Root Element Missing when connecting to SharePoint online via CSOM/Powershell on windows 10 machine

Hello friends,

Recently i got a situation where suddenly my csom code is stopped working . This CSOM code is to connect a SharePoint online site to fetch data from some list. The same code was running fine earlier.

Issue Description:

When connecting to SharePoint Online site using CSOM or Powershell(using Connect-SPOService command) from Windows 10 machine getting an error "Root Element Missing"

CSOM error : 

At context.ExecuteQuery it thrown "Root Element Missing" with below stack trace

Powershell Error :

Tried in different ways to fix this, like from changing the schema of my app config file, clearing VS cache , running on new version vs 2019 professional , by referring the new CSOM dlls ,clearing Nuget Package cache and finally formatting windows 10. But none of them helped me out.

also

1> The same code worked in other machine
2> The same code working for other online sites from same machine

I was so confused that, whether it is an issue from my machine or the SharePoint site. I noticed that, the stack trace is clearly showing there is an xml notation issue in SharePoint Client libraries.

Finally after troubleshooting for days i found that the issue is with my ISP( Internet Service Provider ) /internet settings.

Resolution :
Changing the DNS settings will resolve this issue. Here are the steps.

Go to Control Panel --> Network and Internet --> Change Adapter Settings --> Select the Network through which you are connecting to Internet

Right click on it and Select Properties. Then select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPV4) and select properties

Then select the "Use the following DNS Server Addresses" instead obtain DNS server addresses automatically and give the DNS whatever you want. Here i gave the free DNS address which is offered by google.

Google public DNS addresses : 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.4 

Then say OK to apply these changes.

I ran the code again , both csom and powershell worked well without any issues.

References :
https://www.koskila.net/fixing-security-reasons-dtd-prohibited-xml-document-issue/
http://asp.net-hacker.rocks/2016/01/15/XML-parsing-problem-because-of-your-ISP.html
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10

Hope this helps somebody.

Thanks
Purna

Customizing SharePoint Online (Office 365) Login Page

Friends,

Here I am going to explain you, how we can customize the look and feel of login page of a SharePoint online site.

Prerequisite to perform this action is , you should have global admin rights on the tenant.

As you know the default SharePoint online page looks like below (I am using personal free trail account, so the login page may look slight different from the licensed/organizational one).

Here are the steps to customize the login page

Login to your office365 admin page (https://admin.microsoft.com/AdminPortal)  with your admin credentials.

Expand Navigation Menu (>) à Select Admin Centersà Select Azure Active Directory

Then it will redirect you to Azure portal (url looks like https://aad.portal.azure.com ), then select Azure Active Directory from left pane

Select Company Branding --> Select Configure --> You can see a page like below with all options.

Fill in the details and upload images as per your company branding requirements. Then you can see the login page like below : ( as i mentioned earlier, as this is a trail version you may see slight difference in the design but the approach is same)

Thanks,
Purna

Reasons why Nintex Workflow doesn't start automatically

Guys,

Nintex workflow doesn’t start automatically because of  :

1.  Either you are running your workflow with “System Account” or
2.  In workflow settings  "when items are created/modified set to No" like below figure 

·                                                                   

·        To change this setting to Yes --> Go to your workflow --> Ribbon-->Workflow Settings --> Select Yes in the dropdown.

ListItem.SystemUpdate is available with new csom version 16.1.5626.1200

Guys,

Long waiting SystemUpdate() method is available with the release of the new csom version(16.1.5626.1200).

Add this csom package using Nuget by searching "Microsoft.SharePointOnline.CSOM" like below

Once you refer these latest csom assemblies, You can see SystemUpdate method for the ListItem like this

Refer this link for all other properties and methods released with this new csom version .
https://dev.office.com/Contents/Item/Display/11116


- PURNA

Cannot sign in to SharePoint Online using SharePoint Designer 2013 - 403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden

Hi Guys,

Recently i have installed Sharepoint Desinger 2013 and tried to connect to SharePoint Online Site. But it dint allow me to login  and thrown this below error :

"403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden403 forbidden "

I am the tenant admin and have all the rights to open site in designer. So there is no issue with the permissions. The only resolution i found is, updating the designer with ServicePack1.

Here are the links for the service Packs.

SP1 for 32Bit: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42015

SP1 for 64Bit: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42009

Close your designer, install the service pack and re-open it. It works like a charm.!

Hope this helps some one.

- PURNA

SP2013 Designer Workflow Error : There was no endpoint listening at net.pipe://localhost/SecurityTokenServiceApplication/appsts.svc that could accept the message

Hello Guys,

Recently I got a requirement to work on SharePoint 2013 Designer Workflow. In my server all the required configurations like WF Manager, Service Registration etc  is already setup in the server, But when i started publishing the workflow i have got this below error message

"Microsoft.Workflow.Client.WorkflowCommunicationException: The request was aborted: The request was canceled. Client ActivityId : ba605d9d-e11c-606d-5c6c-4dac94c6c3a1. ---> System.Net.WebException: The request was aborted: The request was canceled. ---> System.ServiceModel.EndpointNotFoundException: There was no endpoint listening at net.pipe://localhost/SecurityTokenServiceApplication/appsts.svc that could accept the message. This is often caused by an incorrect address or SOAP action."

I googled it for some time and checked the service application status, logs, "Refresh Trusted Security Token Services Metadata feed timer job" etc etc. But no luck. After spending some (of course hours :) ) i came to know that the below windows service should be running to publish the workflow (some how this is stopped in my machine)

Once start the service, i could successfully publish the designer workflow.

Thanks
Purna

How to upload Images to SharePoint List from another library with OOB feature

Guys,

Recently I got a small requirement to give an option to the user to select images from another library in to SharePoint list while adding a new item. Basically the default attach file option of a list item opens you the windows explorer to choose the items.

Firstly I thought, I should go for list form customization and a script injection by creating a file upload control and save the selected image in to the item with sp modal dialogue and the call back options.

But later I found that, this can be achieved using the OOB site column called “Image with formatting and constraints for publishing”, which is available with the Publishing Infrastructure Feature.

Steps to use this:

·          Create a site column called “Image with formatting and constraints for publishing”.

Site Actionsà Site Settingsà Create Site Column à Give some name “Product Image” of type “Image with formatting and constraints for publishing “

·        Add the site column to your list where you want the image upload feature.

List Settingsà Add from existing site columns à Select the above created site column

·        In the New Form you can see this column like this

              

      On clicking of the link, it will open a popup to select an image from a library. On click of browse, it will list all the lists and libraries throughout the site collection, from where you can choose an image and insert.

Once you say insert, it will ask you to provide other properties like size, layout, alternate text etc. like below

It will added to your list item like this

In Edit form, on selection of Image it will highlight the respective ribbon options to update the image.

Really this saves lot of time in developing a custom feature to upload image in new and edit forms…

Hope this helps…!!!!