What's new in MatchPoint 3.1.1

Date: 28.11.2012

MatchPoint 3.1.1 is primarily a bug fix release. Nevertheless there are new features I'd like to highlight in this post. For a full change log please refer to the document MatchPoint Release Notes (R3.1.1).pdf in the downloads section.

Configuration

Before Update Actions

The Form Web Part now supports workflow actions that are executed before the record defined by the Data Adapter is updated. These actions stand in contrast to the PostActions, which are executed after the record was updated. The BeforeUpdateActions can be used to modify the field values based on user input. For instance in a task list edit Form Web Part the user is allowed to set the priority of the task. With a before update action one could set the due date of the task depending on the priority.

Workflow Actions in Contextual Ribbon Button

MatchPoint 3.1 introduced configurable ribbon buttons in the Data Grid, Composite and Form Web Part. With these buttons one can implement additional functionality such as archiving and restoring of Workspaces. However for advanced scenarios it's necessary to implement custom code.

In MatchPoint 3.1.1 the RibbonButtonConfiguration was enhanced with workflow actions that will perform logic on button click. For instance one can create a ribbon button in a Data Grid Web Part that will update a field value on all selected items without writing a single line of code.

Configuration Interface

The ribbon of the configuration editor now contains a 'Save as' button which saves a copy of the currently opened file with a new name. For local Web Part configurations this button will save the local configuration as central configuration file.

API

With MatchPoint 3.1.1 three new JavaScript functions were shipped:

• $$.Eval – Shortcut function for MP.ExpressionEvaluator.Eval:

    <a onclick='$$.Eval("Helper.Copy(ConnectionData.Grid.SelectedRow)")' href='#'>
      Copy selected item
    </a>
  

• $$.Window.OpenDialog – Opens a dialog using the given URL and refreshes the container when the user clicks the OK button:

    <a onclick='$$.OpenDialog("/theform.aspx", this)' href='#'>
      Open the form
    </a>
  

• $$.Window.OpenWebPartPage – Opens the GenericWebPartPage in a SharePoint dialog:

    <a onclick='$$.OpenWebPartPage("EditForm.xml", this) href='#'>
      Edit
    </a>
  

MatchPoint 3.1 provides an API that simplifies the handling of the different SharePoint column value types. For example a multi choice value can simply be set by assigning a string array to the field.

This functionality is available on objects implementing the interface ISPUpdatable such as rows returned by the ListSearchQuery class.

However there was no API to manually obtain an ISPUpdatable. In MatchPoint 3.1.1 one can use SPUpdatable.Wrap(SPListItem) to do that:

SPList list = // ...
ISPUpdatable item = SPUpdatable.Wrap(list.AddItem());
item["TheChoiceField"] = new string[] { "Easy", "Peasy" };
item.Update();

Installation

MatchPoint 3.1.1 improved the installation of the Tagging Service architecture on multi server farms by providing PowerShell Cmdlets for specific tasks:

• New-MPTaggingServiceApplication – Creates a new Tagging Service Application.
• Uninstall-MPTaggingServiceInstance – Removes a Tagging Service instance from a specific server.
• Install-MPTaggingServiceInstance – Now has a parameter to install the service on a specific server.

For more information on the installation please refer to the updated installation guide available in the download section.