RPT Software - List Rollup Webpart Overview

The RPTSoftware - List Rollup webpart is a very powerful webparts designed to display information from other lists/libraries.  You can use the webpart anywhere in your Sharepoint environment (Portal page, Area, Sub-Area, WSS site, WSS sub side) and it can pull information from any list or library that exists.  The webpart provides a new section in the webpart toolpane called “List Rollup Options” with the following properties:

Which Lists (XML)?
This property is used to define the various lists/libraries, the columns of data, the filtering, the sorting options and the grouping options.  It is just a simple text property that you need to provide an XML file containing the information.  See below for examples of usage.

XSL Transformation
This property is used to supply an XSL transformation which convert the intermediate XML generated by this webpart into nice looking HTML.  We provide example XSL for generating a typical HTML list with expanding/collapsing sections as well as an example to generate a Sharepoint calendar.  By default if you leave this property blank it uses the list.xsl, however we give you the flexibility to change the XSL for your own needs. 

Header (Optional)
This property is used to provide a header above the generated list.

Debug?
This checkbox is used to switch to Debug mode (which shows the intermediate XML generated) for use in working with XSL files.

Cache Timeout (in minutes)
This property is used to cache output and speed display of information.  For big rollups used on high traffic areas you may want to provide some level of caching.  0 minutes indicates NO caching.

Example of using the RPTSoftware – List Rollup webpart

1. First you install the webpart into your Sharepoint environment.  See documenation in the evaluation for details.
2. Add the webpart to a webpart page using the typical method of modifying the page and dragging the webpart to the desired location.  See documentation in the evaluation for details.
3. Now you are ready to specify property values to make this webpart work:
   
   We need to provide data to the “Which Lists (XML)?” property to tell the webpart how to retrieve the data and optionally we can provide data for the “XSL Transformation” property.
   - Let's assume we want to use the default XSL, so we leave this property blank.
   - Next we build the XML file needed for the “Which Lists (XML)?” property.  Let’s assume we want to rollup information about three different events from three different sites onto one summary site, show a few column of information, group by event type and sort by event date. For this example this XML would work (Note: I used generic site and list names):

<document>
   <lists>
      <list>
         <site.url>http://MyPortal/sites/site1/default.aspx</site.url>
         <site.list.name>Event List1</site.list.name>
      </list>              
      <list>
         <site.url>http://MyPortal/sites/site2/default.aspx</site.url>
         <site.list.name>Event List2</site.list.name>
      </list>              
      <list>
         <site.url>http://MyPortal/sites/site3/default.aspx</site.url>
         <site.list.name>Event List3</site.list.name>
   </lists>
   <cols>
      <col>
         <col.name>EventName</col.name>
         <col.title>Event</col.title>
         <col.format>text</col.format>
      </col>
         <col.name>Event Description</col.name>
         <col.title>Description</col.title>
         <col.format>text</col.format>
      </col>
      <col>
         <col.name>Event Date</col.name>
         <col.title>Date</col.title>
         <col.format>datetime</col.format>
      </col>
   </cols>
   <sortcols>
      <sortcol>
         <sortcol.name>Event Date</sortcol.name>
         <sortcol.sort>D</sortcol.sort>
      </sortcol>
   </sortcols>
   <groupcols>
      <groupcol>
         <groupcol.name>Event Type</groupcol.name>
         <groupcol.title>Event Type</groupcol.title>
         <groupcol.sort>A</groupcol.sort>
    </groupcols>
</document>

The XML has 4 sections:
 -    <lists>  is used to provide specifics about which list(s) to use
 -     <cols>  is used to provide specifics about which columns to use
 -     <sortcols> is used to provide specifics about which columns to sort by
 -     <groupcols> is used to provide specifics about which columns to group by

Note: This is a very basic example of usage.  There are numerous options that control filtering of data, formatting of columns etc…, please see the Usage guide in the evaluation for a more complete understanding of all the power of the RPTSoftware – List Rollup Webpart.