May, 2011

The illustration depicts the flow of actions associated with synchronous and asynchronous before and after event handlers in SharePoint Foundation 2010. Handlers for synchronous events (all Before events are synchronous) are called in their sequential order in the main thread–-that is, in the thread in which the user action occurred. Their sequence order is determined by the value of the sequence number property ( SPEventReceiverDefinition.SequenceNumber ) for each event. This applies to both Before and After synchronous events. On the other hand, event handlers for asynchronous events ( After events can be asynchronous or synchronous using the SPEventReceiverDefinition.Synchronization property) behave differently. First, they execute in a different thread from the one in which the triggering action occurred. Furthermore, successive asynchronous event handlers execute in successive threads. Second, although asynchronous handlers are initiated in sequential order (again, based on the SequenceNumber...

Another edition of weekend reading. This report shows the SharePoint Online and SharePoint 2010 developer content recently published on MSDN.   Technical Articles · Claims Tips 4: Learning About Claims-Based Authentication in SharePoint 2010 Provided by: Steve Peschka | Review coordinator: Siew Moi Khor | Editor: Kimberly Hope · Security Tips 1: Claims and Security Related Tips in SharePoint 2010 Provided by: Steve Peschka | Review coordinator: Siew Moi Khor | Editor: Kimberly Hope Visual How To Articles · Accessing SharePoint 2010 List Data by Using LINQ to SharePoint | Video Provided by: Ted Pattison | Editor: Dail Magee Jr. · Accessing SharePoint 2010 Lists by Using WCF Data Services | Video Provided by: Ted Pattison | Editor: Dail Magee Jr. · Creating Multiple Tasks from a SharePoint 2010 Workflow | Video Provided by: Scot Hillier | Editor: Dail Magee Jr. · Creating Parallel Tasks from a SharePoint 2010 Workflow | Video Provided by: Scot Hillier | Editor: Dail Magee Jr. · Using...

Update, July 12, 2011: See the MSDN version of this article: Deciding Which SharePoint 2010 API to Use . Microsoft SharePoint 2010 provides three sets of APIs for developing extensions and custom solutions by using SharePoint capabilities: the server-side object model, the client object model, and Web services. Each API comes with a set of advantages and limitations that you will need to understand before you begin planning and developing custom solutions. For example, the server-side object model provides the most extensive set of options for developing customizations, but it can only be used on computers that are running a version of SharePoint 2010. The sections below describe the three sets of APIs and the contexts in which you will want to use them. Server-side Object Model The server-side object model provides the most extensive set of options for extending the capabilities of SharePoint 2010. It consists of every API that is documented in a Class Library contained inside the SharePoint...

Two SharePoint workflow projects are available to you in Visual Studio: Sequential Workflow and State Machine Workflow. A sequential workflow represents a series of steps. The steps are performed one after another until the last activity is completed. Sequential workflows are always strictly sequential in their execution. Because they can receive external events, and include parallel logic flows, the exact order of execution may vary. The following illustration shows an example of a sequential workflow. Sequential workflow A state machine workflow represents a set of states, transitions, and actions. The steps in a state machine workflow execute asynchronously. This means that they are not necessarily performed one after another, but instead are triggered by actions and states. One state is assigned as the start state, and then, based on an event, a transition is made to another state. The state machine can have a final state that determines the end of the workflow. The following diagram...

We are developing an example application in five steps.  We completed the first step in Part 1 , the second step in Part 2 , the third step in Part 3 , and the fourth step in Part 4 . Today we complete the final step, “Connect the Components.” Then we will deploy the application and test it. Here is the roadmap for the entire development process: Create a Search Application Page .  In this step, we design the user interface for the page that the modal dialog displays, and we write code to perform the search. Add JavaScript for the Modal Dialog .   In this step, we create a JavaScript file with code to open the search application page in a popup modal dialog. The function that opens the modal dialog specifies a callback function that returns information about the document that the user has selected to the page that opened the dialog. Design the InfoPath Form .  In this step, we create a form template that includes a Search button, and we write form code that notifies...

We are developing an example application in five steps.  We completed the first step in Part 1 , the second step in Part 2 , and the third step in Part 3 . Today we complete step four, “Create a Web Part to Host the Form.” Here is the roadmap for the entire development process: Create a Search Application Page .  In this step, we design the user interface for the page that the modal dialog displays, and we write code to perform the search. Add JavaScript for the Modal Dialog . In this step, we create a JavaScript file with code to open the search application page in a popup modal dialog. The function that opens the modal dialog specifies a callback function that returns information about the document that the user has selected to the page that opened the dialog. Design the InfoPath Form . In this step, we create a form template that includes a Search button, and we write form code that notifies the form's host when a user clicks the button. Create a Web Part to Host the Form....

We are developing an example application in five steps. We completed the first step in Part 1 and the second step in Part 2. Our task for today is step three, “Design the InfoPath Form.” Here is a roadmap for the entire development process: Create a Search Application Page .  In this step, we design the user interface for the page that the modal dialog displays, and we write code to perform the search. Add JavaScript for the Modal Dialog .   In this step, we create a JavaScript file with code to open the search application page in a popup modal dialog. The function that opens the modal dialog specifies a callback function that returns information about the document that the user has selected to the page that opened the dialog. Design the InfoPath Form.  In this step, we create a form template that includes a Search button, and we write form code that notifies the form's host when a user clicks the button. Create a Web Part to Host the Form .   In this step, we write...

We are developing an example application in five steps.  We completed step one in Part 1 . Today we move on to step two. Here is the roadmap for the entire development process: Create a Search Application Page .  In this step, we design the user interface for the page that the modal dialog displays, and we write code to perform the search. Add JavaScript for the Modal Dialog. In this step, we create a JavaScript file with code to open the search application page in a popup modal dialog. The function that opens the modal dialog specifies a callback function that returns information about the document that the user has selected to the page that opened the dialog. Design the InfoPath Form . In this step, we create a form template that includes a Search button, and we write form code that notifies the form's host when a user clicks the button. Create a Web Part to Host the Form . In this step, we write a custom Web Part that uses an XMLFormView control to host the InfoPath form. Connect...

Many page activities in SharePoint 2010 open a modal dialog that allows you to complete a task without navigating away from the current page. When the dialog opens, the background darkens (the so-called lightbox effect ) indicating that the page is inactive. You must deal with the dialog before you can return to the page. Good examples are the modal dialogs that open when you create, view, or edit an item in a SharePoint list. Each of these dialogs loads a SharePoint application page (NewForm.aspx, DispForm.aspx, or EditForm.aspx) in a popup window. Although the popup window displays what is, technically speaking, a new page, the new page appears to open in the context of the page that you were on. The effect is as if you had zoomed in, rather than navigated away. When SharePoint 2010 creates a modal dialog, it employs a new client-side dialog framework that you can tap into as well. For the most part, the functionality is encapsulated in the SP.UI.Dialog and SP.UI.ModalDialog classes of...

This diagram shows the platforms on which SharePoint Server and SharePoint Foundation are built. The boxes with a blue fill represent independent platforms and each depends on the platforms below it. The empty boxes inside the larger boxes are selected important subparts or features of the platform. The thin downward arrows indicate selected dependency relations. Not every sub-platform or dependency relation is shown. The thicker, green, sideways arrows indicate that one entity accesses the entity to which the arrow points. Again, only some selected access relationships are shown. For more information, see Conceptual Overview of SharePoint Foundation and its child nodes.

Last week we released Remote Authentication in SharePoint Online Using Claims Based Authentication , which, along with its associated code sample , not only demonstrates how to authenticate against SharePoint Online in client applications using the SharePoint client-side object models, but also provides developers with a set of classes that they can use to perform federated user authentication for SharePoint Online. One related question that, while out of scope for the article and code sample, is likely to be of interest to developers is: how do I authenticate and connect to SharePoint Online Web services, such as list.asmx or web.asmx? Manish Joshi, one of our talented support engineers here in Office, was kind enough to augment the code presented in the Remote Authentication article to demonstrate one approach to using Web services in SharePoint Online. In the example below, he edits the console application from the code sample so that it accesses the lists.asmx service and prints out...

This time, here’s some post-weekend reading about SharePoint Online and SharePoint 2010. SDK and Developer Guide Content · April 2011 refresh! SharePoint 2010 Reference: Software Development Kit · Now available online in MSDN Library! SharePoint Online for Office 365: Developer Guide Technical Articles · Introduction to SharePoint  2010 Development Provided by: Ted Pattison | Review coordinator: Ricky Kirkham | Editor: Tonda Kiffin · Remote Authentication in SharePoint Online Using Claims-Based Authentication | Code Sample Provided by: Robert Bogue | Review coordinator: Andrew May | Editor: Beck Andros · Retrieving Data from a Multi-Authentication Site Using the Client Object Model and Web Services in SharePoint 2010 Provided by: Steve Peschka | Editor: Kimberly Hope · Routing a Record to a SharePoint 2010 Document Library Subfolder Provided by: Spencer Harbar | Editor: Kimberly Hope Visual How To Articles · Processing Documents in Bulk Using SharePoint 2010 and Open XML 2.0 | Code...

If you like to use the LINQ to SharePoint provider to perform your SharePoint data queries in server-side code, sooner or later you will encounter a certain tension between the strongly typed world of LINQ queries and the decentralized nature of SharePoint. To enable LINQ querying, source code must include an object-relational mapping that turns lists and content types into classes and turns fields into strongly-typed properties of the content type classes. This code is generated by the SPMetal tool. But website owners can add new lists after your solution has been deployed. The new lists are not accounted for in the object-relational mapping. Similarly, new fields can be added to sites and lists. These are also not accounted for in the object-relational mapping. Of course, if your LINQ queries and data changes only reference the lists, content types, and fields that were present when the object-relational mapping was generated at design-time, the presence of new entities does not cause...