1. Developing Data Driven SharePoint Solutions
David Gristwood
Developer & Platform Group

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. What is InfoPath? A new program in Microsoft Office System 2003
Included in Office 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Data Driven SharePoint Sites with Blogs, Charts, InfoPath

12. © 2004 Microsoft Limited. All rights reserved.
This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.