SharePoint 4 Developers

Hi folks,

This is my debut post of a new section called Troubleshooting. In this section we are going to check out some messages and errors that are displayed when utilizing Sharepoint, an approach in the point of view of a user and administrator.

I believe this section will help everybody with a full solution, thereby avoiding to waste hours investigating problems.

Today I´m presenting a message that is displayed due to a problem with the Microsoft Office installed in the client machine.

Some time ago a client showed me this message when trying to create new documents in a Document Library (Shared Documents):

The document could not be created.
The required application may not be installed properly, or the template for this document library cannot be opened.
Please try the following:
1. Check the General Settings for this document library for the name of the template, and install the application necessary for opening the template. If the application was set to install on first use, run the application and then try creating a new document again.
2. If you have permission to modify this document library, go to General Settings for the library and configure a new template.

Figure 1 – Alert Message

Both options above didn´t solve my problem, because they didn´t fit in the scenario I had.

What to do? I was sure the problem was in the client environment, but so far I didn´t have a solution.

Googling it, I got an idea of possible bugs, but nothing 100% sure. Some comments pointed out the execution of MS Diagnostics tool to get the solution.

Well done!

This issue occurs due to problems in the user machine, like: Setup Installation, RAM failures, disk failures or the lack of upgrades (Service Pack).

Diagnostic Tool

MS Office Diagnostics is available at:

Figure 2 – Microsoft Office Diagnostics Path

Or through the folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12\OFFDIAG.EXE

It is a simple application, that can be executed in few steps “Next, Next, Finish”.

Figure 3 – Initial Screen

Basically some verification is performed:

· Check for known solutions – Analyses the recent cases in which MS Office had problems and search for known solutions.

· Memory Diagnostic – Analyses RAM integrity.

· Compatibility Diagnostic – Analyses different installed versions of MS Office and possible conflicts.

· Disk Diagnostic – Analyses logs and monitoring tools to find failures.

· Setup Diagnostic – Analyses files and register settings related to the MS Office installation.

Figure 4 – Presentation of items to be checked out

As the application runs, some status messages are displayed according Figure 5, which can be verified through this link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/visio/HA011863431033.aspx

Figure 5 – Verification

After executing (it can take a while), a summarization shows all repairs done (in my machine nothing was found), according Figure 6:

Figure 6 – Summarization

In order to view the problems found in details, click Detailed results.

If a problem is found, it will be repaired and the button Continue won´t be displayed. Just the button Close will be available.

Once you click over the button Continue, a web page is loaded according Figure 7:

Figure 7 – Loading Web Page

This is the page that is going to be displayed.

The querystring of the link above can vary (e.g: ShowHelp), hence the items in exhibition.

Hope this helps,

References:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA012340761033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/visio/HA011863431033.aspx

Cheers,

Marcel Medina

Click here to read the same content in Portuguese.