Beyond Web Parts: Rapid Web Application Development Using Windows SharePoint Services 3'0

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Beyond Web Parts Rapid Web Application
Development using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Nadeem Mitha, MCTS (WSS App Dev) Infusion
Development nmitha_at_infusiondev.com http//home.inf
usionblogs.com/nmitha
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Overview

• The advantages of leveraging SharePoint lists
• The approach at a high level
• The basics (no code required)
• Rolling up sleeves (some code required)
• Common reusable customizations
• Application-specific custom tailoring
• Options for reporting

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Why Build Your Web Application on Windows
SharePoint Services?
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Why Build Your Web App on WSS?

• Common answer WSS lets you integrate document
  libraries, discussions and other SharePoint
  entities into your web application
• In other words, applications built on SharePoint
  are for collaboration.

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Why Build Your Web App on WSS?

• We can leverage more from WSS. Think Lists
• User-manageable content types
• Provide Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete
  (CRUD) functionality and search w/o code
• Security model and auditing w/o code
• Inheritance, item-level ACLs, security groups
  with ability to designate owners, draft item
  security, limit user to modifying only items they
  create

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Why Build Your Web App on WSS?

• Lists offer even more
• Web services and RSS w/o code
• Recovery support via recycle bin w/o code
• Content approval, version history, alert
  notifications and workflow w/o code
• Support for creating and saving personal views
  w/o code
• Integration with Excel w/o code

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Common Developer Myths about Customizing
SharePoint
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Myths

• Myth 1 Customizing SharePoint amounts to writing
  custom web parts
• Myth 2 Its hard to force SharePoint do anything
  differently, or do something it cant do OOTB

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The Approach
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The Approach

• Define entities as content types
• Entity properties site columns
• Relate entities via lookup columns
• Attach content types to lists, enable and
  leverage desired list features
• Write or reuse customizations that provide base
  functionality and glue

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The Approach

• Use event receivers, workflows, custom context
  menu actions or web parts as a means to kick off
  custom code for business logic
• Use the Object Model to make things happen in
  SharePoint

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SharePoint 2003? forget about it
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WSS 2.0 Wont Work

• WSS 2.0 event receiver framework is too
  inadequate
• WSS 2.0 has no OOTB workflow support
• WSS 2.0 does not employ content types
• WSS 2.0 does not support multi-valued lookup
  columns

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The BasicsWhat You Can Do Before You Need
Custom Code
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The Basics

• Use OOTB content type and list functionality
• Define an entity definition as a content type
• Use OOTB field types to create columns for each
  attribute/property of the entity
• Wide selection for basic column types
• Add any calculated columns you might need
• Use inheritance, have a base content type

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Defining an entity using a content type and OOTB
field types
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The Basics

• Introduce lookup columns to relate entities
• Real world data has relationships with other data
• WSS 3.0 (SharePoint 2007) now allows multiple
  values to be assigned to a single lookup field
• Allows many-to-many relationships
• Myth Lookup columns only work for lists on the
  same site (SPWeb)
• Not true create the lookup column on the site
  containing the list, then use the column in any
  sub-site of that site

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Relating entities using lookup columns
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The Basics

• Count Related feature of the lookup column
• Column value will display the number of items in
  another list that link to the current item
• Example
• List of Status Reports
• Each Status Report linked to a Project using
  lookup
• Each Project can show of associated Status
  Reports when you define a lookup column on
  Projects (into Status Reports) has a display
  field with the text (Count Related) selected

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The Basics

• Content types can be packaged for reuse and
  deployment by using the feature framework
• Well-documented
• Can define your content type in the UI and
  extract the XML markup (CAML) for creating the
  feature

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Time to go beyond OOTB
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Advanced Columns and Custom Field Types

• Computed columns
• Render HTML based on CAML markup
• Three deployment options Object Model
  (AddFieldAsXml), web services or feature
  framework
• Good for generating hyperlinks to actions or
  related content
• Tip Computed field can use count related field
  to create link to view showing related entities

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Computed column
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Advanced Columns and Custom Field Types

• Custom field types
• Well-documented
• Validation is straightforward (override
  GetValidatedString method and throw
  SPFieldValidationException when value is invalid)
• Facilitated by Visual Studio template
• Can override controls for editing, rendering
  field and defining column
• Last is free if you have only simple custom
  properties

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Common Reusable Customizations
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Cross-Listing DataImplementing Two-Way
Bidirectional Lookups

• Scenario
• Several Technologies are associated with any
  given Project
• Each Technology item should list all associated
  Projects that use (are associated with) that
  Technology
• This makes it easy to filter the Technologies
  list to show only those Technologies associated
  with a particular Project (similar to a simple
  join)

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Cross-Listing DataImplementing Two-Way
Bidirectional Lookups

• Implementation
• Use the event receiver framework to capture
  ItemAdding and ItemUpdating events on the
  Projects list
• Procedure for creating and registering event
  receivers is well-documented
• Can use a tool such as SharePoint Inspector to
  bind your event receivers (find using Google)

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Cross-Listing DataImplementing Two-Way
Bidirectional Lookups

• Implementation (continued)
• The back reference column on the Technology
  content type can be hidden on just the new and
  edit forms and still visible on the display form
• Method 1 Edit fields CAML (OM, web services or
  in feature definition)
• Method 2 Use tool such as SharePoint Tips
  Utility Pack (find on Google)

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Cross-listing data (bidirectional lookup)
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Site ProvisioningCreating SharePoint Sites
Linked to New List Items

• Scenario
• New Project item is created
• Each Project can (or must) have its own
  associated SharePoint site
• Think Document Workspace, but for list items
• Implementation
• Kick off OM code to create site using event
  receiver, or using context menu action on list
  item

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Site ProvisioningCreating SharePoint Sites
Linked to New List Items

• Implementation (continued)
• Site can carry reference to the associated list
  item by storing list item ID or title in site
  property bag
• Can allow unpriveleged users to create these
  sites using SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPriveleges
• Note must use context URLs to instantiate new
  SPWeb object in the elevated code method since
  any existing SPWeb (e.g., from context) will
  carry over users restricted permissions

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Creating site linked to new list item
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List View Filtered by ContextDisplaying View of
List in a Sub-Site, Specific to the Sites
Associated List Item

• Scenario
• Homepage of Project site must show list of all
  Technologies associated with the project
• The related Technologies list should show
  additional properties of each Technology
• Method 1 Page Viewer
• Page Viewer to show list, querystring to filter
• Custom aspx to show list without chrome (Google
  PrintList.aspx

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List View Filtered by ContextDisplaying View of
List in a Sub-Site, Specific to the Sites
Associated List Item

• Method 2 Remote List View Web Part
• Custom or third party web part
• Free implementation at KWizCom.com
• Can code connections support, or build filtering
  into web part
• List viewer looks at property bag for filtering
  data
• Method 3 Data View Web Part
• Well-documented
• No need to unghost (can export/import web part)

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List View Filtered by Context
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Populating Form Values by ContextPre-Selecting
Values in New Forms Based on Where New was
Clicked

• Scenario
• List of Technologies on your Project homepage has
  an Add New Technology link at the bottom
• User expects added technology to be associated
  with current project
• Implementation
• Add querystring parameter to the Add New
  hyperlink
• AssociatedProjectltThe Project Namegt

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Populating Form Values by ContextPre-Selecting
Values in New Forms Based on Where New was
Clicked

• Implementation (continued)
• Use JavaScript on NewForm.aspx to select the
  appropriate project based on the querystring
  parameter
• One option for adding JavaScript is to add custom
  web part to NewForm.aspx (or content editor web
  part)
• Append ToolPaneView2 querystring parameter
• Other options for adding JavaScript master page,
  custom.js

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Pre-selected value in New Form based on context
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Application-Specific Custom Tailoring
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Customizing the List Item Context Menu

• Appears when the drop-down arrow in the Title
  field is clicked
• Easiest use is to redirect user to an aspx page
  while passing the list item ID as a parameter
• Example CreateSite.aspx?AssociatedItemId3
• JavaScript-based. Google CAMOpt and look at
  CORE.js for examples.
• Local or global change possible

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Customizing the OOTB New/Edit Forms

• Create and use custom field types
• Edit or replace NewForm.aspx and/or EditForm.aspx
• Change on a per list basis using ToolPaneView2
• Can use OM to switch these pages at a content
  type level
• Fields can be modified to be hidden from New or
  Edit forms as necessary

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Reporting
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Customizing the OOTB New/Edit Forms

• Could be a lengthy presentation on its own
• For now, just know that you have several options
• Option 1 OOTB Access or Excel integration (pivot
  tables, etc)
• Option 2 Create usable views of list data in
  SQL, then use with SQL Reporting Services,
  Crystal Reports, etc (contact me for C script)
• Option 3 Third-party solution

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Questions?
Nadeem Mitha, MCTS (WSS App Dev) Infusion
Development nmitha_at_infusiondev.com http//home.inf
usionblogs.com/nmitha