06 Apr, 2010
Search AutoComplete for SharePoint 2010 lists
Posted by: Toni Frankola In: SharePoint|SharePoint 2010 
Posts in the "Introduction to SharePoint 2010 SandBox Solutions" series
- Introduction to SharePoint 2010 SandBox Solutions for Site Collection Owners
- Search AutoComplete for SharePoint 2010 lists
- Search AutoComplete for SharePoint 2010 Central Administration
In my previous post I explained how to create an interactive search for SharePoint 2007 lists. It’s time to take things to the next level, so let me introduce Search AutoComplete for SharePoint 2010 list (download). It gives you the same functionality (search as you type) as the previous version but it is created as SandBox solution (check my post Introduction to SharePoint 2010 SandBox Solutions for Site Collection Owners for details).
This solution is free and can be downloaded as WSP or with full source code. The solution uses following technologies: JQuery, JQueryUI and SharePoint 2010 Client OM.
Installation
Search AutoComplete for SharePoint Lists is a SandBox solution and can be deployed to any farm environment. If Sandbox solutions are disallowed for your site collection, contact your farm administrator.
- Download and unpack solution package
- Go to your Site Collection > Site Actions > Site Settings
- Browse Galleries > Solutions
- Go to Solutions ribbon tab and click Upload Solution
- Upload the WSP package you downloaded and Activate it
- Open a SharePoint web page and Insert a web part
(from Custom > Search AutoComplete for Lists)
Configuration
Web part needs to be configured to properly search a list on your web site.
- Choose Edit Web Part from the web part context menu
- Expand Search section in the Web Part Toolpane
- Type the name list name in the List Name field (e.g. Contacts)
- Type the names of list columns you want to display in Display Fields Field (e.g. [Title])
- Surround column names with square brackets (e.g. “[FirstName] [Title], [WorkPhone”) <- internal name for LastName is Title
- Use internal field names
- Surround column names with square brackets (e.g. “[FirstName] [Title], [WorkPhone”) <- internal name for LastName is Title
The benefit of a SandBox solution
Solution like this one could be deployed via Content Editor web part, but in such case users will have to manually customize a script to work on their site. When deployed as Sandbox solution, its properties will be exposed as web part properties, and users do not need to modify the code. Further more you can use .NET to run additional stuff on the server side.
What’s next?
In next posts in this series:
- How to deploy Search AutoComplete for SharePoint lists without Sandbox
- How to enforce Sandbox Solution web part properties
- How to use Search AutoComplete for Central Admin commands
Stay tuned!
