A countdown for tasks lists

A common request for tasks lists is to display the number of days left until the due date. Generally speaking, there’s a need among business users to include today’s date in formulas.

In a previous post I have analyzed a method – the “Today” trick – and shown its limits. In this post I am going to describe a different method, using the Data View Web Part and JavaScript.

Your First Data View Web Part

Note: using the Data View Web Part in SharePoint 2007 requires SharePoint Designer (SPD), the Microsoft Web editor successor of FrontPage.

Introduction

The Data View Web Part (DVWP) allows you to modify the look and feel of displayed data. The data is usually pulled from a SharePoint document library or list, or from an XML source (XML file, RSS, Web Service, etc.).

Of all the SharePoint tools made available to end users, the DVWP is certainly the most powerful.

A simple drop-down menu, the SharePoint way

SharePoint comes with buit-in drop-down menus. To view the scripts in action in SharePoint 2007, open a SharePoint page in your browser, open the source (view > source), and search for this tag:
<td class=”ms-siteactionsmenu” id=”siteactiontd”>
It contains the “Site Actions” menu of your page.

You can leverage this code for your own needs. For SharePoint 2003, several blogs covered this topic, here is my favorite:

Calculated columns: the (useless?) “Today” trick

There’s a well known SharePoint trick that allows you to use [Today] (the current date) in calculated columns. You’ll find several posts that explain it, here is for example a recent one:
http://abstractspaces.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/use-today-and-me-in-calculated-column/

There are some limitations to this trick:

The Content Editor Web Part

The Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) allows you to add text, html, scripts or styles to a SharePoint page. Its versatility makes it a favorite among Web designers.

The fpweb.net site offers a tutorial on how to add a CEWP to a page:
http://www.fpweb.net/sharepoint-tutorials/ContentEditorWebPart.asp

The CEWP has two edit options:

About SharePoint Calculated Columns

Calculated columns – An example

By adding a calculated column to a list or library, you can create a formula that includes data from other columns and performs functions to calculate dates and times, to perform mathematical equations, or to manipulate text. For example, on a tasks list, you can use a column to calculate the number of days it takes to complete each task, based on the Start Date and Date Completed columns.
(Excerpt from the Microsoft Web site)

Let me use this Microsoft example to walk you through the setup of calculated columns.