SharePoint Workshop

SharePoint Class at ITM

This course defines what Web Parts are and how they are used in SharePoint. The main components of a typical Web Part and different ways to access the contents of Web Parts will be detailed.

This course prepare students to make significant customization to Windows SharePoint Services in order to meet the needs of their organization's Windows SharePoint Services successful deployment. This course will give IT Professionals a jump-start on how to install, configure, administer, use, customize and develop for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003. It is intended for administrators, developers, Webmasters and others who need to acquire these skills.

The course teaches SharePoint development skills by having the students work through an application development project for a fictitious company. The course will also focus on teaching the mechanics of installing, configuring and administering SPS 2003 and WSS using Microsoft's virtual PC for developers in oder to acquire the required skills and the fundamentals for developing business applications with SharePoint 2003.
Student learning will be facilitated through a combination of instructor presentations and written lab exercises.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the concepts and terminologies that are unique to SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services.
• Understand the technical architecture and system requirements for SPS 2003 and WSS.
• Install and configure SPS 2003 and WSS in a single-server deployment
• Use the basic Web Parts that come with the portal "out-of-the-box"
• Understand how SPS 2003 and WSS integrate with Office 2003
• Understand the development features of SPS 2003 and WSS
• How to modify the WSS "look and feel" to achieve a custom brand utilizing SharePoint Cascading Style Sheets
• Create new web parts, access databases from web parts, access web services from web parts, Create Part-to-part connections
• Install web parts on servers, Creating a CAB files to package and deploy web part packages.
• Development and deployment of a custom web part that will allow the user to edit, from within SharePoint, customer data that is contained in the corporate application's SQL Server database, will be using VS.NET and SharePoint Web Part Templates

Agenda
Each day there will be a combination of presentations, code walk-throughs, and hands-on projects. The final project incorporates everything we've covered during the course.

SharePoint Class Outline

This module covers the fundamental constructs of SharePoint Products and Technologies 2003. It is necessary to understand the out-of-the-box functionality of the SharePoint platform in order to have a common understanding and vocabulary regarding the objects we will be working with.

Objects covered include: Site Collections, Top Site, Sub Sites, Site Templates, Web Parts, Areas, Area Templates (Contents, Topics, News, Sites, Directory, and Community), Workspaces (Document and various Meeting), Listings, Audiences, My Site (and other My stuff Web Parts), SPS Search, and more:

A great Windows SharePoint Services site deployment cannot be achieved without proper end-user SharePoint training. In order to provide excellent support of the product, you will step into the end-user shoes.

For first few classes, you wear the hat of the end-users and will learn how to use the portal, how to work with documents, how to administrate a site and how to leverage the features in Office 2003 to enhance collaboration and productivity.

Introduction

• Windows SharePoint Services Versus SharePoint Portal Server 2003
• Overview of WSS 2003
• Basic Features of a SharePoint Site
• Creating a Top-Level WSS Site
• Overview of SPS 2003
• Creating an SPS Portal
• Feature Differences between WSS/SPS

The Underlying SharePoint Framework

So, what if SharePoint doesn't provision sites the way that you would like it to? Modifying a few of the underlying XML files can have a dramatic impact. In this module we explore the underlying Site Definition XML files and Custom Templates. Once we understand what Microsoft is doing here, we create our own Site Definitions, Site Templates, and List Templates. Frequently, when you know how something works you can overcome difficulties that present themselves that you would otherwise be unable to even understand. At least you'll know your options. We also learn about how SharePoint works within IIS to respond to a page request, managed paths, the "60" hive, ghosted pages, the underlying database entities and the like:

• SharePoint Architecture
• SharePoint Templates/Definitions
• SharePoint Databases and Tables

The Data View Web Part

This module introduces the student to the raw power of the generic Data View Web Part. Data-driven Web sites in FrontPage 2003 are enabled by the Windows SharePoint Services Data Retrieval Service and support a complete set of WYSIWYG tools for creating and modifying XSLT Data Views. These Data Views include industry-standard reporting tools for sorting, grouping, filtering, and conditionally formatting data. You can use these tools to create high quality, dynamic Web pages for presenting live data:

• Data Driven vs. Static Web Sites
• The Data Source Catalog
• Converting an Existing Web Part
• Creating Your Own Standard Views
• Displaying SharePoint Data
• Displaying Data in other SharePoint Sites
• Displaying Data in Any Other Data Store
• Manipulating the XSL
• Conditional Formatting

Building Web Parts – The Basics

You know how you want information presented but none of the techniques introduced thus far fit the bill. This module covers why, when, and how you construct your own Web Parts including a step by step approach that increases the likelihood you won't forget anything:

• Introduction to Web Parts for Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies
• Purpose of a VS.NET Web Part?
• Web Part Framework
• Contrasting the Web Part Template for VS.NET
• Create a VS.NET Web Part in 10 Easy Steps

Building Web Parts – Deployment Options

Once a Web Part is constructed there are several tedious steps that must be taken to make it available to your users. Deploying DLLs to various destinations, versioning, DWP files, other dependent Web Part resources, strong naming and safe controls, web.config alterations, STSADM, etc. This module covers ways in which we can simplify that deployment and reduce the likelihood of human error:

• Creating another Web Part
• Altering the Manifest.xml file
• Adding a CAB Project
• Deploying
• Testing

Building Web Parts - Debugging

Murphy said it best, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” That said, we better investigate how we can try to see what exactly is going wrong with the Web Parts that we build:

• Setting Up Your System
• Setting Breakpoints
• Attaching to the ASP.NET process
• Debugging
• Stopping the Debugger
• Trace

Building Web Parts – User Controls

What happened to my wonderful WYSIWYG development environment? Now I have no choice but to code every GUI element by hand? User Controls to the rescue. In this module, we cover how you can consume a User Controls from within a Web Part and the deployment implications associated with doing it.

• Server Controls vs. User Controls
• Create User Control
• Consume User Control as Web Part

Building Web Parts – Custom Properties

The Web Part Framework provides a powerful Task Pane for collecting user input. Our Web Parts can respond that properties collected there. In this module we explore all seven types of properties we can use:

• Default vs. Custom Properties
• Supported Datatypes
• Interactive Demonstration
• Declaration
• Public Accessor Attributes
• Public Accessors
• Serializable Public Property
• RenderWebPart

Building Web Parts – Custom Tool Parts

What if those seven are not sufficient? The Web Part Framework allows us to create our own section in the Task Pane for collecting unique user input. In this module we explore create a Web Part that implements its own Tool Part:

• Custom Tool Parts
• Interactive Demonstration
• Add ToolPart Class
• Override GetToolParts

Building Web Parts – Connections

One of the coolest features of Web Parts is the ability of Vendor agnostic Web parts to flexibly exchange basic types of structured information with each other. Like an RCA or SVideo jack, you can create interfaces that allow your Web Part to participate in that functionality. Be aware, this is our most advanced coding effort:

• Connection Concepts
• Connection Scenarios
• Connection Framework
• Connection Web Part

SharePoint Object Model

To accomplish many of the things that we will want to do in our Web Parts we will need to interact with data that has been captured using SharePoint. Microsoft has provided a rich API for SharePoint developers. We explore the object models that are available to us. And who hasn’t heard that XML Web Services are the future? We explore SharePoint's own set of Web Services for developers to take advantage of:

• SPS Object Model
• WSS Object Model
• SPS Web Services
• WSS Web Services
• Use a Data View to consume a SharePoint Web Service
• Using a VS.NET Web Part to consume a Web Service

Total Cost of this individual course is $1200.00 (includes code hand-outs/project).
Note: You can always “repeat” the classes you have taken earlier (provided seats are available)

Student Pre-Requisites

The technical student should be familiar with IIS. You should be familiar with general programming in Visual Studio .NET. It is not required that you be a .NET guru, but as always the more background you bring to the table the more you benefit. If you are not up to speed with .NET, C#, or VB.NET, I believe you will find those sections dealing with them fascinating, inspiring, and of course challenging.

Everything in Microsoft is evolving toward total and complete adoption of the .NET platform and its various languages. This is an ideal place to take-a-look, even if it’s a bit over the top for you at the moment.

We provide an overview of SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS). The more you understand about SharePoint out-of-the-box, the easier it will be for you to bend those rules.

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