Muhimbi

Posted at: 1:22 PM on 18 February 2010 by Muhimbi

Not too long ago we wrote about how to create a Short URL from a SharePoint workflow using the Muhimbi URL Shortener (MuSH) in combination with our Workflow Power Pack. The response from our customers has been so positive that we decided to ship a Workflow Action with the new version of MuSH.

For those not familiar with the product, the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, aka MuSH, can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. It integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu, workflows and web services. For details see the original product announcement.

Creating short URLs from a workflow can be very useful. For example creating a short URL named after data in an InfoPath form or create a short URL for a deeply nested folder. In the example below we create a short URL that always points to the latest entry in the announcement list. Not sure if this is useful, but it illustrates the power of this facility.

Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint.
       
2. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
3. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
4. On the Workflow Definition screen associate the workflow with the Announcements list, tick the box next to ‘Automatically start this workflow when a new item is created’ and proceed to the next screen.
    
5. From the Actions Menu select Create Short URL, you may need to click More Actions first.
    
6. The following Workflow Sentence is inserted:
   
     
7. To auto generate the short URL, leave the optional short name empty, but in our case we always want to give it the same name, so enter Announce.
    
8. Click this ID / address, click the Workflow Lookup button and select Current Item as the Source and ID as the field.
    
9. Click Document / Display Form and select Document (when used in a Document Library) or Display Form showing the item’s properties. As we are not dealing with a Document Library, it doesn’t matter what is selected.
    
10. Click Overwrite / Return null and select the Overwrite as we always want to write the latest announcement using the same short name. (Return Null will return null in the output variable, which can then be tested for and action can be taken accordingly.)
     
11. Click Variable: this variable and specify the variable the Short URL will be stored in. In this example name it shortURL.
     
12. Add a Log To History List Action and specify the name of the workflow variable the Short URL has been stored in using the Workflow Lookup dialog box.

Close the workflow and create a new Announcement. When the workflow has finished, click the completed link to see the output. Click the generated URL to link to the latest announcement.

Create another Announcement, the Short URL should now link to the latest announcement.

.

Labels: Articles, MuSH, News, Products, Workflow

Posted at: 2:30 PM on 16 February 2010 by Muhimbi

Live never stops at Muhimbi. It has only been 7 days since we announced a new version of the Workflow Power Pack and here we are again with the brand new ‘2.0’ version of our URL Shortener for SharePoint. This version adds support for generating short URLs from workflows, manually specifying short URL names, new languages as well as some other new features and fixes. For full details see the table below.

For those not familiar with the product, the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, aka MuSH, can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. It integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu, workflows and web services. For details see the original announcement.

The main changes and improvements are as follows:

For more information check out the:

• Product Page.
• Release Notes.
• User & Administration Guide.
• More Screenshots.
• Message Board.
• All MuSH related Blog Postings.

As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog or regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (1MB).

Labels: MuSH, News, Products, Workflow

Posted at: 11:36 AM on 04 February 2010 by Muhimbi

As most of our products can be used from a SharePoint workflow, it is perhaps useful to know how to tweak SharePoint’s workflow engine for high-load or other specific scenarios.

This article explains in detail what can be tuned and how it can be tuned. If you are in a rush then you can skip over the first 20%.

In summary:

• Workflow Throttle: Controls how many workflows can be processing at any one time on the entire server farm. This setting does not control how many workflows can be "In Progress" concurrently, but rather how many can be actively using the processor. When this number is exceeded, workflow instances that are started and events that wake up dehydrated workflows are queued for later processing. The default value is 15. This setting is per farm, so the number of front-end Web servers is irrelevant
  
  stsadm -o setproperty -pn workflow-eventdelivery-throttle -pv "25"
   
   
• Workflow Batch Size: Workflows, by their very nature, do not execute in a nonstop, linear fashion. Instead, they run for a little while, pause, run some more, and then pause again, continuing in this manner until the process is complete. Although an outside observer or a developer might disagree, workflows are a collection of batches and the workflow engine is simply a glorified batch controller.
  
  stsadm -o setproperty -pn workitem-eventdelivery-batchsize -pv "125"
   
   
• Workflow Timeout: The timeout setting specifies the amount of time (in minutes) in which a workflow timer job must complete before it is considered to have stopped responding and is forced to stop processing. Jobs that time out are returned to the queue to be reprocessed later. The default timeout period is five minutes
  
  stsadm -o setproperty -pn workflow-eventdelivery-timeout -pv "10"
   
   
• Workflow Timer Interval: The workflow timer interval specifies how often the workflow SPTimer job fires to process pending workflow tasks. This interval also represents the granularity of delay timers within your workflow. If a timer is set to delay for one minute, but the interval timer fires only every five minutes, the workflow delays for five minutes, not one minute
  
  stsadm -o setproperty -pn job-workflow -pv value -url http://myWssServer
   

For our products you may need to tweak Workflow Timeout for very long running PDF Conversions. Changing the Timer Interval can be useful during development when using Pause Until or Pause For workflow Activities.

.

Labels: Articles, MuSH, PDF Converter, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 12:03 PM on 22 January 2010 by Muhimbi

Any organisation that deals with computer software, free or otherwise, must be aware of the License Agreement that comes with a software product. How many computers can the software be used on, by how many users and how long is the license valid are only some of the questions that need to be answered.

We have invested quite some time in making our Software License Agreement readable for people without a legal background. However, it is difficult to cover all grounds using plain English.

This post attempts to explain the key elements of our Software Agreement in plain English. Note that this is only a summary and does not replace the actual License Agreement.

The following topics are discussed in this post:

• Summary of available licenses
• Renewing Licenses / Support licenses
• What servers / environments do you need a license for
• Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments

Summary of available licenses

We use a graded licensing system to match your budget and exact needs. The following license types are available:
 

• Free evaluation version: If you install the software without a license then you are using the evaluation version. The software is fully functional without any time limits, but an evaluation message will be displayed on most screens and in any generated document. You are not permitted to use any evaluation software in your production environment. Support is provided using any of the means in the Support area on our site.
   
• Web Application License: This license is sold at a considerable discount to allow small organisations with just a single SharePoint server and Web Application to get started with our software. If you have a single SharePoint server then you can use this license on a single Web Application on as many Site Collections as you like.
   
• Web Farm License: If you have more than one server in your SharePoint farm or want to use our software on multiple Web Applications then you may want to consider this license. If you want to use our software on multiple farms or if your farm is spread over multiple geographical locations then you need either a Site or OEM license as described below.
   
• Site License: If you have multiple separate SharePoint Farms, for example when you are a hosting company, then this license may be the best option as it allows the software to be used on an unlimited number of separate SharePoint farms at a single location.
   
• OEM License: If your SharePoint Farm or Farms spreads multiple physical locations, e.g. across a data centre, Disaster recovery site and or local branch offices OR if you want to bundle our Software as part of your own solution then the OEM Subscription is most likely the best option. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
   
• OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.

Renewing Licenses / Support licenses

Independent of the type of license purchased, you automatically receive a 1 year support license, which entitles you to free updates and access to our support desk using any of the means listed on the Contact Us page.

After the support license has expired your software will continue to work, but you can no longer download new versions released after the expiry of the license. You can renew your support license for 30% of the current retail price, which is not necessarily the price you originally bought the product for, although they may be the same.

What servers / environments do you need a license for

Licensing requirements for non SharePoint based deployments

Our products mainly focus on use from a SharePoint environment. However, some products can also be used from non SharePoint environments as well. For example, our PDF Conversion Service can run as a standalone service and be accessed from any application that supports Web Services.

The licenses are largely the same, with the exception of the Web Application License, which is only available for SharePoint based environments.

• Web Farm License: Get this license if you want to access our software from a single solution on an unlimited number of servers located at a single location, using an unlimited number of developers and end-users.
   
• Site License: If you intend to access our software from multiple solutions located on servers at the same site, then get this license.
   
• OEM License: If you want to access our software from servers spread across more than one physical location then get this license.
   
• OEM License + Source Code: If you need all the benefits of the OEM License and / or you need access to the source code to make modifications specific to your organisation, then this license type is the best option. Note that we do not provide support for our software once changes have been made to the source code. Please read the details in the Software License Agreement if you want to bundle our software with your own solution. Note that you are not allowed to use our Products to develop derived works that offer similar functionality as the Product or expose the features of the Product for use by an unlicensed third party unless agreed with Muhimbi.
   

I realise this post is almost longer than the License Agreement is is trying to explain, but I hope it clarifies our licensing position. If you have any further questions then please check out the following sources or contact us at licensing@muhimbi.com.

• License Agreement
• Licensing FAQ

.

Labels: Audit, MuSH, Partnering, PDF Converter, Products, WPP

Posted at: 5:24 PM on 28 December 2009 by Muhimbi

When we released the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, we knew that even though it was a great product, we couldn’t please everyone. For example, all generated Short URLs point to list items’ Form View, from where the item can be edited, deleted or opened in an external application. This behaviour is by design, but some customers prefer to have the short URL point directly to the file, e.g. a Generated PDF.

In this article we describe how to generate a short URL from a SharePoint Designer workflow with full control over which view the URL points to using both MuSH and the Workflow Power Pack.

A quick introduction for those not familiar with the product: The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based workflows, the development of bespoke Workflow Activities or long development cycles.

The solution presented below creates a short URL for the current item the workflow is acting on. An optional value can be specified in Parameter 1 to control if the generated URL points to the file or display form using the ‘displayform’ and  ‘file’ values.

Create the workflow as follows:

1. Download and install the Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint.
    
2. Download and install the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint.
    
3. We need to be able to access functionality in the Muhimbi.SharePoint.URLShortener assembly. Add this reference to the relevant Web Application using the Workflow Power Pack Central Administration screens as described in the Administration Guide.
     
4. Make sure you have the appropriate privileges to create workflows on a site collection.
    
5. Create a new workflow using SharePoint Designer.
    
6. On the Workflow definition screen associate the workflow with the list or library of your choice, tick the box next to ‘Automatically start this workflow when a new item is created’ and proceed to the next screen.
    
7. Click the Actions button and insert the Execute Custom Code action.
    
8. Click this variable and create a new Workflow Variable named shortURL using string as the type.
    
9. Click parameter 1 and enter file or displayform or leave it empty to default to displayform.
    
10. Insert the following C# based code by clicking this code.
     

    using Muhimbi.SharePoint.URLShortener;

    // ** Where do we want the shortened URL to point to?

    string target = MyWorkflow.Parameter1 == null ? "displayform" : (String) MyWorkflow.Parameter1;

    string sourceURL = null;

    // ** Point the short URL to the file or the file's info form

    switch (target.ToLower())

    {

        case "file":

            sourceURL = String.Format("{0}/{1}", MyWorkflow.Web.Url, MyWorkflow.Item.Url);

            break;

        case "displayform":

            sourceURL = String.Format("{0}/{1}?ID={2}",

                                        MyWorkflow.Web.Url,

                                        MyWorkflow.List.Forms[PAGETYPE.PAGE_DISPLAYFORM].Url,

                                        MyWorkflow.Item.ID);

            break;

        default:

            throw new ArgumentException("Unknown target specified, use 'file' or 'displayform'.");

    }

    // ** Add a description to the short URL, amend if necessary

    string description = "Generated from workflow";

    // ** Carry out the shortening process

    ShortenedURL shortURL = Muhimbi.SharePoint.URLShortener.URLShortener.CreateURLViaWebService(

                                    MyWorkflow.Site.WebApplication.Id, sourceURL, description);

    // ** Return the fully qualified URL back to the workflow

    MyWorkflow.ReturnValue = shortURL.GetFullyQualifiedShortURL();

     
11. Click the Actions button, select Log to History List, click this message, set the Source to Workflow Data and the Field to shortURL.
     
12. Close the Workflow Designer and add an item to your list or library to trigger the workflow.
     
13. Once the workflow has finished, click the Completed link to see the generated short URL.
       

Naturally this is just a simple example. Under normal circumstances you would do something more useful with the shortURL workflow variable, for example embed it in an email.

.

Labels: Articles, MuSH, News, PDF Converter, Products, Workflow, WPP

Posted at: 5:29 PM on 24 September 2009 by Muhimbi

We are currently in the process of revising our marketing material. As we frequently receive requests for brochures from our prospective customers as well as our resellers we have created a flyer, listing the main features, for each of our products.

Brochures can be downloaded from the left hand menu on each product page or from the links below.

	Convert SharePoint Documents to PDF Format Use the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint to convert MS-Word or InfoPath documents to PDF Format, either manually using a user friendly interface or automatically using workflow components. Download PDF, HTML Version	Download
	Configure, Monitor and View Audit logs on your SharePoint Farm. Automatically enforce, monitor and configure auditing on your entire Web Farm for all existing and new Site Collections. Use the friendly but powerful log viewer to analyse and filter logged audit data. Download PDF, HTML Version	Download
	Reduce URL length using the URL Shortener for SharePoint The Muhimbi URL Shortener (MuSH) makes it easy to share long and complex web addresses via email, verbally over the phone and social media platforms such as Twitter by reducing the number of characters from hundreds to just a handful. Download PDF, HTML Version	Download
	Embed C# or VB code directly in SharePoint Designer Workflows The Muhimbi Workflow Power Pack for SharePoint allows custom C# or VB.NET code to be embedded in SharePoint Designer Workflows without the need to resort to complex Visual Studio based development or long release cycles. Download PDF, HTML Version	Download

Please contact us if you are interested in a localised version of a particular brochure.

.

Labels: Articles, Audit, MuSH, News, Partnering, PDF Converter, Products, WPP

Posted at: 3:46 PM on 20 July 2009 by Muhimbi

We are proud to announce the availability of MuSH version 1.1.0.1. This version is largely a maintenance release that fixes a number of bugs that only appeared in certain SharePoint environments. In addition to a number of bugfixes, support for the French language has been added as well.

For those not familiar with the product we recommend reading the original announcement. In summary, the Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, aka MuSH, can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. It integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu.

The changes and improvements are as follows:

For more information check out the:

• Product Page.
• Release Notes.
• User & Administration Guide.
• More Screenshots.
• Message Board.

As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog or regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (1MB). You don’t even have to register, but we would appreciate it if you did.

Labels: MuSH, News, Products

Posted at: 10:20 AM on 26 June 2009 by Muhimbi

Have you ever come across the following message beneath a hyperlink in an e-mail:

NOTE: If this URL wraps or is broken by carriage returns in your mail client you will need to copy and paste it into Notepad, edit out any line breaks and paste the corrected link in to the Address bar of your browser.

Try explaining that to your mother or other casual computer users.

Or have you ever been part of the following discussion while trying to spell a web address to someone else over the phone:

h t t p colon slash slash….yeah, forward slashes…double you double you double you…….no CAPTIAL a…….n…no N for…errr…November…….then a pound sign, no not the currency, a little picket fence like sign (#)……. etc for another 200 characters.

Today we are launching a new product that can be used to shorten URLs for typical web applications and SharePoint in particular. The Muhimbi URL Shortener for SharePoint, a.k.a. MuSH, integrates tightly with both WSS and MOSS and allows short URLs to be created directly from a list item’s context menu.

Key features:

• Available in English, Dutch and German. Support for additional languages will follow shortly.
   
• Designed with regular users in mind, so short URLs are case insensitive and don’t use potential confusing characters such as o, O, 0, i, l, 1.
   
• Available directly from a list item’s or file’s context menu.
   
• Short URLs can be created and accessed from non SharePoint based web applications and intranets.
   
• Heavily optimised, does not impact the performance of your SharePoint farm.
   
• Support for use on multiple SharePoint Web Applications.
   
• Support for a wide range of protocols including, but not limited to, http, https, mailto, ftp and even JavaScript.

For more information check out the:

• Product Page.
• Release Notes.
• User & Administration Guide.
• More Screenshots.
• Message Board.

 
As always, feel free to contact us using Twitter, our Blog, regular email or subscribe to our newsletter.

Download your free trial here (1MB). You don’t even have to register, but we would appreciate it if you did.

Labels: MuSH, Products