Adding the PDF Converter to non standard Document and Form Libraries

Wow, we are on a roll, this is our 5th PDF Converter for SharePoint related posting in a week. All the great feedback we are getting is providing us with plenty of encouragement to keep writing more.

Just in case you have missed it, the following postings were released in the last week. Check them out if they sound interesting.

• PDF Converter 3.0 for SharePoint - Convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, InfoPath

• Troubleshooting InfoPath to PDF Conversion / Document Converter Architecture

• Automatically convert files to PDF using an e-mail enabled SharePoint Document Library

• Troubleshooting steps for the PDF Converter for SharePoint

OK, enough with the cross promotion. Today’s article is a relatively brief one that describes how to add the PDF Converter ‘context menus’ to non standard SharePoint Document and Form Libraries.

We were contacted by a customer the other day who was wondering why the PDF Converter options don’t show up in the Context Menu of his Document Library. We quickly found out that the SharePoint Site in Question is using the NHS Solution Enabler for Policies and Procedures, which uses 11210 as the Template ID.

Our Administration Guide contains a useful section about how to manually enable the PDF Converter Context menu on a custom Document Library. The relevant section is repeated below.

The PDF Converter automatically adds context menus to regular Document Libraries (Registration ID = 101) and Form Libraries (Registration ID = 115). If you are using a custom Document Library, e.g. the NHS Solution Enabler for Policies and Procedures, then the Registration ID will need to be added to the PDF Converter Configuration File.

The Registration ID for custom Document Libraries can be added as follows:

1. Determine the ID of the custom Document Library:

   • Click on ‘View All Site Content’.

   • Click the ‘Create’ button.

   • Select the Document Library or list you need the ID for.

   • On the next page the URL contains a value for ListTemplate. This is the same value as the Registration ID.

2. On each Web Front End Server edit the following file in Notepad:

   C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\Muhimbi.PDFConverter\elements.xml

3. This file contains two CustomAction elements with a Registration ID of 101. Make a copy of each Custom Action in the same file and change the RegistrationID attribute to the new ID found as part of step #1.

4. Save the file and unload the Application Pool or perform an IISRESET. Note that the same change will need to be carried out whenever an update to the PDF Converter is installed.

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