Enabling CAML Filtering Mode for Data View Web Parts

Our CAML Filtering Mode brings outstanding filtering capabilities to SharePoint Filter Web Parts targeting out-of-box Document Library and List Views:

• Apply filter operators such as Contains to achieve wildcard-like search behaviour, or Greater/Less to easily implement date-span or other value-range filtering for SharePoint Lists
• Control display of folders, built-in filtering drop-downs and grouping
• Cascading drop-down List filters

The good news is that we offer this for built-in List Views.

The great news is that you can also have all of these benefits for your XSLT Data View Web Parts! (If, and only if, they are bound to a SharePoint List — we don't call it the CAML Filtering Mode for nothing.)

The not-so-terribly-bad news is that a few setup steps are required to make this work. In this article I'll show you:

How to make your Filter Web Part Connection to a XSLT Data View

1. First, of course, add your XSLT Data View Web Part — either the well-known way via SharePoint Designer or by importing a previously exported Web Part file.
2. Open its settings tool-pane (Modify Shared Web Part in the browser, or Web Part Properties in SharePoint Designer) and expand the Miscellaneous section:
   1. Un-check the Send first row to connected Web Parts when page loads check-box option
   2. Un-check the Enable Data View Caching check-box option
   3. Set the Data View Caching Time-out option to 1 (but not 0!)
   4. Save your changes.
3. Add a FilterZen Web Part (in the browser), but do not set up a Web Part connection just yet.
4. Instead, start setting up your filters. (If you have never worked with these before, spend at least 10-20 minutes experimenting in order to get used to this, or read through our documentation and blog articles.)
5. You can already enable the CAML Filtering mode for the FilterZen Web Part at this point so that some of the more advanced features become available.
6. In the FilterZen Web Part settings tool-pane, in the Advanced Filtering Settings section at the bottom, there's a drop-down list labelled Allow the Connection type 'Send Transformable Values' for... — simply select any one of your filters, in this particular context it doesn't matter which, they will still all work.
7. Connect to your XSL Data View Web Part, using the last of the connection types being offered: Send Transformable 'YourFilterName' Values to...
8. Update 5/28/2010: steps 6 and 7 are no longer required, we just simplified this procedure and you can now simply connect using the default Send filter values connection type:
   1. In the Connection Properties pop-up dialog that you'll now see, on the Choose Connection tab, select Get filters values from.
   2. Click Configure and on the Configure Connection tab, select the Consumer Field Name that matches the Provider Field Name being displayed.
   3. Click Finish

That's all there is to it. If the results are not what you expected, don't hesitate to , as usual we'll happily help you swiftly and effectively.