Developing Data Driven SharePoint Solutions David Gristwood Developer & Platform Group davidgri@microsoft.com http://blogs.msdn.com/David_Gristwood
Developing Data Driven SharePoint Solutions SharePoint is excellent integration point for many data sources Databases Web services XML feeds, such as blogs InfoPath electronic forms Web Part support for these Data Views, XML FrontPage 2003
FrontPage 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services Going beyond the browser and WSS Work with Web Part pages Bring external data into SharePoint High quality page design Extend Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server
FrontPage 2003 Extending SharePoint Web sites Expand the scope of SharePoint sites XSLT Data View Web Part for creating highly formatted views on XML data Conditional Formatting for rich presentation of data Hide, change fonts, colours, etc Connected Data Views for detailed solution pages eg. master-details views
Blogs and RSS Many blogs now expose RSS feed Blog data as XML conforming to RSS schema RSS aggregators collate these feeds Custom client apps E.g. SharpReader, Pluck, NewsGator, etc Portals SharePoint can act as aggregator Surface relevant RSS feeds on site Links back to original article Standard XML or custom Web Part
What is InfoPath? A new program in Microsoft Office System 2003 Included in Office 2003 Pro/Ent Editions Available standalone A desktop application The platform for a new generation of electronic forms SP1 supports Visual Studio .NET and managed code
Why Electronic Forms? Forms drive business processes Inefficiencies and inaccurate information cause significant negative downstream effects Forms hide the complexities of processes Electronic information capture helps streamline the complex processes sitting behind forms Forms are everywhere People in your organization are inundated by forms – expense reports, benefit statements, etc.
Example Scenario – Workgroup Team / Department Status Report Before InfoPath With InfoPath Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint™ Services (WSS) InfoPath 2003 Inconsistent input methods Difficult to keep track of status Painful to reconcile info across team Hard to share info among team Rich, dynamic InfoPath form Consistent, accurate, timely info Readily accessible Easy to aggregate via WSS
How InfoPath Stands Out – Collecting Information Rich validation based on embedded business rules UI elements speed data acquisition; date picker, auto-fill Ability to collect images Support for rich text collection, including numbered and bulleted lists Support for optional and repeating sections, that allow the form to adapt Support for offline use
How InfoPath Stands Out – Integrating With Other Systems Can pre-populate data from multiple backend systems Can validate data against backend systems Tools in the designer allow integration with other systems and XML web services without programming
Data Driven SharePoint Sites with Blogs, Charts, InfoPath
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