In the first vNext news since my SharePoint 2010 post, Microsoft has identified Windows SharePoint Service 4.0 by name in a CustomListView knowledge base article. In addition, the Pre-Upgrade Checker that links to the Knowledge Base Article naming the new version identifies a number of breaking changes.

Breaking Changes

Avoid Custom List Views

Gary Lapointe’s analysis suggests avoiding custom list views in Features as they may break.

Custom Field Type Warning

Also from Mr. Lapointe, "if you are creating custom field types and using custom CAML in the RenderPattern element you will have to reset that element to use XSLT after the upgrade completes."

Large Lists may not function correctly

The Large Lists Article reconfirms the practice of avoiding large lists. The details on how many items flag the rule are not in the article. We may have to wait for the spring 2009 arrival of Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to apply the rule to test the limit.

Do Not Add Custom Workflow Actions in WSS.ACTIONS

Custom Workflow Actions stored in the file WSS.ACTIONS will be overwritten in WSS v4. Pre-Upgrade Checker will warn if .actions files exist that may need to be redeployed if upgrading to new hardware. See the SharePoint Designer Team Blog for more info on custom activities.

Track Web.Config File Changes

Web.config files will be replaced with new versions and "all modifications will be lost." See 956499.

Reference

Microsoft sites

• Adding Activities to SPD, SharePoint Designer Team Blog, March 15, 2007
• Prepare for the Upcoming Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2, SharePoint Team Blog, October 24, 2008
• List of all Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Server Pre-Upgrade Checker knowledge base articles, Article ID 960577, December 17, 2008
• The CustomListView rule … customized list views that will not be upgraded, Article ID 956450, December 17, 2008
• The LargeLists rule in Pre-Upgrade Checker … can warn about large lists , Article ID 956201, December 17, 2008
• The ModifiedWorkflowActionsFile rule in Pre-Upgrade Checker…, Article ID 956447, December 17, 2008
• The CustomWorkflowActionsFiles rule … can warn that custom .ACTIONS files exist in the farm, Article ID 956447, December 17, 2008
• The ModifiedWebConfigWorkflowAuthorizedTypes rule…, Article ID 956447, December 17, 2008

   

Blogs

• SharePoint 14, SharePoint 2010 or SharePoint 2012…, Tom Resing’s SharePoint Blog, October 27, 2008
• Custom List Views and WSS 4.0’s XSLT-based List View, STSADM Custom Extensions, Gary Lapointe, December 19, 2008
• Custom Field Types and WSS 4.0’s XSLT-based Field Type, STSADM Custom Extensions, Gary Lapointe, December 19, 2008
• Think Twice before Modifying That View, SharePoint Thoughts, Isaac Stith, December 19, 2008
• WSS4: Is CAML really dead?, Furuknap’s SharePoint Corner, Bjørn Furuknap, 20 December, 2008

Broken Glass Image courtesy Rich Anderson Some rights reserved