Vikas Sid's Blogs

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Disable lookup value links

Disable lookup value links from Display and AllItems page using Jquery

Step 1: Add HTML Webpart on Lists Display or AllItems form page.

Step 2: Add Following code into Source Editor of HTML Form Webpart.

$(function () {

RemoveLookupLinks();

});

function RemoveLookupLinks() {

$('a[href*="RootFolder=*"]').each(function (index) {

var link = $(this);

$(this).after("<span>" + link.text() + "</span>");

$(this).remove();

});

//below code used if you selected multiple lookup values in the column.

var vCity = $('h3:contains("City")').closest('td').next('td').find('a').text();

if (vCity!= undefined || vCity!= "") {

$('h3:contains("City")').closest('td').next('td').find('a').after("<span>" + vCity + "</span>");

$('h3:contains("City")').closest('td').next('td').find('a').remove();

}

</script>

Step 3: Save the Webpart and open Display form of list. The Lookup links disabled from display form.

Hide Created By and Modified By Bottom information from Display form or Edit form of SharePoint List using Jquery.

Step 1: Add HTML Webpart on Lists Display or Edit form page. (Dispform.aspx)

Step 2: Add Following code into Source Editor of HTML Form Webpart.

$(function () {

HideBottomInformation();

});

function HideBottomInformation() {

$('#onetidinfoblockV').css("display", "none");

$('#onetidinfoblock1').css("display", "none");

$('#onetidinfoblock2').css("display", "none");

$('#onetidinfoblockV').hide();

$('#onetidinfoblock1').hide();

$('#onetidinfoblock2').hide();

}

</script>

Step 3: Save the Webpart and open Display form of list. The Bottom information hidden from display form.

Search SharePoint List Items using OOB

SharePoint List Dynamic Search using Jquery.

Step 1: Add HTML Webpart on List view page. (AllItems.aspx)

Step 2: Add Following code into Source Editor of HTML Form Webpart.

<table>

<tr>

<td class='Filter' width='90px' style="color:#1b3f97;font-weight:bold;">Search:</td><td class='Filter' width='125px'> <input type="Text" id="filterInput" ></td>

</tr>

</table>

</div>

$(function () {

$('#filterInput').keyup(function () {

DynamicFilter($('#filterInput').val());

});

function DynamicFilter(text) {

$('table[class="ms-listviewtable"]').find('tr').each(function () {

if ($(this).attr("class") != "ms-viewheadertr ms-vhltr") {

source = stripHTML($(this).html());

if ((source.toLowerCase()).indexOf(text.toLowerCase()) < 0) {

$(this).hide();

} else {

$(this).show();

}

});

}

function stripHTML(field) {

return field.replace(/<([^>]+)>/g, '');

}

</script>

Step 3: The Text box appear on the top of list view.

Enter the search Text into Search Textbox. The Entered text searching into list view webpart.

Advantages:

1. This is OOB functionality, Server access not needed.

2. Fast and simple to implement.

Limitations:

1. This functionality does not works for paging of list records.

SharePoint List Export To Excel

SharePoint List Custom Export to Excel functionality using Jquery.

Step 1: Add HTML Webpart on List view page. (AllItems.aspx)

Step 2: Add Following code into Source Editor of HTML Form Webpart.

</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="ms-cui-ctl-mediumlabel" unselectable="on">Export view to excel</SPAN></A>

function ExportToExcel(strTableID) {

if ($.browser.msie) {

var detailsTable = document.getElementById(strTableID);

try {

var objExcel = new ActiveXObject("Excel.Application");

if (objExcel == undefined) {

alert("Please go to the 'Tools >> Internet Options >> Security >> Custom Level' and set: \n Automatic prompting for ActiveX control--> Enable \n Download unsigned ActiveX control --> Prompt \n Run ActiveX control and plug-ins --> Enable");

return false;

}

catch (err) {

alert("Please go to the browser setting 'Tools >> Internet Options >> Security >> Custom Level' and set: \n Automatic prompting for ActiveX control--> Enable \n Download unsigned ActiveX control --> Prompt \n Run ActiveX control and plug-ins --> Enable \n Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting --> Prompt");

return false;

}

var objWorkBook = objExcel.Workbooks.Add;

var objWorkSheet = objWorkBook.Worksheets(1);

for (var intRowIndex = 0; intRowIndex < detailsTable.rows.length; intRowIndex++) {

for (var intColumnIndex = 0; intColumnIndex < detailsTable.rows(intRowIndex).cells.length; intColumnIndex++) {

objWorkSheet.Cells(intRowIndex + 1, intColumnIndex + 1) = detailsTable.rows(intRowIndex).cells(intColumnIndex).innerText;

}

objExcel.Visible = true;

objExcel.UserControl = true;

}

else {

alert("Use Internet Explorer browser for Export to excel");

}

</script>

In the above code “{D1E64C5F-EF3D-4E0D-856E-FBEDB6CE2E4E}-{14184870-CBAE-4950-8426-E4F08EE21E9A}” is the ID of Webpart table. Following way you can get this ID.

Step 3: Click on “Export View To Excel” icon.

The following pop-up Alert open, click on Yes button.

Step 4: The List exported to excel.

Advantages:

1. This is OOB functionality, Server access not needed.

2. Fast and simple to implement.

Limitations:

1. This functionality works only IE browser.

2. Next Page of List records does not Exporting to Excel.

3. IE browser’s setting configuration needed. Need to Activate ActiveX control from IE browser as per mentioned in Code.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Retrive ADD UPDATE DELETE List Items using WebService

I’ going to discuss how we can Retrive, ADD, DELETE, UPDATE data from a SharePoint List using its Web Services. First to know about SharePoint Web Services please refer this. We can user List Web Service which provides methods for working with SharePoint Lists, Content Types, List Items, and Files to read a List. Here we are going to use GetListItems method for Retriving List Items and use UpdateListItems method for ADD, UPDATE, DELETE List Items.

To use the above method we should know the GUIDs of the target list and view.

This is how you can Add Web Reference; I’ll get created Web Site Project in Visual studio to illustrate. Actually it is simple, first click on Add Web Reference and give the URL to the Web Service.

Screen I:

Screen 2:

I. SharePoint List Web Service GetListItems
   This is a sample code to read SharePoint list,

protected void Retrive_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        WS_Lists.Lists myservice = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        myservice.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        myservice.Url = "http://win-bg3773518li:17350/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx";
        try
        {
            /* Assign values to pass the GetListItems method*/
            string listName = "{C509686B-EE32-4297-A7EF-6C85FA841910}";
            // string viewName = "{75E689B4-5773-43CB-8324-58E42E1EB885}";
            string rowLimit = "100";
            // Instantiate an XmlDocument object
            System.Xml.XmlDocument xmlDoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
            System.Xml.XmlElement query = xmlDoc.CreateElement("Query");
            System.Xml.XmlElement viewFields = xmlDoc.CreateElement("ViewFields");
            /*Use CAML query*/
            query.InnerXml = "<Query><FieldRef Name=\"ID\" />" +
            "</Query>";
            viewFields.InnerXml = "<FieldRef Name=\"Title\" /><FieldRef Name=\"StudName\" />";
            System.Xml.XmlNode nodes = myservice.GetListItems(listName, string.Empty, query, viewFields, rowLimit, null, null);
            Response.Write("      Title                                StudName");
            foreach (System.Xml.XmlNode node in nodes)
            {
                if (node.Name == "rs:data")
                {
                    for (int i = 0; i < node.ChildNodes.Count; i++)
                    {
                        if (node.ChildNodes[i].Name == "z:row")
                        {
                            string strName = "";
                            if (node.ChildNodes[i].Attributes["ows_StudName"] != null)
                                strName = node.ChildNodes[i].Attributes["ows_StudName"].Value;
                            Response.Write(node.ChildNodes[i].Attributes["ows_Title"].Value + " " + strName + "</br>");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Response.Write(ex.Message);
        }
    }

II. SharePoint List Web Service UpdateListItems
This is a sample code to ADD Items into SharePoint list,

protected void Add_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        WS_Lists.Lists list = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        list.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
        XmlElement batch_element = doc.CreateElement("Batch");
        string strTitle = " New Added Title" + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
        string item = "<Method ID=\"101\" Cmd=\"New\">" + "<Field Name=\"ID\">New</Field>" + "<Field Name=\"Title\">" + strTitle + "</Field>" + "</Method>";
        batch_element.InnerXml = item;
        list.UpdateListItems("List2", batch_element);
    }

II. SharePoint List Web Service UpdateListItems
This is a sample code to UPDATE Item of SharePoint list,

protected void Update_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string ItemID="7";
        WS_Lists.Lists list = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        list.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
        XmlElement batch_element = doc.CreateElement("Batch");
        string strTitle ="Updated Title" + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
        string item = "<Method ID=\"1\" Cmd=\"Update\">" + "<Field Name=\"ID\">"+ItemID+"</Field>" + "<Field Name=\"Title\">" + strTitle + "</Field>" + "</Method>";
        batch_element.InnerXml = item;
        list.UpdateListItems("List2", batch_element);
    }

II. SharePoint List Web Service UpdateListItems
This is a sample code to DELETE Item of SharePoint list,

protected void Delete_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string ItemID = "7";
        WS_Lists.Lists list = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        list.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
        XmlElement batch_element = doc.CreateElement("Batch");
        string item = "<Method ID=\"1\" Cmd=\"Delete\">" + "<Field Name=\"ID\">"+ItemID+"</Field>" + "</Method>";
        batch_element.InnerXml = item;
        list.UpdateListItems("List2", batch_element);
    }

SharePoint 2010 Latest Interview Questions and answers

1. What is a web part?

Web parts consist of xml queries to full SharePoint lists or document libraries. You can also develop your own web parts and web part pages.

2. What is CAML?

CALM tands for Collaborative Application Markup Language and is an XML-based language that is used in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to define sites and lists, including, for example, fields, views, or forms, but CAML is also used to define tables in the Windows SharePoint Services database during site provisioning.

3. What are the types of input forms that can be created for a workflow ?

You can create four different types of input forms including

1. An association form

2. An initiation form

3. A modification form

4. A task edit form.

4. What are ways to create input forms for workflow ?

1. You can create your forms by using custom application pages, which are standard .aspx pages deployed to run out of the _layouts directory.

2. Using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007

5. What is Sandbox solution?

When user writing custom code then it is not trusted, its failure causes on entire site. So the sandbox solution concept is used. In that case program is only written for particular site & solution is uploaded in the same site. The solution size limit is decided at the time of site creation & if size increases or code showing bad performance then it is easy to administrator to stop the working of solution.

6. What is the difference between Sandbox solution & farm solution?

We can create sandbox solution for particular site but not for the entire site collection or farm. It is not applicable for farm solution. There is some restriction while creating the sandbox solution.

7. Why we use the properties.current.web instead of SPContext.Current.web in event receiver?

When we deploy project from Visual studio then we can use the SPContext.Current.web but when we use the powershell to activate or deactive the feature then we have to use properties.current.web beacuse there is no access of browser here.

9. Which are default master pages in SharePoint 2010?

1. v4.master - This is default master page.

2. default.master - this is used to support the 2007 user interface

3. minimal.master

4. simple.master- it is used for accessdenied.aspx, confirmation.aspx, error.aspx, login.aspx, reqacc.aspx, signout.aspx & webdeleted.aspx pages.

10.What is the difference between CustomMasterUrl & MasterUrl?

MasterUrl is used to change the layout of all use end pages but CustomMasterUrl is for changing the layout of admin side pages.

11.What is SharePoint Delegate Control?

a. With the help of delegate control, we can take any OOB control of SharePoint and replace with our custom control without any modification in the SharePoint page. So that new custom control overrides the existing one.

b. So the delegate control provide one of the option to add control (either server control or user control) on a SharePoint page.

c. This is one of the important features of SharePoint, introduced in WSS v3 and so in MOSS 2007.

d. For example : In master page SearchBox control is included as

<SharePoint:DelegateControl runat="server" ControlId="SmallSearchInputBox" />

e. The above lines instantiate the delegate control object.

f. This delegate control object uses features to locate the control which is specified in ControlId. So there must be the features (it includes feature at any scope) which creates and deploys the SmallSearchInputBox control.

12.What are the zones in SharePoint?

1. Zones provides the separate logical paths of authentication for the same web application.

2. We can create 5 zones for each web application as follows :

a. Default

b. Intranet

c. Extranet

d. Internet and

e. Custom

3. Each zone represented by different web sites in IIS.

13.What is a SharePoint Feature? What files are used to define a feature?
A SharePoint Feature is a functional component that can be activated and deactivate at various scopes throughout a SharePoint instances, scope of which are defined as
1. Farm level 2. Web Application level 3. Site level 4. Web level
Features have their own receiver architecture, which allow you to trap events such as when a feature is
Installing, Uninstalling, Activated, or Deactivated.

14.Workflow can be applied to what all elements of SharePoint ?
Workflow associations are often created directly on lists and libraries, a workflow association can also be created on a content type that exists within the Content Type Gallery for the current site or content types defined within a list. In short, it can be applied ...
At the level of a list/library
At the level of a content type defined at site scope
At the level of a content type defined at list scope

15.What are the types of input forms that can be created for a workflow ?
You can create four different types of input forms including
1. An association form
2. An initiation form
3. A modification form
4. A task edit form.

Note that these forms are optional when you create a workflow template.

16.What are ways to create input forms for workflow ?
1. You can create your forms by using custom application pages, which are standard .aspx pages deployed to run out of the _layouts directory. ( disadv: lot of code required when compared to Infopath approach)
2. Using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 (disadv: picks up a dependenct on MOSS, i.e. it cannot run in a standalone WSS environment)

17.What is the difference between method activity and event activity in WorkFlow ?
A method activity is one that performs an action, such as creating or updating a task. An event activity is one that runs in response to an action occurring.

18.What are content types?
A content type is a flexible and reusable WSS type definition (or we can a template) that defines the columns and behavior for an item in a list or a document in a document library. For example, you can create a content type for a leave approval document with a unique set of columns, an event handler, and its own document template and attach it with a document library/libraries.19.Can a content type have receivers associated with it?Yes, a content type can have an event receiver associated with it, either inheriting from the SPListEventReciever base class for list level events, or inheriting from the SPItemEventReciever base class. Whenever the content type is instantiated, it will be subject to the event receivers that are associated with it.

20.What two files are typically (this is kept generally) included when developing a content type, and what is the purpose of each?
There is generally the main content type file that holds things like the content type ID, name, group, description, and version. There is also the ContentType.Fields file which contains the fields to include in the content type that has the ID, Type, Name, DisplayName, StaticName, Hidden, Required, and Sealed elements. They are related by the FieldRefs element in the main content type file.21.What is an ancestral type and what does it have to do with content types?An ancestral type is the base type that the content type is deriving from, such as Document (0x0101). The ancestral type will define the metadata fields that are included with the custom content type.

22. What is the difference between Site Definition and Site template?

1. To create or use site definition you need server admin access, but site template can install from web UI by site owners.
2. Site definition supports feature stapling, but for site template additional features must be activated in gallery.
3. Site definitions are stored in hard disk, but site templates are stored in content DB.
4. Site definition can provision multiple webs, but site templates for single web only.
5. Creating site definition is relatively complex then site template creation.

23.How to take IIS backup in SharePoint Server ?

Step1: Start --> Administrative Tools-->IIS Manager
Step2: Right Click on Computer Name --> All Tasks--> Backup/Restore
Step3: Click on Create Backup
Step4: Name the Backup File and make the backup file password protected
Step5: Done!!
Step6: Check the Backup file in C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\MetaBack it will be in 2 names .
Step7: to restore them Click on Restore option

25. What is a Field Control?
Field controls are simple ASP.NET 2.0 server controls that provide the basic field functionality of SharePoint. They provide basic general functionality such as displaying or editing list data as it appears on SharePoint list pages.

26. What does AllowUnsafeUpdates do ?
If your code modifies Windows SharePoint Services data in some way, you may need to allow unsafe updates on the Web site, without requiring a security validation. You can do by setting the AllowUnsafeUpdates property.

27.What is CAML, and why would you use it?CAML stands for Collaborative Application Markup Language. CAML is an XML based language which provides data constructs that build up the SharePoint fields, view, and is used for table definition during site provisioning. CAML is responsible for rending data and the resulting HTML that is output to the user in SharePoint. CAML can be used for a variety of circumstances, overall is used to query, build and customize SharePoint based sites. A general use would be building a CAML query in a SharePoint WebPart in order to retrieve values from a SharePoint list.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Introducing SharePoint Designer 2010

Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 is a Web and application design program for building and customizing Web sites running on SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
With SharePoint Designer 2010, you can create data-rich Web pages, build powerful workflow-enabled solutions, and design the look and feel of your site. The sites you create may range from small project management team sites to dashboard-driven portal solutions for the enterprise.
Sites you create with SharePoint Designer 2010

Sites you create with SharePoint Designer 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010 delivers a unique site authoring experience by providing one place where you can create a SharePoint site; customize the components that make up the site; design the logic of the site around a business process; and deploy the site as a packaged solution. You can do all this without writing a line of code.
In the following sections, you’ll learn about SharePoint Designer 2010 and how you can get started using it in your organization.

The Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 experience

SharePoint sites are quickly becoming more complex as they scale to the needs of businesses of all types and sizes. They have moved from being a repository of documents, task lists, and schedules to become highly dynamic, data-rich, business process-driven sites.
For the site designer, this means not only understanding the needs of the business, but understanding a SharePoint site and all of the parts that make up the site. It’s especially important to understand the relationships between the many moving parts of the site, and to be able to manage all of this in one place.
SharePoint Designer 2010 provides a single environment where you can work on your site, its lists and libraries, pages, data sources, workflows, permissions, and more. Not only can you see these key ingredients of your site in one place, but you can see the relationships between these objects.
The framework is there for you to start designing and building highly customized business solution sites. Start by connecting to data sources, both inside and outside of SharePoint. Present this information to users and let them submit information back, using a SharePoint site or an Office client application. Create highly customized workflows that automate business processes. Lastly, customize the look and feel of the site so that it matches the branding of your organization.
By providing one environment for these tasks, you spend more time designing, building, and customizing solutions and less time searching for and updating the various components of a site using different tools and methods.
The following sections explore the SharePoint Designer 2010 experience and user interface:

Opening SharePoint Designer 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010 is a client program that installs on your local computer. It is also tightly integrated with SharePoint. As such, it can be launched directly from your machine using the Windows Start Windows Start button

menu and various places in SharePoint, such as the Site Actions menu as shown here.
SharePoint Designer 2010 in Site Actions menu

There are a number of places where you can open SharePoint Designer 2010 from within SharePoint when customizing lists, views, workflows, and master pages.
Note If your organization chooses to restrict access to SharePoint Designer 2010 or some of its editing capabilities, these permissions can be managed from within SharePoint, such as the Site Settings page and in Central Administration. If you're a user of SharePoint Designer 2010 and you don't see it as described in this article, this may be the cause.
If you haven’t installed SharePoint Designer 2010 yet, the first time you launch it from SharePoint, you’re prompted to download and install it from the Web. The next time you open SharePoint Designer 2010, it opens immediately. It’s also available in the Windows Start menu.
Learn more about the different ways you can open SharePoint Designer 2010 in the See Also section.
Note SharePoint Designer 2010 is designed for sites running on SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. It cannot be used with earlier versions of SharePoint.

Top of Page

SharePoint Designer 2010 File tab

When you open SharePoint Designer 2010 from the Windows Start menu, the first thing you see is the File tab. You have the option to customize an existing site or create a new site on this screen.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

To customize an existing site, you can browse to an existing site, customize your My Site, or select one of the recent sites you’ve opened in SharePoint Designer 2010.
To create a new site, you can use a blank template, choose from a list of templates, or choose from one of the featured templates. From here, just specify the server and a site name and create the site. Your site is created and then opens in SharePoint Designer 2010.
If you open SharePoint Designer 2010 from SharePoint, you won’t see this screen. Instead, you’ll see your site open in the SharePoint Designer 2010 interface.

Top of Page

The SharePoint Designer 2010 user interface

SharePoint Designer 2010 provides one environment where you can create, customize, and deploy SharePoint sites and solutions. This is made possible by the user interface, which shows all of the components that make up your site and the relationships between those components.
When you first open your site, you see a summary of the site, including its title, description, current permissions, and subsites.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

Three-part interface: Navigation, Summary, and Ribbon

There are three main areas of the SharePoint Designer 2010 user interface that you work in to design and build SharePoint sites:

Navigation pane is used to navigate the major parts, or components, of your site
Gallery and Summary pages to see lists of each component type and summaries of one particular component.
Ribbon to perform actions on the selected component.

The Navigation pane shows the components that make up your site–its lists, libraries, content types, data sources, workflows, and more. To edit one of the components, an Announcements list for example, you open Lists and Libraries, and this takes you to a Gallery page showing all lists and libraries.
From there, you can open the Announcements list, and this takes you to a Summary page for that list. On the Summary page, you see its associated views, forms, workflows, and more. To edit one of the views, just open it directly from this page.
With the view open, you'll notice that the Ribbon changes to display the most common and contextually relevant editing tasks for editing views. If you’re familiar with the Ribbon in Microsoft Office applications, you know that it makes creating and editing tasks quick and easy. When you’re finished editing, use the Back button or the breadcrumb-style navigation at the top of the page to return to the summary of your site.
The SharePoint Designer 2010 interface makes it easy to identify the various components of a site, drill down and edit one of those components, and then return back to the main view of the site.

Opening the File tab

In addition to working on the various objects of your site in SharePoint Designer 2010, you may want to view and access larger site or application settings. This includes opening another site, adding pages, importing files, and changing SharePoint Designer 2010’s application settings. You perform these actions on the File tab, which is the first screen you see if you open SharePoint Designer 2010 from the Windows Start menu or a shortcut on your desktop.
Click the File tab in the upper left to go to this view. Click Back to return to the SharePoint Designer 2010 interface.

Top of Page

Pillars of customization in SharePoint Designer 2010

SharePoint Designer 2010 can be used to perform nearly any level of site customization in SharePoint. You can use it, for example, to customize a view, add a data source, or modify a workflow. But you really start to harness the power and capabilities of SharePoint Designer 2010 when you turn an out of the box SharePoint site into a real business solution for your organization.
The following sections cover four pillars of site customization that you perform as you design and build solutions using SharePoint Designer 2010.

Connect to data inside and outside of SharePoint

With SharePoint Designer 2010, you can connect to numerous data sources and then integrate that data into your SharePoint site and Office client programs. Your users, as a result, can see and interact with business data on your site and from within the programs you choose rather than having to connect to those data sources separately.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

Directly from the Ribbon, you can connect to an external database, SOAP Service, REST Service, and more.
Connecting to data sources is a powerful feature of SharePoint Designer 2010 because there are so many supported options you can use to make data available to your users. With data connections, you can bring together SharePoint lists and libraries, external databases and data sources, Web services, and more.

Here’s a preview of the data sources you can connect to using .

Lists and libraries

SharePoint lists and libraries are a common data source you’ll use on your SharePoint site. They’re unique compared to the other data sources in that they’re already part of SharePoint and use the same database as SharePoint. You don’t need to perform any steps to create a connection to these data sources – you just add them using the Lists and Libraries gallery in SharePoint Designer 2010 or add them in the browser using SharePoint. Once you create a list or library, you can customize its associated columns, content types, and other schema attributes.

External business data

One of the most powerful capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint Technologies is the ability to connect external business data sources—SQL Server, SAP and Siebel, Web services, and custom applications—to SharePoint Web sites and Office client applications. This is done using Business Connectivity Services (BCS), a SharePoint-based framework that provides standardized interfaces to existing business data and processes.
In SharePoint Designer 2010, you connect to the external data by creating external content types. External content types represent the data in the external data source by storing the details of the connection, objects used in the business application, methods to create, read, update, or delete, and actions users can take on the objects themselves.
The external content type is stored in the Business Data Catalog. Once you create the external content type, you and others in your organization can easily create SharePoint lists, views, forms, workflows, and even Office client integration based on it. The external data becomes part of SharePoint like any other component, which allows you to create completely customized user interfaces to these external data sources.

External databases

Adding a database as a data source allows you to integrate data from another database into SharePoint. You can connect to Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and any database that supports the OLE DB or ODBC protocols. You just need to know the name of the server where the database is located, the data provider, and the type of authentication to use. Once you add and configure the database as a data source, you create views and forms that allow your users to read and write data back to the data source without ever leaving the SharePoint site.

XML Web services via SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages, making it possible to connect to various data sources using an XML Web service. In SharePoint Designer 2010, you can use this to connect to a data source on another site in your organization or a site on the Internet regardless of its technology, programming language, or platform. You could use an XML Web service to display a currency converter, stock quote, calculator, or weather service on your site.

Server-side scripts via REST

Representational state transfer (REST) is an architectural style of networked software that takes advantage of the technologies and protocols of the Web, not just a method for building Web services. You can use this type to get data from a site by reading a designated server-side script that describes the content. Similar to SOAP, you could use this in SharePoint Designer 2010 to connect to a data source on another site to display, for example, a currency converter, stock quote, calculator, or weather service. This type of data connection is simpler than SOAP to implement but is restricted to HTTP.

XML source files

If your organization stores data in XML files, you can connect to these files as a data source in SharePoint Designer 2010. To connect to the XML files as a data source, you can create them directly in SharePoint Designer 2010, import them from a location on your computer or network, or connect to them on an external location.
Learn more about connecting to data sources in SharePoint Designer 2010 in the See Also section.

Top of Page

Create interactive data-rich interfaces

Once you establish connections to the necessary data sources, you’re ready to create interactive, data-rich interfaces for your users to these data sources. With SharePoint Designer 2010, you can create powerful and dynamic user interfaces for data sources, and you can make them available in a number of places, including your SharePoint site and custom windows, panes, and fields in Office business applications.
Open site in SharePoint Designer 2010

The interfaces you create include custom views, forms, Web Parts, navigation, and custom Office client windows and task panes. This kind of flexibility allows you to create completely customized user experiences to your business data.
You might combine multiple data sources into a single view, create dashboards with related item views, design custom forms tailored to individual roles, and customize the available toolbars and Ribbon commands associated with the data.

Here are the many ways you can customize the user interface associated with your data using .

Views

Views allow you to see live data in different ways. Whether you’re looking at a SharePoint list or library or an external data source, you can use views to show the information that is relevant to you and your users. In SharePoint Designer 2010, every view you create is a Data View that displays in XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation), and it leverages Microsoft ASP.NET technology. In a view, you can show and hide fields, sort, filter, calculate, apply conditional formatting, and more. There are several View Styles that you can choose from as well to quickly get started. Ultimately, you can create and customize any view to fit your data model, your users, and your business.

Forms

To collect information from users, you create forms. With highly customized Web-based forms, users can easily write data back to a data source. Similar to views, you can customize the appearance of fields based on the state of the data, user role, and more. Forms can be used to display data, edit data, and create data, and you can design forms using SharePoint Designer 2010’s built-in forms editor (for .aspx files) or Microsoft InfoPath (for .xsn files). Forms can be created and customized for specific data sources, such as a task list, and they can be used to collect user information in a workflow, as explained later.

Custom actions

Using the Custom Action builder in SharePoint Designer 2010, you can create custom actions, such as links, icons, and scripts to the SharePoint Ribbon, toolbar, and list item menus. Anytime you add new functionality to the site, you can make it easier for your users to discover it and use it by exposing that functionality in a SharePoint menu. You can also use custom actions to encourage users to perform certain tasks on a given object, such as starting a workflow on a list.

Web Parts

Web Parts are modular units of information—a self-contained data or feature—that is added to a SharePoint page. The views and forms described earlier are stored in Web Parts, but in addition to these, you can add Web Parts that perform a number of functions and ways to interact with data. Users can further customize Web Parts in the browser if you add them to a Web Part zone in SharePoint Designer 2010. Web Parts and Web Part Pages are a powerful and effective way to customize the Web interface for your users in SharePoint.

Client integration

For external data sources that use external content types, you can surface that information in client applications like Microsoft Outlook 2010 and SharePoint Workspaces. You can create an interface for users to read, write, and delete the external business data just as if it were part of the application. You do this with client forms, regions, and task panes. Your users, as a result, get to work with their business data on the SharePoint sites and Office applications they know best and are already using.

Navigation

Navigation plays a key part in the interfaces you create for your users, and it’s an area that you manage throughout SharePoint, not just SharePoint Designer 2010. For example, you might customize navigation links within a Data View or form, a Web Part, a workflow, or at the site level, such as the top link bar or Quick Launch. You want to make sure that the site and all of its parts have a well-planned navigation model that your users can follow.
Learn more about creating data-driven interfaces in SharePoint Designer 2010 in the See Also section.

Top of Page

Manage business processes

Every business process in an organization consists of a set of activities that are tied together based on a common business need. SharePoint workflows are designed around this model by providing rules-based workflows consisting of sets of conditions and actions. You organize and run a series of actions that correspond to a work process based on a sequence of conditions and actions.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

You can create workflows using SharePoint Designer 2010 that manage the simplest to the most complex business processes in an organization. Workflows do this by automating both business application processes and human collaborative processes. Workflows for business application processes might update one data source when another data source changes; and workflows for human collaborative processes might send a document to an employee's manager for approval.
A SharePoint workflow introduces application logic to your business processes without requiring you to write code. This is made possible by the powerful yet intuitive workflow designer in SharePoint Designer 2010 that allows nested logic, substeps, and more. Alternatively, you can design and share workflows using Microsoft Visio with its flowchart templates that can be exported to SharePoint Designer 2010.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

Following are the building blocks of a workflow in .

Events

An event is what starts or initiates a workflow. A change to a data source—such as a new item created or an item changed—is one type of event. Another type of event is one activated by a user, a workflow participant. Workflows that start when a data source changes are typically part of an application focused workflow to automate a business process, such as copying files based on the state of data. Workflows that can be started by users are typically part of a human collaborative workflow, such as content approval. Workflows can be set up to recognize both types of events and can even be based on a combination of the two.

Conditions

Conditions determine when a workflow runs or performs an activity. Since workflows are associated with a data source, the condition specifies the change to the data source that must take place for the workflow to happen. Conditions typically start with the clause “If field equals value.” One condition can be used with multiple actions, and multiple conditions can be used with one action. Rules combine conditions with one or more actions: If all clauses in the condition are true, the associated action takes place.

Actions

Actions are the most basic units of work in a workflow. When you design a workflow, you identify the necessary sequence of actions, and then you assemble that sequence of actions in the Workflow Designer. You can set them up so that they occur one after the other (serial actions) or both at the same time (parallel actions). The workflow can contain any number of actions, performed by the workflow itself or the participants in the workflow. SharePoint Designer 2010 includes a rich selection of ready-made, reusable actions. Your workflows can, for example, send an email, check an item in or out of a list, send items for approval, copy an item from one list to another, do a calculation, and assign items for approval.

Steps

Workflows are comprised of one or more steps and substeps. Steps allow you to group conditions and actions so that one set of rules can be evaluated and performed before a second set. Each step may contain any number of conditions and actions. Your workflow can be designed as a sequence of actions in a step or a substep. The rules in one step are processed to conclusion before going on to the next step, so you want to group in the same step any rules necessary to effect the specific action or actions that you want. Steps can also be used as a way to organize your workflow, especially if it has numerous actions and very few conditions.

Forms

Workflows often contain forms that allow you to collect information from workflow participants at predefined times in the workflow. They also allow participants to interact with the tasks associated with a workflow. In a workflow, you can design initiation forms to gather information from users when they start the workflow, association forms to associate the workflow with a list or content type, forms for custom tasks associated with the Tasks list. When designing forms, you can use the native ASP.NET-based forms (.aspx pages) in SharePoint Designer 2010 or custom forms (.xsn pages) designed with Microsoft InfoPath 2010. InfoPath offers much more in customization and branding for your workflow forms.

Variables

A variable is a data storage location or cache inside a workflow. Using variables, you can store different types of data in a workflow and at a later point, reference that data using workflow lookups. There are many types of variables you can use in a workflow. You can use, for example, variables generated by initiation form parameters and local variables, which hold data associated with the current workflow. In a local variable, you can use numerous variable data types, including Boolean, Date/Time, List Item ID, Number, and String. After you create a variable and set it to a value, you can reference that variable in a condition or action later in the workflow.

Top of Page

Design and brand

The final area of customization provided by SharePoint Designer 2010 is design and brand—that is, taking your corporate look and feel and applying it to your SharePoint site. You can incorporate a company logo, color scheme, headers and footers, supporting graphics, custom navigation, and more. As a result, every page on the site can be immediately recognized as being part of a larger corporate site. In SharePoint Designer 2010, you design and brand SharePoint sites using master pages, page layouts, and cascading style sheets.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

Designing and branding a site is different from the other pillars of customization, where the focus is on creating custom business solutions. Branding is something you generally perform less often and at the top of a site collection—for example, an Intranet or Internet-facing portal. That custom brand is then inherited by the subsites created below it. The branding effort is also likely to be performed by a Web designer rather than a solution creator.
For these reasons, master pages, page layouts, and cascading style sheets are all disabled by default for all users except site collection administrators. This way, only those responsible for the site brand have access to these powerful, yet sensitive files. You can, of course, re-enable them for specific users.

As a site designer, here are the ways you can create a custom brand for your sites using .

Master pages

Master pages are a feature of ASP.NET, and they’re included with SharePoint as a way to design the layout of your site in one place and reuse it as a template for other pages across the enterprise. Every time you view a page on a SharePoint site, you’re viewing two pages merged together – a master page and a content page. The master page defines the common layout and navigation (which typically make up the left, top, and bottom portions of the page). The content page supplies page-specific content. SharePoint Designer 2010 provides a rich set of page editing tools that you can use to customize your master pages and share them with others.

Page layouts

If you’re working with a publishing site, you also design the appearance and layout of the site using page layouts. Page layouts serve as templates for the publishing pages created by users in your organization. In addition to the master page, they provide granular control and structure for a publishing page, such as designating where a title, body text, and graphics can be placed on a page. Publishing pages use the publishing infrastructure in SharePoint, and they help you streamline browser-based content authoring and publishing without all the overhead typically associated with the process.

Cascading Style Sheets

Like most Web sites and Web applications, SharePoint uses cascading style sheets (CSS) to apply colors, graphics, and positioning to the various objects that make up the pages on a site. In many cases, there are multiple style sheets applied to a page. To customize these styles, you can modify them directly in the master page, page layout, or site page, or modify the styles directly in the CSS file attached to the page – both of which you can do using the powerful CSS editing tools in SharePoint Designer 2010. You can also customize your SharePoint themes using CSS files. By customizing CSS files, you alter the look, or “skin,” of a SharePoint site so that it has your corporate look.

Top of Page

Deploy custom SharePoint solutions

Everything up to this point has focused on how you can use SharePoint Designer 2010 to create real business solutions. You’ve seen that you can connect to and integrate with data both inside and outside of SharePoint, create powerful user interfaces to this data, manage business processes with workflows, and brand the site to match your corporate look and feel.
But now you need to do something with your solutions – such as deploying it to another server or across the enterprise, opening it in Visual Studio for additional customization, or saving it offline to take it on the road with you. You need a way to turn your solution into a package, and this is where the Save as Template option comes in.
SharePoint Designer 2010 illustration

The ability to save a solution as a template is a powerful feature of SharePoint. The template is saved as a Web Solution Package (a .wsp file) that contains the entire contents of your site, including data sources and structure, views and forms, workflows, and Web Parts.
Templates are granular too. You might be working on one specific part of the site, like a list, a view, or a workflow. You can save these as individual components as templates too, which presents a whole new way to collaborate on solution development.

Completing the business solution cycle in SharePoint

As you spend more time in SharePoint Designer 2010, you quickly realize that you can do much more than basic site customization. You can create real business solutions that contain data connections, data-rich user interfaces, custom workflows, and complete site branding. You can build it all on SharePoint, and you can follow an application development lifecycle that ends with a deployable solution.