Imtech Fields Explorer v1.3.0.0: Get to work with your Content Types and Site Columns
Development, SharePoint, ToolsIt's not that long ago since I released the previous version of the Imtech Fields Explorer. In that release I have introduced the possibility of exporting the Site Columns and Content Type definitions to XML using the GUI.
After I got some feedback about the tool and some other ideas I have decided to work them out taking the available functionality even step further. Introducing the Imtech Fields Explorer v1.3.0.0.
The most important changes comparing to the previous versions are:
The working area got bigger
Let's be honest: exploring the Content Types, Site Columns and their properties might get annoying when you have to scroll that much to get to the right properties. That is why I have decided to extend the working area a bit more.
Editing Content Types and Site Columns
In the previous version I have added the export functionality: just to give you the possibility of doing more using one interface. While looking at how the tool could be improved even more, I have found out that there was no possibility of changing things. If you wanted to modify any property you would have to go to SharePoint Web UI, make the changes and then refresh your view inside the Imtech Fields Explorer. As the .NET PropertyGrid supports editing I have decided to incorporate properties editing in the new version of the Imtech Fields Explorer.
After modifying a property the Update button appears. Using it you can apply your changes to the object inside SharePoint.
It is quite an experimental feature. I'm really curious how it's going to work and what you will find about it. If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas, please, don't hesitate to let me know.
Deleting Content Types and Site Columns
After having done the Export and Edit I couldn't stop myself from adding the possibility to Delete the Content Types and Site Columns as well. While I don't think that you will use that functionality really lot, I'm happy knowing that I won't have to go to the SharePoint Web UI in order to delete a Content Type or a Site Column.
Site (Collection) URL box based on the history
This one is thanks to Wouter Spaans, a colleague of mine who has worked with the Imtech Fields Explorer quite a bit recently. After a while he got annoyed that he had to type the URL each time he wanted to explore the Content Types/Site Columns. He suggested that I would keep a Most Recently Used (MRU) list of the URL's. Looking at the available support for this functionality I have discovered the AutoCompleteMode property of ComboBox. Setting it to AllUrl fills the autocomplete list with the recently used URLs based on the History information.
That's it for now. I'm looking forward to getting some more feedback and hearing your ideas on how the tool could be improved even more.
Download: Imtech Fields Explorer v1.3.0.0 (64,6KB)
March 9th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Nice tool, but the Update function did not seem to work for me. Maybe because I was using it on a Forms Based Authentication site? It would tell me the changes had been pushed, but if I reloaded the field the changes were gone. I was trying to make a field visible in list settings and in new item.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
@Joe: How did you authenticated in the tool? As it's as Windows tool it reuses the credentials of your user account and uses those to communicate with SharePoint.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Waldek: I do not see any options for authentication. I typed the site into the URL box and clicked open. Site opens, lists are visible. I find the field I want to adjust, set for instance ShowInListSettings to true, and click Update. It asks if I want to Push Changes, I click Yes, and I get message box the item successfully updated. But if I look at another field and come back, the changes are gone.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
@Joe: Have you checked in SharePoint whether the changes have been provisioned? It might be just an issue, that Fields Explorer doesn't automatically refresh the retrieved values and you would have to do a manual refresh to see the changed properties.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
I checked the list settings page, and the field is not being shown. Curiously though the list itself indicates an modification occurred about the time I did the update…
March 10th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Further experimentation seems to indicate the problem comes from the fact the field I am attempting to alter (fAllDayEvent) in an events list is a Sealed field. Unsealed fields seem to allow changes just fine. Is there a way to safely 'unseal' a field?
March 10th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
@Joe: aha! I think that's the whole catch about sealed fields: they cannot be unsealed. Wouldn't it be easier to just create a new field that does exactly the same as the one you're working with at the moment?
March 10th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I suppose, but it just seems wasteful when there is a perfectly good field sitting right there that unfortunately refuses to show up on new item forms or list settings pages!
June 7th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Does the fields explorer also works with sharepoint 2010?
June 7th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
@Frederik: yes it does, and the best part is that you don't have to do any tweaks for that