Missing "Sign in as Different User" (SP2013)

As we all noticed a key feature(Sign in as Different User) was depreciated from SharePoint 2013.And I guess all the developer love to have this option back!.
And here is how you can get this option back.

Option 1: Update the webcome.ascx page from “C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\TEMPLATE\CONTROLTEMPLATES” By adding below code in <CustomTemplate> section (watch out for Service Pack updates!, sometimes they over write your changes).
 

<SharePoint:MenuItemTemplate runat="server" ID="ID_LoginAsDifferentUser" Text=" <%$Resources:wss,personalactions_loginasdifferentuser%>" Description=" <%$Resources:wss,personalactions_loginasdifferentuserdescription%>" MenuGroupId="100" Sequence="100" UseShortId="true" /%>  ð Result

Option 2: Bring up login screen (Authentication). I guess, this is much safer option.

http://<Web>or<Site>/_layouts/closeConnection.aspx?loginasanotheruser=true ð Result

2nd Popup Issue In SharePoint 2010 Visual Web Part (With Ajax Update Panel)

I need to popup an alert for the user 2 times based on his/her option picked.
 

Business scenario:
If user choose to deleting a master record, 1st popup and alert the user his/her action.
And if (s)he choose to delete, now I have to find if any child records effecting, if so, not to delete the main record but alert the user again for further action.

This is how I solved it: With the help of JavaScript and Server events.
Added two delete buttons on webpart designer
  1. Main Delete:
                   <asp:Button ID="btnDelete" runat="server" Text="Delete" Width="100px" OnClientClick="if(confirm('Are you sure you want to delete this saved record?')==true)return true;else return false;" CausesValidation="false" onclick="btnDelete_Click" class="ms-ButtonHeightWidth" ChildrenAsTriggers="true"/>            
 2. Hidden Delete: (using style to hide)
                        <asp:Button ID="btnDeleteConfirm" runat="server" Text="DeleteConf" Width="100px" CausesValidation="false" onclick="btnDeleteConfirm_Click" class="ms-ButtonHeightWidth" style="display:none" />

 
OnClientClick event of the Main delete button prompt for 1st initial popup. Once he/she choose to say YES, onclick="btnDelete_Click" will fire as coded in javascript function.

Now in the btnDelete_Click event if I find any child records (I am using entity framwork here) I will register and call ConfirmDelete()

protected void btnDelete_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {

.

.
if(entityList.Count > 0)

{
   RegisterPopupScript();

ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScript(this.Page, this.Page.GetType(), "PopupDelete", "ConfirmDelete();", true);

}else

{MasterSalesRepService.Delete(Convert.ToInt32(lblSalesRepId.Text));

RedirectPage();

}

}

private void RegisterPopupScript()
        {
            Type type = this.GetType();
            if (Page.ClientScript.IsStartupScriptRegistered(type, "PopupScript"))           
                return;
                       
            System.Text.StringBuilder script = new System.Text.StringBuilder();

script.Append("<script language=\"javascript\" type=\"text/javascript\">\n");

script.Append("function ConfirmDelete(){if(confirm('Do you want to delete child record(s) as well?')==true) return document.getElementById('" + btnDeleteConfirm.ClientID + "').click(); else  return false; }");
script.Append("</script >");                      
            ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScript(this.Page, this.Page.GetType(), "PopupScript", script.ToString(), false);          
        } 

protected void btnDeleteConfirm_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            DeleteXrefSalesRep();
            DeleteMasterSalesRep();
            RedirectPage();
        }

In the script I will fire "btnDeleteConfirm_Click" only if user proceed other wise I won't
Note: I won't delete main record as well as child record if user cancels the action as you see from my btnDelete_Click code.

Attaching & Debugging to a specific w3wp.exe

Very common thing we developers do or run into is attaching all the w3wp.exe process while debugging.

Simply because we don't know which service a/c or IIS process to be attached while debugging.

Now in my case, as shown below I have to confirm (7 times) attachment of process, right! That's another fold to the debugging process.

 

Save the grief by use this little script to know your exact web application and attach to it irrespective of service A/C.

 

@ECHO OFF

cls

c:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd list wp

Save the above as wp.bat and store in C:\windows\system32 folder, I am choosing this because the path already added to the Environmental variable's path, which means now I can call this file from any command prompt path/folder location.

I will be invoking the script from H:\> by typing "wp" and enter.
Results shown as below & In my case I will be only attaching to 9044.

Happy debugging!

Terminating/Canceling the Workflows

As we know some time it's bit trick to terminate/cancel a workflow.. Which made me create this web part, so that I can delegate my job to the power user so that they can manager it better! And also gives me some extra time to concentrate on my deadlines.

Challenges:
Very first that you need to have proper admin access to see "Terminate this workflow now" link
When you click on the workflow hyper link on the library item 

Here is the web part UI:

Note: ID is the document list item id; you can make more fancy by providing the file name or even loading the active workflow items once selected the document library name

Code for Process Button:
private void CancelWF(string ListName, string ItemId)
{
  SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
  {
    using (SPSite siteColl = new SPSite(SPContext.Current.Site.Url))
    {
      using (SPWeb site = siteColl.OpenWeb())
      {
       if (site != null)
       {
        try
        {
         SPList workflowTasks = site.Lists["Tasks"];
         SPList doc = site.Lists[ListName];
         SPListItem docItem = doc.GetItemById(Convert.ToInt32(ItemId));

         foreach (SPListItem listItem in docItem.ListItems)
         {
          site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
          foreach (SPWorkflow itemWorkflow in listItem.Workflows)
          {
           SPWorkflowManager.CancelWorkflow(itemWorkflow);
           _lblMessage.Text = string.Format(("Administratively Canceled Workflow for the ItemId: {0} / File Name : {1}"), ItemId, listItem.File.Name);
           _lblMessage.ForeColor = Color.Blue;
          }
          site.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false;
        }
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
        HandleException(ex);
      }
     }
    }
   }
  });
}

End results:

Updating Timer Job Schedule

Some time we need to build and deploy a timer job with specific schedule say hourly or daily.

But for testing with the business or on your own , you don't want to wait for a day to see the change

Here is a simple console app code which you can use to change timer schedule for testing for any other reason

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration;

namespace UpdateTimerJob
{
  class Program
  {       
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      updateTimer();
    }

static void updateTimer()
{
  using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://sp2010/sites/timer/"))
  {    foreach (SPJobDefinition job in site.WebApplication.JobDefinitions)
    {      if (job.Title == "WorkflowEscalation")
      {
        SPMinuteSchedule schedule = new SPMinuteSchedule();
        schedule.BeginSecond = 0;
        schedule.EndSecond = 59;
        schedule.Interval = 5;
        job.Schedule = schedule;
        job.Update();

        Console.WriteLine("START UPDATING... ");
       }
      Console.WriteLine("JOB: " + job.Title);
    }
  }
}
} }

Note: this need to run on the server; you can further modify this app to read site, title & schedule, then update accordingly

Timer Job With Trick

Timer Job our good old friend, for further details or quick start take a look at this http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc678870(office.12).aspx 

A little know trick I have implement in my timer job so that it install only on Web front end or Single server (ex. DEV box, usually all in one box).

const string JOB_DEFINITION_NAME = "EscalationTimerJob";

public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
 {
  SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
  {                     
   #region ONLY WebFrontEnd/SingleServer
   SPSite site = properties.Feature.Parent as SPSite;
   SPWebApplication webApp = site.WebApplication;

   //make sure job isn't already registered
   if (webApp == null)
   {
    throw new SPException("Error obtaining reference to Web application.");
   }
   foreach (SPJobDefinition job in webApp.JobDefinitions)
   {    if (job.Name == JOB_DEFINITION_NAME)
       job.Delete();
   }
   foreach (SPServer server in SPFarm.Local.Servers)
   {    if (server.Role == SPServerRole.SingleServer || server.Role == SPServerRole.WebFrontEnd)
 {
  //Install the Job                        
  WorkflowEscalation taskJob = new WorkflowEscalation(JOB_DEFINITION_NAME, webApp, server, SPJobLockType.Job);
  SPHourlySchedule schedule = new SPHourlySchedule(); //Every Hour
  schedule.BeginMinute = 0;
  schedule.EndMinute = 59;
  taskJob.Schedule = schedule;
  taskJob.Update();
  }
}
#endregion
});
}

Note:

1. Added RunWithElevatedPrivileges, so that job definition will be create when activated even without full access. Feature activation runs under the application pool account. So it needs to be a farm administrator which will be mitigate by implementing RunWithElevatedPrivileges

2. Also make sure you also implemented below in your main execute() file

public WorkflowEscalation(string jobName, SPWebApplication webApp, SPServer server, SPJobLockType targetType): base(jobName, webApp, server, targetType)
 {
  this.Title = jobName;
 }

Usual code for installing in on all the servers:
const string JOB_DEFINITION_NAME = "EscalationTimerJob";
public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
{
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
{
  #region For Multiple Servers
  SPSite site = properties.Feature.Parent as SPSite;
  //make sure job isn't already registered
  if (site.WebApplication == null)
  {
    throw new SPException("Error obtaining reference to Web application.");
  }

  foreach (SPJobDefinition job in site.WebApplication.JobDefinitions)
  {
    if (job.Name == JOB_DEFINITION_NAME)
      job.Delete();
  }

  //Install the Job                    
  WorkflowEscalation taskJob = new WorkflowEscalation(JOB_DEFINITION_NAME, site.WebApplication);
  SPHourlySchedule schedule = new SPHourlySchedule(); //Every Hour
  schedule.BeginMinute = 0;
  schedule.EndMinute = 59;
  taskJob.Schedule = schedule;
  taskJob.Update();
  #endregion                                     
  });
}

Customizing the Access Denied Message (AccessDenied.aspx)

Request from client to customize the default access denied error message!!
By Default:

After Customizing the accessdenied.aspx page:
Note: If you want to be more fancy, you can replace the simple.master page with your own master page!

Parts been customizable as show:

Achieved by modifying 2 files


1. SharePoint resource file wss.en-US.resx (from Virtual Directory \App_GlobalResources\wss.en-US.resx)

2. AccessDenied.aspx (from C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS)


Note: Please keep the Original file as a backup

CSS:
<style type="text/css" >

BODY #s4-simple-card H1 {margin-bottom:10px; color:#5b4b3e ; font-size:2em; font-weight:normal;padding-top:3px}

.ms-sectionheader {font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; color:#595959; font-size:2em }

.ms-descriptiontext {text-align:left; font-family:Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; color:#3f3f3f;font-size:10pt}
A:link, .ms-descriptiontext A:visited, .ms-descriptiontext A:hover { color:#0072BC; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; }
.s4-simple-iconcont { z-index:2; background-image: url('/_layouts/images/setcredentials_32x32.png'); HEIGHT: 60px; TOP: 10px;
background-position:left center; background-repeat: no-repeat; }
.s4-simple-iconcont img {display:none;}

</style >