Packaging Your Advanced SharePoint Customizations

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Packaging Your Advanced SharePoint Customizations

• Neil Iversen
• Inetium
• http//justaddcode.com

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Solution Basics

• At its core, a solution pushes files around
• The File Bus of SharePoint
• Farm Safe Works across Front Ends
• Deployed to the Farm

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Solution Life Cycle High Level
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Features

• Deployable unit of functionality
• Used to customize SharePoint
• Extensively used by SharePoint itself
• Stored in the Hive
• 12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES
• Each feature in its own directory

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Feature Lifecycle
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Types of Features

• Content Type
• Custom Action
• Delegate Controls
• Events
• Feature Stapling
• Field
• Lists (Templates and Instances)
• Module
• Workflow

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Why do I need this fancy packaging?

• You need something that isnt available in the
  OOB Features
• The OOB Features do/dont do something you need
• You are deploying something outside of SharePoint
• And you still care about change control

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• Individual Developer Environments
• Developers build functionality into
  features/solutions

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Feature Receivers

• Executes code when the state changes
• Key to our ability to make drastic changes
• If you can code it you can do it
• Allows for extremely powerful code to get added
• While still being easily deployable
• Overrides
• FeatureInstalled, FeatureUninstalling
• FeatureActivated, FeatureDeactivating
• Example
• ltFeature Id"0a7e1ca9-ee71-4407-80a0-b5b57f4f6f5d"
  
• TitleMy Feature Reciever"
• Scope"Site"
• ReceiverAssemblyMyAssembly, Version1.0.0.0,
  Cultureneutral, PublicKeyTokene35a4d2663eae0ae"
  ReceiverClassMyAssembly.MyFeatureReciever"
• xmlns"http//schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"gt
  

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Feature Receivers Getting Context

• Getting Context
• Retrieving the Current Scoped Object
• SPFeatureReceiverProperties
• SPFeatureReceiverProperties.Feature.Parent
• Cast to the appropriate type
• Scope Web
• SPWeb web (SPWeb)properties.Feature.Parent
• SPSite site (SPSite)properties.Feature.Parent

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Scopes

• Farm
• Web App
• Site
• Web

Database
http//sitecollection
http//external
http//sitecollection/deptA
http//external/clientA
http//sitecollection/deptB
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Demo Our first Custom Feature
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Feature Receivers - Debugging

• Based on Deployment/Activation Method
• Stsadm
• Runs as currently logged in user
• Debug/Console.WriteLine
• System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch()
• Web Interface
• Runs as App Pool user
• Need to use logger (EventLog, or some Logging
  code)
• Attach to w3wp.exe
• DLL Deployment
• Overwrite Existing DLL
• iisreset
• stsadm o activatefeature -force

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Testing Your Code

• Unit Testing Features
• Pretty straight forward if you Develop on a
  SharePoint environment
• Probably want to ignore your abstraction
  violations (SharePoint mocks are tough)
• Always test Farm/Scope safety
• Need a multi server environment
• Can you make it part of your build?

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Feature Object Model

• SPFarm.FeatureDefinitions
• SPSite.Features
• SPWeb.Features
• SPFeature
• SPFeatureDefinition

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Demo Exploring the Feature OM
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Feature Properties

• Configuration for your Feature
• Allow different values for Dev/Test/Prod
• Combine with scoped property bags to set
  configurations
• Example
• ltPropertiesgt
• ltProperty KeyMyKey" Value123" /gt
• ltProperty KeyDBServer" Valueprodsql001" /gt
• lt/Propertiesgt

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Demo Working with Properties
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Manually Activating Features

• Why?
• Evade chaining restrictions (at your own peril)
• Working with Hidden Features
• Manage Stages of a Site with a Web Part
• Creating a Suicide Feature

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Manually Activating a Feature

• Get your Context
• Ex SPWeb
• Find the Feature Collection
• Ex SPWeb.Features
• Find the Features Guid
• Ex Guid featureGuid new Guid(0a7e1ca9-ee71-440
  7-80a0-b5b57f4f6f5d)
• Activate!
• Ex SPWeb.Features.Add(featureGuid)

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Demo Manually Activating Features
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Feature Properties

• Configuration for your Feature
• Allow different values for Dev/Test/Prod
• Combine with scoped property bags to set
  configurations
• Example
• ltPropertiesgt
• ltProperty KeyMyKey" Value123" /gt
• ltProperty KeyDBServer" Valueprodsql001" /gt
• lt/Propertiesgt

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Demo Working with Properties
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Dependencies and Features

• Your Feature might need to assume another feature
  is already active
• Make several smaller features, then wrap them
  into a single feature that is dependant on them
• Dependencies can only be one level deep
• Example
• ltActivationDependenciesgt
• ltActivationDependency FeatureId"52890518-036f-
  4027-babd-f4c7df3ee429" /gt
• ltActivationDependency FeatureId"6d276cfc-1c84-
  46cc-8566-500e66213e06 " /gt
• lt/ActivationDependenciesgt

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Dependency Limitations

• Feature Chains
• Limited to one visible feature
• Dependencies cant be triggered at a higher scope
• Ex Farm Feature cant depend on a Web Feature
• Features cant be automatically activated at
  different scopes
• Ex Web Feature cant activate a Farm Feature

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Feature Dependency
Parent
Dependant
Web Site App Farm
Web
Site
App
Farm
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Hidden Feature
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Hidden Feature Activate Child
1.
2.
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Hidden Feature - Deactivate
2.
1.
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Hidden Feature - Deactivate
3.
1.
2.
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Demo Dependencies are Tasty!
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Putting it Together

• Problem Modifying the web.config in a Farm Safe
  manner
• Solution SPWebConfigModification and Features
• SPWebConfigModification is Farm Safe
• Scoping does become an issuee

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• Not for the faint of heart!

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Demo Farm Safe Web.config
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Getting a little crazy

• What about non-SharePoint assets?
• Databases, other web sites,
• Is there an advantage?
• Depends on reason for creating the Feature
• Most common is Devs cant touch Prod

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Other Interesting Approaches

• Manually Deploy across a Farm
• Create your own Timer Jobs
• Manually add them to the different WFEs
• PowerShell Feature
• Execute PowerShell via a Feature
• PowerShell v2 Scripts
• Has ability to execute remote commands

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Demo Deploying SQL Components
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Your Feedback is Important

• Please fill out a session evaluation form and
  either put them in the basket near the exit or
  drop them off at the conference registration
  desk.
• Thank you!

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Questions?
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Thanks!

• Neil Iversen
• Inetium
• http//justaddcode.com