I have been doing a fair bit of experimenting with JavaScript frameworks such as AngularJS, Bootstrap and JQueryUI. One of the tools I rely on is Chrome with the Developer Tools because, unlike Internet Explorer’s Developer Tools, the Chrome version can be docked to the right of the window. This little feature makes it far easier to test responsive designs as the values can be viewed as the Developer Tools pane is expanded.

It is a common question from clients: Do I need an enterprise licence to use InfoPath? The simple answer is “Yes” in most cases, however, it depends on the functionality that you want to use. And there are alternatives that do not require Enterprise licencing. This exploration of the the features and licencing of InfoPath is based on the fact that SharePoint is hosting the form templates. InfoPath Interaction and Licencing Users can complete forms using InfoPath using a component of the Office suite called InfoPath Filler or via SharePoint.

In virtually every installation of SharePoint 2013 there is a requirement to activate the App Store. While there are some complications with the process due to the involvement of network level configuration, the SharePoint side of the configuration is relatively straightforward. Network Configuration This article assumes that several pre-requisites have been completed successfully: A forward lookup zone has been created for a sub domain or top level domain, e.g. apps.

When developing Apps for SharePoint it is essential to have a development site for testing your Apps. This can be done in several ways: Provision a Developer site within an Office 365 tenant with an E plan With an Visual Studio Premium or Ultimate MSDN subscription Sign-up for a Developer Subscription Create a site collection with a “Developer Site” on an on-premise install If you have not used one of these approaches and try deploying an App from Visual Studio to a “non-Developer” site you will get the following error message:

I am a big fan of Excel tables – they make my life easier in many different ways. One of the biggest ways is through the ease of referencing table content and summary data. One task that is not so obvious is how to validate a cell against a list of contents from a table. In the Data Validation dialogue, it would make sense to be able to enter the table name and column name in the following way:

When creating a new virtual SharePoint farm, several servers will be required in most cases: AD – if the farm is in a lab or is in a completely greenfield environment SQL – Not essential in a research/development environment, but usually essential in most other environments SharePoint – At least one SharePoint machine will be required and depending on the environment and scale, multiple machines will be required Office Web Apps – Not essential but often required Workflow Manager – Again, not essential but often required A simple but essential step when creating a new VM is to install the operating system.

The first time I tried to install Windows Server 2012 R2 on a Generation 2 VM I ran into the following error: The ISO image was mounted as a virtual DVD drive But pressing a key was not accepted by the VM. It turns out that the Generation 2 VMs do not accept a key press as the Generation 1 VMs used to. I found a solution on Cameron Dwyer’s blog - hold a key down when you start the VM.

Working with SharePoint, Project Server or Dynamics databases, or any other database for that matter sometimes involves replacing GUIDs. Although it is not supported in a production environment, it can be a useful action in a development environment. The issue with many of these application managed databases is that the use of a particular GUID is not easy to understand prior to making a change and if all references are not changed then the application relying on the database is effectively broken.

I was recently involved in the build of a large SharePoint 2013 farm that is behind a Proxy server. Initially, there was no access through to the internet so the install was done using an offline install. This allowed everything to be completed with the exception of the SharePoint App Store and access to external content such as RSS feeds. Proxy Access Once Proxy access was granted, the web.config files on each of the servers need to be changed to inform SharePoint to use the Proxy.

When I want to develop or test, or even break SharePoint 2013 I no longer opt for an on-premises development farm, my first choice is now an Azure VM. I am lucky enough to have access to an MSDN premium licence. This gives me access to software downloads and to a vast resource of information, but also to Azure. As part of the Azure benefits, MSDN subscribers get £65 of credits.