SharePoint Search: IsDocument and contentclass properties

A common request, when you're setting up a Search Service Application, is trimming results to documents only. Usually, it's not added value to show lists, libraries, folders or sites as search result items (for refinement, it's a completely different story).

Throughout the years, I've seen people achieving this in multiple ways (most commonly excluding *.aspx using crawl rules), but the right way of doing it is creating a scope and using either the IsDocument or contentclass properties.
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How to avoid the fatidic UnauthorizedAccessException (0×80070005)

Recently I came across a series of issues when a client I had worked with changed their security matrix.

I had a webpart that applied a CAML query on a list to retrieve data and then present it. The problem I was having, when the customer changed their security matrix, was that some users no longer had permissions to retrieve the list where the data was being stored.
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How to disable Search to index content inside documents

Have you ever had a requirement from a client to customize SharePoint Search, to disallow users from querying for any content inside documents?
I had this request recently, and it was a while until I found solution for it..

To accomplish this, I had to remove some internal Crawled properties from the Search Service Application.
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Restore site or list from backup without attaching database

A great improvement to Restore/Backups was made to SharePoint 2010. In MOSS2007 the restore/backup functionality was restricted to Farm, Web Applications and Content Databases.

In the 2010 version, using just the OOTB options, we can be as granular as choosing an individual list. This greatly improves the flexibility of this functionality. Not surprisingly, the feature is called Granular Backup.
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Welcome João!

It is with the utmost pleasure that I announce the new member of Get-SP.com...João Lopes!

I've been working with João for the last year and a half. He's one of the best developers I've had the chance of working with, so having him on board is great!

One of the things I like the most about him is his dedication towards developing solutions using the best practices.
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Renewed focus, new domain, new image!

I've been very quiet in the last few months, in the blog and also in the MSDN/TechNet forums.

The main reason was, when I returned from my Summer vacations (to see how long ago it was!), I felt like I needed the blog, and my "community" efforts, to be re-focused.

After some ups and downs, I believe I've reached a good place.
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April 2012 CU is back!

The April 2012 CU is now available again from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2598151.

Their reason for the recall that happened about a month ago:
“A recent, isolated issue was discovered in the SharePoint 2010 Products April 2012 Cumulative Update that could result in an HTTP 500 error when users delete objects to include documents, lists, and Webs and a new  object is created using the same path where the original object remains in the Recycle Bin. […]This issue has been resolved in the revised packages.”

ULS Viewer real-time feeds NOT working

I've had this issue in the Development VM I'm using, where ULS Viewer would never load the logs in real-time from the LOGS folder.

I ended up finding the issue, or at least a solution for my case, in some comments on the Microsoft tool page (here), which was deleting all the old log files. The current one will be in use and won't be deleted, which is fine.

Another workaround was deleting the upgrade*.log files only, but I didn't have any, so the problem was probably in another log file. It seems that if the logs that don't follow the  formatting ULS Viewer expects, RT feeds won't work correctly.

Regain control of SQL Server

I started using a VM from a template someone else built in the last couple of days. My account was a local machine admin, but not a SQL Server admin. I actually had no access configured in SQL Server for my account. But I needed to get control over it and had no one available to help me in that moment.

In order to get sysadmin permissions on SQL Server, I did this:

1. Shut down SQL Server Services
2. Open a command line as Administrator
3. Change to you SQL Server Binn dir

• cd "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Binn"

4. Run SQL Server in single-user mode

• sqlservr.exe -m -s MSSQLSERVER

5. Open a new command line as Administrator
6. Connect to SQL Server

• sqlcmd -S .\ (or sqlcmd -S .\MSSQLSERVER)

7.  Execute commands

• 1> sp_addsrvrolemember 'domain\user', 'sysadmin'
• 2> GO

8. CTRL+C in both windows to exit sessions
9. Restart SQL Server Services 
 

PS: You may need to be quick connecting to SQL (step 6) after starting it in single-user mode (step 4), otherwise some other process may pick up the session (remember, obviously, only one connection will be allowed...we're running in single-user mode!). Not a bad idea to have both command line windows open and ready to click Enter.

Unreliable Item Count in Search Scopes

Beware with the Item Count column present in Central Administration, in the Search Scope Properties and Rules interface, as it may not be accurate.

It does state it is "approximate", but what does it mean?

What happens is it queries the Search Service to get this Item Count, using the current logged on account (in Central Admin) which may or may not have permissions to see all the results. So the Item Count retrieved is actually the one pertaining the current logged user viewing this page, and not a global result.

This will be an issue in highly security trimmed contexts, where there is probably no account with access to the entire index (except for the crawler account). Therefore, the Item Count will be pretty much useless.

This design flaw in the Central Administration seems to be present since MOSS2007, as it can be seen here.