the action Capture a version of the Document Set, the action runs multiple time (equal to the number of columns) and captures multiple versions. To prevent this from happening add a wait action to the workflow, this will make sure that only one version will be captured.

Create a SharePoint 2010 workflow
Configure the workflow to Start Workflow automatically when an item is Changed
Add the action Wait for Field Change in Current Item
Set the action to: Wait for Modified by (column) to equal Current Item: Modified By (column)
Add the action Capture a version of the Document Set, with comment: Version Captured by Workflow.
The full workflow looks like this

SharePoint 2013 Workflow: App step and App Permissions

January 2, 2017 Ben Prins Office 365

By default workflows run under the permissions of the user that starts the workflow, even is the workflow starts on a change or when a new item is created. The initiator does not always have the right permissions to complete all the actions within the workflow. For example when the workflow needs to delete an item, create a new items or use a web service. With SharePoint 2013 workflows it is possible to use the App step action to give the workflow its own permission set.

Solution part 1: Activate the feature

The feature Workflows can use app permissions needs to be active.
Open the site settings and click on Manage site features
Activate the feature: Workflows can use app permissions

Solution part 2: Grant workflow app permissions

Open the site settings and click on Site app permissions
Copy the client section if the App Identifier. This is the identifier between the last “|” and the “@” sign, as shown in the figure.
Navigate to the Grant permissions to an app page.This must be done by browsing to the appinv.aspx page of the site.
```
http://}hostname}/{the Site Collection}/_layouts/15/appinv.aspx
```
Fill in the App Id and click on Lookup
The fields Title, App Domain and Redirect URL will be filled in automatically.

Paste the following XML into the Permission Request XLM textbox to the grant the workflow App step full control

<AppPermissionRequests>
    <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/content/sitecollection/web" Right="FullControl" />
</AppPermissionRequests>

Click on Create and on Trust It

Solution part 3: Using the App step

Create a SharePoint 2013 Workflow with SharePoint Designer.
Click on App Step in the ribbon to add the step.
Add actions within the App Step and publish the workflow, for example:

Office 365 New Group features

November 1, 2016 Ben Prins Office 365

Microsoft is working hard to update Office 365 by adding new features and improving the overall user experience. One of my favorite changes is that (in most cases) it is no longer required to save changes and updates. A great number of actions no longer require the user to press a save or conformation button. This will prevents a lot of information being lost and speeds up work noticeable. It may seem a small change, but it has a great impact.

Copy document between libraries
With the modern library located on the One Drive it is possible to copy documents to libraries located on Groups. I expect this will be added to all the modern libraries, for now it only works on One Drive and only the copy action. The move action can only be used within modern libraries, not across groups.

Changing views
Changing existing views can be done fast and with great ease. Change the width of columns, sort order, filters, move columns and save the changes. Both the owner and member of the group are able to change the public views.

Full options in Groups
Group have been enhanced with the possibility to create new list, libraries and pages. This will create the possibility to create advanced team sites (groups) with full collaboration options.

Pages within Groups
With a simple click a new site page can be created and with a user friendly interface the user can change the page. Image, documents, embedded content and even video’s are added through a easy to use menu. It is still possible to create wiki and web part pages through the new item action on the Site Pages library, the layout of these pages are not changed.

Guest users
It is now possible to add external users to the group. For some features the users experience will be different for guest users, but they are able to be a full member of the group.