Overview et obiectiva
Ex arca archa, MUSCUS’ Quaero Web content Parte (CQWP) ostenditque fructus ejus in elencho format, similar to search results. It is also possible to display the results in a grid format (i.e. HTML mensam format). Grid formats are better in some circumstances. I describe how to achieve that effect in this article.
Negotium Missionem
I have worked with a client on an enterprise-wide MOSS rollout. We have designed their taxonomy such that projects are first class citizens in the hierarchy and have their own top level site. Project managers maintain a singleton list of project summary information, ut tituli, budget, consummatio expectatur date, remaining budget and other summary type fields. By "singleton" I mean a custom SharePoint list guaranteed to contain only one item. Simplistically, is vultus amo is:
The technical approach is much the same as described hic (http://paulgalvin.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!1CC1EDB3DAA9B8AA!447.entry). The CQWP uses an XSL transform to emit HTML for the browser to render.
I always envision the result before diving into the XSL because XSL is a nightmare. Here’s my desired result:
HTML like this generates that result:
|
|
<html>
<corpus>
<centrum>
<mensamque border=1>
<!-- Labels -->
<tr bgcolor=blue>
<td><font color=white><b>Project Name</b></font></td>
<td align=right><font color=white><b>Complete Date</b></font></td>
<td align=right><font color=white><b>Budget</b></font></td>
<td align=right><font color=white><b>Actual Expense</b></font></td>
<td><font color=white><b>Overall Status</b></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Re-wire computer room.</td>
<td align=right>02/01/08</td>
<td align=right>22,500.00</td>
<td align=right>19,000.00</td>
<td>In Progress</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Provision servers for SQL Upgrade</td>
<td align=right>04/01/08</td>
<td align=right>7,500.00</td>
<td align=right>0.00</td>
<td>Planned</td>
</tr>
</mensamque>
</centrum>
</corpus>
</html>
|
Approach
Follow these steps to create the grid:
- Identify the components of the grid (rows/columns).
- Define and create necessary site columns.
- Create sub sites for the projects and singleton lists.
- Add the CQWP to a web page and configure it to search for your lists.
- Modify the CQWP’s XML to gather up the additional columns.
- Modify the XSL to generate a table.
I’m going to concentrate on number six. Numbers one through four are straight-forward and something that any CQWP user has already done. Number five has been well-documented by others including this exhaustive screen-shot laden article from MSDN hic (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb897399.aspx) and Heather Solomon’s blog hic (http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/articles/CustomItemStyle.aspx).
Nuts And Bolts
Begin and implement steps one through five as per the MSDN documentation and Heather Solomon’s article.
Ad hoc, you’ve added your CQWP to the page and you have your <CommonViewFields> configured as necessary.
Following the usual steps, I get these intermediate results:
1. Partum a content type, a templatized custom list for that content type and two sites. Here is the content type:
Here is the site structure:
2. Add the CQWP after creating my project subsites and singleton project summary lists:
3. Add all the additional information I want via the <CommonViewFields>:
<proprietate nomen="CommonViewFields" typus="filum">Project_x0020_Name;Project_x0020_Expenses;Project_x0020_Status;Project_x0020_Start_x0020_Date;Project_x0020_End_x0020_Date;Project_x0020_Budget</proprietate>
Note that I had to keep all the property fields on one line or it would not work (CQWP would tell me that the query returned no items).
4. Ad hoc, we’re ready to move beyond the MSDN article and flip on over to Heather Solomon’s article. Follow her steps starting near step #5 to create a customized / unghosted version of ItemStyle.xsl. I follow Heather’s advice, up through step 11 and get these intermediate results:
4.1: Name my XSL template as follows:
<p:template name="Grid" match="Row[@Style=’Grid’]" mode="itemstyle">
I also slightly modify her suggested <p:nam quisque- …> by adding a <br /> tag to provide a cleaner listing:
<p:nam quisque- elige="@*">
P:<p:valor ex- elige="nomen()" /><br/>
</p:nam quisque->
4.2: I modify the web part, go to appearance and select my "Grid" style:
Apply the change and here is the result:
We can see from the above that the fields we want (Project name, expense, status, etc) are available for us to use when we emit the HTML. Not only that, but we see the names by which we must reference those columns in the XSL. Verbigratia, we reference Project Status as "Project_x005F_x0020_Name".
Ad hoc, we depart from Heather’s blog and from the shoulders of these giants, I add my own little bit.
ContentQueryMain.xsl
MONUMENTUM: Cum utrisque mutationibus tam ContentQueryMain.xsl ItemStyle.xsl, tu opus ad reprehendo retro in conspectu illorum lima videtis effectum mutationes tuas.
Nam eget consilium-factionis, MOSS uses two different XSL files to produce the results we see from a CQWP. To generate the previous bit of output, we modified ItemStyle.xsl. MOSS actually uses another XSL file, ContentQueryMain.xsl to in conjunction with ItemStyle.xsl to generate its HTML. As its name implies, ContentQueryMain.xsl is the "main" XSL that controls the overall flow of translation. It iterates through all the found items and passes them one by one to templates in ItemStyle.xsl. We’ll modify ItemStyle.xsl to generate the open <mensamque> tag emiserit ante in primo versu de notitia et occlusio <mensamque> tag after emitting the last row. To accomplish this, ContentQueryMain.xsl is modified to pass two parameters to our "grid" luctus in ItemStyle.xsl, "last row" and "current row". ItemStyle.xsl uses these to conditionally emit the necessary tags.
Heather scriptor Salomon usura ars, we locate ContentQueryMain.xsl. It is located in the same place as ItemStyle.xsl. This screen shot should help:
His motus ad opus:
- Vel demutare p template, "CallItemTemplate" that actually invokes our Grid template in ItemStyle.xsl. We will pass two parameters to the Grid template so that it will have the data it needs to conditionally generate opening and closing <mensamque> tags.
- Modify another bit of ContentQueryMain.xsl that calls the "CallItemTemplate" to pass it a "LastRow" parameter so that LastRow may be passed on to our Grid template.
Locate the template named "OuterTemplate.CallItemTemplate" identified by the string:
<p:Template nomen="OuterTemplate.CallItemTemplate">
Replace the whole template as follows:
|
|
<p:Template nomen="OuterTemplate.CallItemTemplate">
<p:param nomen="CurPosition" />
<!--
Add the "LastRow" parameter.
We only use it when the item style pass in is "Grid".
-->
<p:param nomen="LastRow" />
<p:elegerit>
<p:cum test="@Style='NewsRollUpItem'">
<p:apply-templates elige="." mode="itemstyle">
<p:cum param- nomen="EditMode" elige="$cbq_iseditmode" />
</p:apply-templates>
</p:cum>
<p:cum test="@Style='NewsBigItem'">
<p:apply-templates elige="." mode="itemstyle">
<p:cum param- nomen="CurPos" elige="$CurPosition" />
</p:apply-templates>
</p:cum>
<p:cum test="@Style='NewsCategoryItem'">
<p:apply-templates elige="." mode="itemstyle">
<p:cum param- nomen="CurPos" elige="$CurPosition" />
</p:apply-templates>
</p:cum>
<!--
Pass current position and lastrow to the Grid itemstyle.xsl template.
ItemStyle.xsl will use that to emit the open and closing <mensamque> tags.
-->
<p:cum test="@Style='Grid'">
<p:apply-templates elige="." mode="itemstyle">
<p:cum param- nomen="CurPos" elige="$CurPosition" />
<p:cum param- nomen="Last" elige="$LastRow" />
</p:apply-templates>
</p:cum>
<p:alioqui>
<p:apply-templates elige="." mode="itemstyle">
</p:apply-templates>
</p:alioqui>
</p:elegerit>
</p:Template>
|
The comments describe the purpose of the changes.
Utique, the "OuterTemplate.CallItemTemplate" is itself called from another template. Locate that template by searching for this text string:
<p:Template nomen="OuterTemplate.Body">
Scroll through the instructions in OuterTemplate.Body and insert the LastRow parameter as follows (shown as a comment in italics):
<p:Template voca- nomen="OuterTemplate.CallItemTemplate">
<p:cum param- nomen="CurPosition" elige="$CurPosition" />
<!-- Insert the LastRow parameter. -->
<p:cum param- nomen="LastRow" elige="$LastRow"/>
</p:Template voca->
After all of this, we finally have things set up properly so that our ItemStyle.xsl can emit <mensamque> tags at the right place.
ItemStyle.Xsl
MONUMENTUM: Iterum, check in ItemStyle.xsl after making any changes so that you see the effect of those changes.
We have two tasks here:
- Replace the entire Grid template. You can copy/paste from below.
- Add some mumbo jumbo outside the template definition that enables "formatcurrency" template to work. (You can tell that I have a tenuous handle on XSL).
Primum, near the top of ItemStyle.xsl, add this line:
<!-- Some mumbo jumbo that enables us to display U.S. currency. -->
<p:decimales format- nomen="staff" digit="D" />
<p:Template nomen="Default" match="*" mode="itemstyle">
Note that I added it directly before the <p:template name="Default" …> definition.
Postero, go back to our Grid template. Replace the entire Grid template with the code below. It is thoroughly commented, but don’t hesitate to email me or leave comments on my blog if you have questions.
|
|
<p:Template nomen="Grid" match="Row[@Style='Grid']" mode="itemstyle">
<!--
ContentMain.xsl passes CurPos and Last.
We use these to conditionally emit the open and closing <mensamque> tags.
-->
<p:param nomen="CurPos" />
<p:param nomen="Last" />
<!-- The following variables are unmodified from the standard ItemStyle.xsl -->
<p:variabilis nomen="SafeImageUrl">
<p:Template voca- nomen="OuterTemplate.GetSafeStaticUrl">
<p:cum param- nomen="UrlColumnName" elige="'ImageUrl'"/>
</p:Template voca->
</p:variabilis>
<p:variabilis nomen="SafeLinkUrl">
<p:Template voca- nomen="OuterTemplate.GetSafeLink">
<p:cum param- nomen="UrlColumnName" elige="'LinkUrl'"/>
</p:Template voca->
</p:variabilis>
<p:variabilis nomen="DisplayTitle">
<p:Template voca- nomen="OuterTemplate.GetTitle">
<p:cum param- nomen="Title" elige="@Title"/>
<p:cum param- nomen="UrlColumnName" elige="'LinkUrl'"/>
</p:Template voca->
</p:variabilis>
<p:variabilis nomen="LinkTarget">
<p:si test="@OpenInNewWindow = 'True'" >_blank</p:si>
</p:variabilis>
<!--
Here we define a variable, "tableStart". This contains the HTML
that we use to define the opening of the table as well as the column
labels. Note that if CurPos = 1, it includes the HTML in a CDATA tag.
Otherwise, it will be empty.
The value of tableStart is emited every time ItemStyle is called via
ContentQueryMain.xsl.
-->
<p:variabilis nomen="tableStart">
<p:si test="$CurPos = 1">
<![CDATA[
<table border=1>
<tr bgcolor="blue">
<td><font color="white"><b>Project Name</b></font></td>
<td align="right"><font color="white"><b>Complete Date</b></font></td>
<td align="right"><font color="white"><b>Budget</b></font></td>
<td align="right"><font color="white"><b>Actual Expense</b></font></td>
<td><font color="white"><b>Overall Status</b></font></td>
</tr>
]]>
</p:si>
</p:variabilis>
<!--
Another variable, tableEnd simply defines the closing table tag.
As with tableStart, it's always emited. This is why its value is
assigned conditionally based upon whether we've been passed the last
row by ContentQueryMain.xsl.
-->
<p:variabilis nomen="tableEnd">
<p:si test="$CurPos = $Last">
<![CDATA[ </mensamque> ]]>
</p:si>
</p:variabilis>
<!--
Always emit the contents of tableStart. If this is not the first
row passed to us by ContentQueryMain.xsl, then we know its value
will be blank.
Disable output escaping because when tableStart it not blank, it
includes actual HTML that we want to be rendered by the browser. If
we don't tell the XSL parser to disable output escaping, it will generate
stuff like "<mensamque>" instead of "<mensamque>".
-->
<p:valor ex- elige="$tableStart" disable-output-erepta="Imo"/>
<tr>
<!--
P:Project_x005F_x0020_Name
P:Project_x005F_x0020_End_x005F_x0020_Date
P:Project_x005F_x0020_Budget
P:Project_x005F_x0020_Expenses
P:Project_x005F_x0020_Status
-->
<td>
<p:valor ex- elige="@Project_x005F_x0020_Name"/>
</td>
<td align="ius">
<p:valor ex- elige="@Project_x005F_x0020_End_x005F_x0020_Date"/>
</td>
<td align="ius">
<p:Template voca- nomen="formatcurrency">
<p:cum param- nomen="valor"
elige="@Project_x005F_x0020_Budget"></p:cum param->
</p:Template voca->
</td>
<td align="ius">
<p:Template voca- nomen="formatcurrency">
<p:cum param- nomen="valor" elige="@Project_x005F_x0020_Expenses">
</p:cum param->
</p:Template voca->
</td>
<td>
<p:valor ex- elige="@Project_x005F_x0020_Status"/>
</td>
<!--
All of the following is commented out to clarify things.
Autem, bring it back and stuff it into a <td> to see its
effect.
-->
<!--
<div id="linkitem" class="item">
<p:if test="string-length($SafeImageUrl) != 0">
<div class="image-area-left">
<a href="{$SafeLinkUrl}" target="{$LinkTarget}">
<img class="image-fixed-width" src="{$SafeImageUrl}"
alt="{@ImageUrlAltText}"/>
</a>
</Div>
</p:si>
<div class="link-item">
<p:Template voca-
name="OuterTemplate.CallPresenceStatusIconTemplate"/>
<a href="{$SafeLinkUrl}"
target="{$LinkTarget}" title="{@LinkToolTip}">
<p:value-of select="$DisplayTitle"/>
</a>
<div class="description">
<p:value-of select="@Description" />
</Div>
</Div>
</Div>
-->
</tr>
<!--
Emit the closing table tag. If we are not on the last row,
this will be blank.
-->
<p:valor ex- elige="$tableEnd" disable-output-erepta="Imo"/>
</p:Template>
<p:Template nomen="formatcurrency">
<p:param nomen="valor" elige="0" />
<p:valor ex- elige='numerum format-($valor, "$DDD,DDD,DDD.DD", "staff")' />
</p:Template>
|
