I installed Sitecore 9.3 using SIA. SIA also helps us to install Solr as part of sitecore installation , but I faced below issue when SIA tried to install solr: [Error]: Access to the path ‘C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\solr-8.1.1\server’ is denied. To handle it, I ran below command in power shell command prompt (admin mode). C:\{DIRECTORYPATH}\Sitecore 9.3.0 rev.003498(Setup […]
In sitecore 9.3, Experience editor from launchpad does not work. I think it does not work in XP scaled topology and if we have more than one hostname.
I made it work by removing sc_resolvelanguage=1 OR setting it value to 0.
This setting is available in the link field of this “/sitecore/client/Applications/Launchpad/PageSettings/Buttons/ContentEditing/ExperienceEditor” in CORE db.
Happy troubleshooting!
Above issue I faced when i tried to reinstall sitecore 9.3 after deleting existing sitecore 9.3 instance and its related databases on my local machine.
I fixed this issue, by deleting the user “sc93_CollectionUser” associated with those deleted databases from here:
This week, I spent lot of time to get basic understanding of Sitecore scheduler and Automated job. I have gone through with several blog posts on internet and understood the fundamental behind this. But I found the following link very useful to understand it from scratch. So thought of sharing this link and its contents here on my blog site. Idea of sharing this link here may save my time if I am going to refer it again. Or it could be useful for other sitecore learners who are visiting my blogs:
http://sitecore-community.github.io/docs/documentation/Sitecore%20Fundamentals/Asynchronous%20Tasks/
Sitecore provides the ability for custom tasks to run asynchronously.
• Scheduler Basics
• Agents
• Database Scheduler
• Jobs API
Scheduler Basics
Sitecore’s scheduler is responsible for running background tasks.
• Terminology
• Configuring Agents
• How the Scheduler Runs Agents
Terminology
The following terminology is used to describe how Sitecore handles asynchronous tasks.
• Scheduler – Sitecore component that runs asynchronous tasks based on how the tasks are scheduled.
• Task – A unit of work that is executed asynchronously. A task is implemented as a method.
• Agent – The object used to schedule a task. The scheduler runs agents based on each agent’s configuration.
• Job – A process that is running asynchronously. When an agent runs, it runs as a job.
Configuring Agents
An agent is used to configure a scheduled task. Agents are defined in Web.config and Sitecore patch files under/configuration/sitecore/scheduling.
The following is an example of an agent that is scheduled to run every 4 hours.
How the Scheduler Runs Agents
The initialize pipeline includes a processor Sitecore.Pipelines.Loader.InitializeScheduler. This processor creates a new thread. This thread sleeps for the amount of time specified in Web.config or Sitecore patch file by the value of /configuration/sitecore/scheduling/frequency.
This does not mean that agents run based on this value. It means that the thread wakes up and checks for agents that are ready to run. An agent cannot run more often than this value, but an agent can be set to run less often.
An example is useful for understanding the relationship between the scheduler’s frequency setting and the individual task’s interval setting. Consider the following Sitecore patch file:
00:05:00
The following is an example of when the various tasks will run if the Sitecore server is started and the scheduler runs for the first time at 09:00.
Time MyTask1 MyTask2 MyTask3
09:00 Start
Last run: never Start
Last run: never Start
Last run: never
09:01
09:02
09:03
09:04
09:05 Start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:03:00
More than 3 minutes has passed, so start Do not start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:06:00
Fewer than 6 minutes has passed, so do not start Do not start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:12:00
Fewer than 12 minutes has passed, so do not start
09:06
09:07
09:08
09:09
09:10 Start
Last run: 09:05
Interval: 00:03:00
More than 3 minutes has passed, so start Start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:06:00
More than 6 minutes has passed, so start Do not start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:12:00
Fewer than 12 minutes has passed, so do not start
09:11
09:12
09:13
09:14
09:15 Start
Last run: 09:10
Interval: 00:03:00
More than 3 minutes has passed, so start Do not start
Last run: 09:10
Interval: 00:06:00
Fewer than 6 minutes has passed, so do not start Start
Last run: 09:00
Interval: 00:12:00
More than 12 minutes has passed, so start
09:16
09:17
09:18
09:19
09:20 Start
Last run: 09:15
Interval: 00:03:00
More than 3 minutes has passed, so start Start
Last run: 09:10
Interval: 00:06:00
More than 6 minutes has passed, so start Do not start
Last run: 09:15
Interval: 00:12:00
Fewer than 12 minutes has passed, so do not start
Agents
Agents are used to schedule tasks.
• Implementing a Task
• Scheduling Agents using Sitecore Patch Files
• Context
• Logging
• Units Processed
• Performance
• Security
Implementing a Task
A task is a method that is run by an agent. The method must have a specific method signature:
public void Run()
Task methods do not return values and they accept no parameters. In order to pass parameters, use the class constructor or properties.
Scheduling Agents using Sitecore Patch Files
Scheduled tasks can be configured using a Sitecore patch file.
The following is an example of how to schedule a task using a Sitecore patch file.
Parameters can be passed to tasks using dependency injection. For more information on using dependency injection in this section.
Context
When an agent is run, Sitecore calls the specified method. The method is called outside of the standard Sitecore request-handling process. As a result, the Sitecore context is not fully initialized.
One part of the Sitecore context that is initialized is Sitecore.Context.Job. This property provides access to an object that represents the current job.
Logging
Task logging is best handled by using the Status property on Sitecore.Context.Job. The following is an example of how to log messages from a task.
public virtual void Run()
{
Sitecore.Context.Job.Status.LogError(“error message”);
Sitecore.Context.Job.Status.LogInfo(“info message”);
Sitecore.Context.Job.Status.LogException(new Exception(“exception happened”));
}
Units Processed
If you look in the Sitecore log you will see messages (logged at INFO level) that indicate when a job started and when it stopped.
ManagedPoolThread #15 12:43:28 INFO Scheduling.DatabaseAgent started. Database: master
ManagedPoolThread #15 12:43:28 INFO Job ended: Sitecore.Tasks.DatabaseAgent (units processed: 2)
Some of the “Job ended” messages include a “units processed” count. If you want your task to be able to report this value, use the following code.
Sitecore.Context.Job.Status.Processed = 44;
Performance
Agents can cause performance problems on a Sitecore server. It is important to use them appropriately.
Security
Scheduled tasks run as the anonymous user. A security disabler can be used to imitate specific users.
Database Scheduler
Sitecore’s Database Agent allows tasks to be scheduled in a Sitecore database. This means Content Editor can be used to schedule tasks.
• Database Agent
• Commands and Schedules
• Implementing a Command Method
• Defining a Command
• Defining a Schedule
Database Agent
The Database Agent is an agent that comes enabled by default. Just like all other agents, database agents are defined in Web.config or a Sitecore patch file under /configuration/sitecore/scheduling.
Each Sitecore database has its own database scheduler. The following is an example of the database agent for the master database.
master
/sitecore/system/tasks/schedules
true
The Sitecore.Tasks.DatabaseAgent constructor expects following parameters:
• string databaseName – Name of the Sitecore database that has the scheduled tasks.
• string scheduleRoot – Path to the Schedule items in the Sitecore database.
In addition, Sitecore.Tasks.DatabaseAgent supports the following properties:
• bool LogActivity – The database agent logs basic activity at the INFO level. If true the agent will write to the Sitecore log. If false the agent will not write to the Sitecore log.
Commands and Schedules
A command is a Sitecore item that specifies a type and method that can be run by a database agent.
A schedule is a Sitecore item that specifies when a command should be executed.
Implementing a Command Method
Command methods must have a specific method signature:
public void Run(Sitecore.Data.Items.Item[] items, Sitecore.Tasks.CommandItem command, Sitecore.Tasks.ScheduleItem schedule)
Parameters:
• Sitecore.Data.Items.Item[] items – When a command is scheduled, items can be specified. This parameter represents those items. If no items are specified, this array will be a 0-length array.
• Sitecore.Tasks.CommandItem command – This parameter represents the command item.
• Sitecore.Tasks.ScheduleItem schedule – This parameter represents the schedule that resulted in the command being executed.
Agents can cause performance problems on a Sitecore server. It is important to use them appropriately.
Defining a Command
Commands are defined in the Sitecore client.
1. In Content Editor navigate to /sitecore/system/Tasks/Commands
2. Create a new item using the Command template
3. Specify the Type and Method fields.
Defining a Schedule
The database agent will execute the command based on the settings in the schedule.
1. In Content Editor navigate to /sitecore/system/Tasks/Schedules
2. Create a new item using the Schedule template
3. For the Command field select the Command item you just created
4. If the task applies to specific items, you can identify those items in the Items field. This field supports a couple of formats.
5. For the Schedule field, you identify when the task should run. The value for this field is in a pipe-separated format.
Items field formats
The following are examples of values you can use for the Items field on a Schedule item.
________________________________________
Kind: Single item
Description: a path to the Sitecore item
Example: /sitecore/content/Home
________________________________________
Kind: Multiple items
Description: pipe-delimited set of paths to Sitecore items
Example: /sitecore/content/Home/Item1|/sitecore/content/Home/Item2
________________________________________
Kind: Query
Description: Sitecore Query format, but without the query: prefix
Example: /sitecore/content/Home/*
________________________________________
Schedule field values
The Schedule field on a Schedule item expects a pipe-delimited value make up of the following parts.
________________________________________
Position: 1
Name: Start date/time
Description: The task will not run before this date/time (in ISO format)
Example: 20040720T235900
________________________________________
Position: 2
Name: End date/time
Description: The task will not run after this date/time (in ISO format)
Example: 20060725T235900
________________________________________
Position: 3
Name: Days flag
Description: The days of the week when the task should run. The value is a flag, so the individual values below must be added in order to specify the days:
• Sunday = 1
• Monday = 2
• Tuesday = 4
• Wednesday = 8
• Thursday = 16
• Friday = 32
• Saturday = 64
Example: 127
________________________________________
Position: 4
Name: Interval
Description: How often the task should run, in HH:mm:ss format
Example: 01:00:00
________________________________________
Jobs API
• Starting a Job Programmatically
• Job Status
• Expiration
• Priority
• Events
Starting a Job Programmatically
The following is an example of how to start a job programmatically.
public class JobRunner
{
public Job CurrentJob { get; set; }
public void StartJob()
{
var jobName = “job name”;
var jobCategory = “tests”;
var siteName = Sitecore.Context.Site.Name;
var objectWithMethodToRun = this;
var methodName = “Run”;
var methodParameters = new Object[] {};
var options = new Sitecore.Jobs.JobOptions(jobName, jobCategory, siteName,
objectWithMethodToRun, methodName,
methodParameters);
this.CurrentJob = Sitecore.Jobs.JobManager.Start(options);
}
public void Run()
{
if (this.CurrentJob != null)
{
//do something
}
}
}
The Sitecore.Jobs.JobOptions instance tells Sitecore what to do. The constructor expects the following parameters:
• string jobName – Name used to identify the job.
• string category – Category used to group similar jobs. This value is arbitrary and can be used for whatever purposes you need. (Sitecore uses it certain cases to ensure that only appropriate tasks are performed. For example, the scheduler uses it to ensure that it only interacts with scheduled jobs.)
• string siteName – Name of the site that Sitecore.Context.Site is initialized with.
• object obj – The object whose method will be run.
• string methodName – The name of the method on the obj parameter that will be run.
• object[] parameters – Parameters that are passed to the method that is run.
Job Status
The Sitecore.Jobs.Job class has a property Status. This property is an instance of the Sitecore.Jobs.JobStatus class. This object is used to indicate the job’s status.
The properties on this object do not change how the job runs, but the values are important for communicating what your code is doing.
Consider setting the job status in your code. This will make it easier to debug problems.
Expiration
A job runs as a thread, and when the thread returns, the job is finished. Sitecore keeps the job around for a limited amount of time afterwards in case you want to check its status. This is called the “after-life”.
By default the after-life value is 1 minute. It can be changed using the Options property on the job.
var job = Sitecore.Jobs.JobManager.GetJob(“job name”);
if (job != null)
{
job.Options.AfterLife = new TimeSpan(0, 5, 0);
}
Priority
A job runs as a thread, so it is possible to set the thread priority.
var options = new Sitecore.Jobs.JobOptions(…);
options.Priority = System.Threading.ThreadPriority.Highest;
Sitecore.Jobs.JobManager.Start(options);
Do not change the priority of a thread after it has started. This is a standard .NET recommendation.
Events
The following job-related events are available.
________________________________________
Name: job:starting
Description: Raised before a job is placed into the thread pool
Sample handler:
public virtual void OnJobStarting(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(sender, “sender”);
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(e, “e”);
if (e is SitecoreEventArgs)
{
var args = Event.ExtractParameter(e, 0);
//do something
}
}
________________________________________
Name: job:started
Description: Raised after a job is placed into the thread pool and has been started
Sample handler:
public virtual void OnJobStarted(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(sender, “sender”);
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(e, “e”);
if (e is SitecoreEventArgs)
{
var args = Event.ExtractParameter(e, 0);
//do something
}
}
________________________________________
Name: job:ended
Description: Raised during the Job_Finished event
Sample handler:
public virtual void OnJobEnded(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(sender, “sender”);
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(e, “e”);
if (e is SitecoreEventArgs)
{
var args = Event.ExtractParameter(e, 0);
//do something
}
}
This post contains my view to fix the below error which we see frequently when we make a request to SITECORE item.
To troubleshoot this error, first make sure the requested item has presentation components configured or not. To check this, Select that item, go to “Presentation” tab and then choose “Details” button.
If presentation components are not configured, Make sure requested item’s template standard value has presentation component configured. If template standard value has components configured. But the same are not appearing on content item level. It indicates that at item level, configuration has been modified by someone.
To get the presentation component set up on item, if template standard value has it configured, Just RESET that item. RESET action will again pick the presentation component configuration from item’s template standard value to this item.
In most of the scenario, above error arises when requested item does not have presentation component configured.
If components are configured properly and still issue persist, then look for other causes.
Adding a custom field to an Image template
This post is about adding an extra field let’s say “Caption” to an image template in media library. This caption will display with the image on the site.
A very simple straight forward step is to add the field to the standard image template “/sitecore/templates/System/Media/Versioned/Image”. But the problem here is that this image template will get RESET when we upgrade new version of Sitecore.
To avoid this problem, create a new template(for example Media Image) by inheriting the template “/sitecore/templates/System/Media/Versioned/Image”. And use this new template whenever we need to upload an image.
To make use of this new template by “Upload files” in media library, recommended approach is to create a new .config in app_config/include folder and add below contents to the config file.
<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<configuration xmlns:x=”http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/”>
<sitecore>
<mediaLibrary>
<mediaTypes>
<mediaType name=”Windows Bitmap image” extensions=”bmp”>
<mimeType>image/png</mimeType>
<forceDownload>false</forceDownload>
<sharedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</sharedTemplate>
<versionedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</versionedTemplate>
<mediaValidator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageValidator” />
<thumbnails>
<generator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageThumbnailGenerator, Sitecore.Kernel”>
<extension>png</extension>
</generator>
<width>150</width>
<height>150</height>
<backgroundColor>#FFFFFF</backgroundColor>
</thumbnails>
<prototypes>
<media type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageMedia, Sitecore.Kernel” />
</prototypes>
</mediaType>
<mediaType name=”GIF image” extensions=”gif”>
<mimeType>image/png</mimeType>
<forceDownload>false</forceDownload>
<sharedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</sharedTemplate>
<versionedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</versionedTemplate>
<mediaValidator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageValidator” />
<thumbnails>
<generator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageThumbnailGenerator, Sitecore.Kernel”>
<extension>png</extension>
</generator>
<width>150</width>
<height>150</height>
<backgroundColor>#FFFFFF</backgroundColor>
</thumbnails>
<prototypes>
<media type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageMedia, Sitecore.Kernel” />
</prototypes>
</mediaType>
<mediaType name=”PNG image” extensions=”png”>
<mimeType>image/png</mimeType>
<forceDownload>false</forceDownload>
<sharedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</sharedTemplate>
<versionedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</versionedTemplate>
<mediaValidator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageValidator” />
<thumbnails>
<generator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageThumbnailGenerator, Sitecore.Kernel”>
<extension>png</extension>
</generator>
<width>150</width>
<height>150</height>
<backgroundColor>#FFFFFF</backgroundColor>
</thumbnails>
<prototypes>
<media type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageMedia, Sitecore.Kernel” />
</prototypes>
</mediaType>
<mediaType name=”JPEG image” extensions=”jpg, jpeg”>
<mimeType>image/png</mimeType>
<forceDownload>false</forceDownload>
<sharedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</sharedTemplate>
<versionedTemplate>system/media/Versioned/Media Image</versionedTemplate>
<mediaValidator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageValidator” />
<thumbnails>
<generator type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageThumbnailGenerator, Sitecore.Kernel”>
<extension>png</extension>
</generator>
<width>150</width>
<height>150</height>
<backgroundColor>#FFFFFF</backgroundColor>
</thumbnails>
<prototypes>
<media type=”Sitecore.Resources.Media.ImageMedia, Sitecore.Kernel” />
</prototypes>
</mediaType>
</mediaTypes>
</mediaLibrary>
</sitecore>
</configuration>
Now if we upload an image, media library will use our new template Media Image which will give us an extra caption field.
Creating a new config file will not impact pre-existing images to using the old templates.
Computed field is required when we want to process value of an item’s field before adding to Index. Think about fields of type DropLink or MultiList which is generally used to have a target item and we want to index the target item’s name or a target item’s field value. So in this case, we can consider of creating a computed field.
Here in the below example, I am going to create a computed field for a field of type MultiList in an item. By which I am going add its target item’s Name into index.
namespace ABCProduction.ComputedFields
{
class MoviesByName : IComputedIndexField
{
public string FieldName { get; set; }
public string ReturnType { get; set; }
public object ComputeFieldValue(IIndexable indexable)
{
var item = indexable as SitecoreIndexableItem;
if (item == null || item.Item == null) return string.Empty;
if (!item.Item.TemplateID.Equals(IMovieConstants.TemplateId)) return string.Empty;
StringBuilder MovieNameList = new StringBuilder();
IIndexableDataField moviesField = indexable.GetFieldById(IMovieContentConstants.MoviesFieldId);
if (moviesField!= null)
{
var movies = moviesField.Value.ToString().Split(new[] { ‘|’ }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
foreach (var movieId in movies)
{
var movieItem = item.Item.Database.GetItem(new ID(movieId));
if (movieItem != null)
MovieNameList.Append(movieItem.Name.ToString() + “;”);
}
return MovieNameList;
}
return null;
}
}
}
In Sitecore.ContentSearch.Lucene.DefaultIndexConfiguration.config file, add below entry.
<fieldNames>
<field fieldName=”_moviesbyname” storageType=”yes” indexType=”UNTOKENIZED” vectorType=”NO” boost=”1f” type=”System.String” settingType=”Sitecore.ContentSearch.LuceneProvider.LuceneSearchFieldConfiguration, Sitecore.ContentSearch.LuceneProvider” />
</fieldNames>
<fields>
<field fieldName=”_moviesbyname”> ABCProduction.ComputedFields.MoviesByName, ABCProduction </field>
</fields>
Now build the solution. Go to sitecore and rebuild the index.
The computed value will now be indexed.
In this blog post, We’ll get to know that how Sitecore Rocks is used to know about Presentation Details, Pipeline and Publishing.
Presentation Details:
To know about presentation details about an item, choose a desired item in sitecore content tree and right click on that item, context menu will open. In context menu there will be below two options under “Task” context menu item:
Clicking on the any of the above options will open “Design Layout Editor”, in this editor, devices like Default, Print and Feed will be available in the left panel of the editor.
To set a layout, click on “Browse” button placed on the right side of the layout box. “Browse” button click will open a dialog to choose a layout to set.
To add a rendering, Click on “+ Add Rendering” link available on the top of design layout editor. It will open a “Select Rendering” window to choose a rendering.
Once chose a rendering, we need to set placeholder, to do so, open the property window of chosen rendering. In the property window, look for “place holder key “, click on ellipsis present on “Place holder key”. It will open a dialog displaying all the placeholders for the selected layout.
Pipeline Info:
A pipeline is a set of steps which executes in an order. Actually, Sitecore uses a pipeline to generate and populate the Sitecore.Context class. This context file contains information about current user, current site and the current item being requested.
Through Sitecore Rocks, creating a pipeline is simple. Just follow below steps:
Publishing:
To publish an item, Right click on that item and choose “Publishing” option available under “Tools” on the context menu. As we click on Publishing, it will display publishing sub menu in three region.Top region contains the following publishing options for the current item.
Publish Item,
Publish Item and Dependencies
Publish Item and Sub items
Middle region contains Incremental Publish Database, Smart Publish Database, Republish Database and Rebuild Publishing Target Database.
Bottom region contains Advanced Publishing.
Few shortcuts available in Sitecore Rocks are:
CTRL+SHIFT+SPACE –commandy to search a command.
CTRL+ U –to know about presentation detail or design layout about an item.
CTRL+ALT+D –to create a duplicate item
CTRL+A –to create a new item
CTRL+E –to open a template associated with an item
CTRL+L –to locate current item in Sitecore Explorer
CTRL+R –to reload an item opened on visual studio.
CTRL+T –to show template in content tree of the Sitecore Explorer.
Once Sitecore Rocks got installed, we will see a Sitecore menu in visual studio. Click on this Sitecore menu and choose “Sitecore Start Page” from sub menu. Sitecore Start Page will get opened in visual studio IDE.
Sitecore Start Page contains below four sections:
Get Started: We’ll find information links about “how to create a new sitecore website and “setting and configuration in web.config”
Content: We’ll find information links for managing content items and media assets. Also provides links for publishing the content and for viewing information about publishing.
Developing: This section provides information links for Querying, Deployment and Serialization.
System: This section provides information links for maintenance and system activities.
Designing and Using Templates:
To design a new template, First locate the section under “Templates” node available in content tree.
Then right click on that section, choose “New Template” option from context menu.
“Add New Item” pop up will prompt us to enter template name. Just enter a Template name and click ok.
A new .template file will get opened in a new tab in visual studio to design a template.
First this file will ask us to enter Section Name. As we enter section name, it will ask us further to enter fields and field’s details.
On this .template file, we can notice few new features:
Validations Drop down allows us to set field validations.
Data Source and Build Button in a field: Allow us to write data source query directly into the textbox and save the template. Sitecore Rocks has given us a facility for constructing data sources using “Build”. When we click on Build, it will open a Builder to create datasources.
If we do right click on anywhere on this .template file, the context menu will show us below features:
Set Icon: Will open a popup to choose an icon to set on template.
Set Base Template: used to set a template as base template.
Creating, Editing and Deleting Content Items:
– To create an item, just go to that section where we want to create, Right click on that section, Choose “Add” option available in context Menu.
– To delete an item, just go to that item which we want to delete, Right click on that, Choose “Delete” option available in context Menu. We can also delete that item just by hitting delete key on keyboard.
– To edit an item, just go to that item which we want to Edit, Right click on that, Choose “Edit” option available in context Menu.
Sitecore Fundamental 