Re: Customizing Helpdesk prebuilt template by callahan
callahan
Thu Jul 10 11:55:44 CDT 2008
Hey, we're all in this together. ; ) It's only a matter of time, more often
than not, before I run into what you're going through now. I might as well
(time permitting) check it out and see if there's a fix.
I respect the fact that you're going to work on the Form for that list, even
if it's not the direction I would go. Could you keep us informed as to
whether or not you have any success, and if so how? It would be great to
know how to effectively overcome that issue.
-callahan
<greg.hart@alpinebiomed.com> wrote in message
news:23686cde-37ae-4f15-8d7b-a5537d3c1041@k30g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 9, 10:08 pm, "callahan" <cacalla...@NOSPAM.computer.org> wrote:
> : ).
>
> The very simplest answer is, make the Customer field a simple text field
> with [Me] as the default calculated value. Or, if you only have a
> reasonable number of "customers" you could create a Choice field and cut
> and
> paste the list of names into it, with a fill-in option to seed it with the
> [Me] value.
>
> Unfortunately, that Customer field you want to edit is not only a site
> column associated with the content type for the list, but it is a people
> and
> groups field, for which Microsoft chose not allow a default calculated
> value
> like [Me].
>
> Basically, it isn't super easy to make the simple change you would like to
> make. However, trying to change the Form.aspx page for the list will not
> really help either.
>
> ====== this is where the short answer ends, and the long answer starts.
> You
> can skip to the end if don't want to read any background stuff
> =============
>
> You see, it's not that simple. I took the liberty of downloading,
> extracting, and deploying the core and help desk templates to a virtual
> machine I happened to have handy.
>
> Let me start by saying the templates you can download from Microsoft are
> free examples that were cooked up, in house, just to give people an idea
> of
> what can be done with WSS, SharePoint Designer, and some free time.
>
> Having said that, I have to say that they function in such a way that they
> are really hard to modify, and in some cases, even harder to use.
>
> For example, you are using the Help Desk template. It has a completely
> customized (to the point of almost being silly) service request list that
> you should be able to enter all kinds of data into-- it says it has all
> kinds of fields-- but the New item form does not allow you to do anything
> with those fields. You can only enter data into those fields while
> creating
> the new item by making sure you're on a view that lets you see them, then
> go
> into Datasheet view to enter data that way. Otherwise, the new item form
> only has a few fields to it.
>
> --It is at this point that I can clearly see why you keep mentioning
> wanted
> to modify the *Form* for the list, and why changing the list settings for
> fields don't seem to do a thing.--
>
> The reason for this, which is hidden from view, is that the list has
> essentially two steps for data entry. The first step is the one that shows
> up as the "New item" form. It only gives you a few fields to enter data
> into the list itself, far fewer fields than the list actually appears to
> allow. But after that new entry is made, the new item *then* has all the
> fields that were supposed to show up when you created the item anew, but
> didn't. You have to edit the item's properties to access those fields and
> edit them. This is despite the fact that the list appears to have all the
> fields right there, ready to be used when you see them in the list
> settings.
> Don't be fooled, there is something going on with the list's content type
> (which is also not available like normal content types for the site) under
> the covers that tweaks the standard way lists work.
>
> I am assuming that the template creator expected to have custom
> permissions
> on the list so that certain people could data enter the Service Requests,
> and that other people could edit the item and enter the other data, like
> changing the status of the request, assigning it to someone, and adding a
> service rep. However, that set up for permissions is not there, so the two
> step process to access all the fields for the items in the Service
> Requests
> list seems really lame.
>
> Also, there is a workflow associated with the list that kicks off when the
> "Mark for knowledge base" checkbox is checked, *and* the request is
> closed.
> It creates a task in the Service Request Task list indicating that there's
> been a request for a knowledge base article.
>
> ((if I had SharePoint Designer handy, I could have found out more about
> the
> customizations and workflow, but I don't, so I am left in the dark like
> any
> other innocent victim, I mean, admin, that tries to use the site <eg>))
>
> ==============end background stuff=========
>
> So, from what I could find, to change the Customer field in the Service
> Request "New item" form, you would need to modify the content type for
> Service Request, add the field that you want, calling it "CustomerName" or
> something similar but not the same as Customer because it's already taken
> (yes, it seems superstitious, but trust me, it's just easier not to mess
> with some of the default site column names). Make it one of the content
> type fields with the data type you want (you should also probably require
> it). Then, and this seems to be strangely important, I moved the field up
> in the field order of the content type to about 2 or 3. That was the only
> way I could get it to show up on the Service Request list's New item form
> (what I generally refer to as the new item page). Don't forget to remove
> the
> original Customer field from the Service Request, since you're replacing
> it.
>
> I know this is kind of involved, but I hope it at least explains why the
> simple answer isn't as simple as it could be when working with one of
> those
> downloadable application templates from Microsoft.
>
> -callahan<greg.h...@alpinebiomed.com> wrote in message
>
> news:35de18a6-4bf9-454d-9c3b-a77588b4dc9d@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 9, 11:24 am, "callahan" <cacalla...@NOSPAM.computer.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Well, it does basically change the form for the list Greg. If you add
> > the
> > calculated value to the field (or column, as SharePoint calls it) in the
> > List Settings, it propagates the value to the form when the users create
> > a
> > new record. You are altering the list settings, which in turn alters the
> > Form they use to add records and enter data into the list.
>
> > Give it a try. Some times the easiest solution is the right one. ; )
>
> > -callahan
> > Author, "Mastering Windows SharePoint Services
> > 3.0"<greg.h...@alpinebiomed.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:d0adfe7a-ed01-4eaf-81a2-a7806a128e15@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com...
> > On Jul 8, 6:17 pm, "callahan" <cacalla...@NOSPAM.computer.org> wrote:
>
> > > Hmmm. I don't have the template handy, so I don't know how
> > > customizable
> > > its
> > > lists are. But if I had a list in WSS 3.0 that needed a default value
> > > of
> > > the current user's name--I would set the default calculated value to
> > > [Me]
> > > for that field. That means the field will fill with the user's name
> > > (unfortunately, formatted as domain\username) by default.
>
> > > Is that what you were looking for?
> > > -callahan
>
> > > <greg.h...@alpinebiomed.com> wrote in message
>
> > >news:de216389-1e47-440c-a04a-36f264833dc8@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > > Hello all,
>
> > > > I download the 40 templates for wss 3.0 and installed the Helpdesk
> > > > one. I am curious on how you can customize the forms contained
> > > > within. The one I was looking at specifically was the New Service
> > > > Request form. I wanted to try and prepopulate the Customer field on
> > > > the NewForm.aspx with the current logged in user. Basically trying
> > > > to
> > > > leverage the User.Identity.Name or something of that nature.
>
> > > > Any thoughts on how this could be accomplished? It may be more
> > > > trouble than it is worth.
>
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Greg- Hide quoted text -
>
> > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > Thanks for the reply. I don't have my Inside WSS 3.0 book with me so
> > maybe I am confusing the two. I am looking to modify the Form, not
> > the List. So that when someone creates a New Item, the form field for
> > customer is populated with their ID. I am not sure modifying the list
> > would acheive this.
>
> > Am I wrong?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Well I tried it, no luck.
>
> First you would not let me modify the Customer column settings to
> change it to a calculated field. So then I added another filed called
> MyTest and tried to set it as Calculated with the value being [ME]
> after saving I got an error to the effect that you can not use [Today]
> or [Me] as a in a calculated field.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Thank you so much for the explanation. I really appreciate you taking
the time and hope that it helps others that may be on the same quest I
am on. I had started down the path of adding a new field to the form
so I will continue down that path.
Thanks again for your help.
Greg