Say what? Microsoft Malaysia One ISV Technology Blog : SharePoint Products and Technologies Protocols

SharePoint To Go: Released to Web

hoongfai — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:17:05 GMT

Thanks to a reader of my blog, SharePoint To Go sample application now uses the Sync Framework 1.0 RTM. The kind contributor of the updated version is one Daniel Studer from Switzerland. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

Daniel has updated sample application and in his own words:

I have updated the version.

Errors (not fixed):

- IntegerCalculator not available

(C:\Fieldcontent\SCSF-Apr2008\QuickStarts\Offline\DisconnectedAgent\IntegerC

alculator)

Errors (fixed):

- Added the new References to Sync Services

- Changed SqlCeMetadataStore to SqlMetadataStore

I can't test the project, first I must change the credentials to forms. I hoped it's easier to connect to sharepoint for data synchronization. Both way SQL Server SSIS and Sync Framework needs a lot of code. Just the access developer can work easy and fast with sharepoint lists.

You could easily get the IntegerCalculator from the SCSF-Apr2008 Quick Start application. Anyway you don't really need the Integer Calculator because this demo is about consuming the List.asmx web service from SharePoint.

Yes in order to consume the List.asmx, you first need to add the permissions in SharePoint administration. Please refer to some articles on MSDN on how to do that. My bad, I forgot to document the steps required and I have kinda forgotten what I'd done to enable it. But I've also done a quick hack. Search for NetworkCredentials in my solution. I modified the proxy class (generated by VS when I add a Web reference) to properly use the NetworkCredentials of the standard user in my VPC, who is tfsrtm08\darren.

There seems to be a lot of code in order to do synchronization even when using the Sync Framework. However this is not exactly true. When I developed this sample application, I was reusing most of the code in the sample apps that came with the Sync Framework tutorial. Essentially, all I provided was the implementation classes that is derived from the generic sync provider class in the tutorial. Having said that, it is still relatively simple and it does not involve that many lines of code.

Disclaimer: I have not tested the content of fix provided by Daniel. Everything is provided as-is by Daniel.

Where have I been during my MIA days?

hoongfai — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:56:24 GMT

You may have realized by now that my recent blog posts are not in chronological order. But I think that this is better than not blogging at all. Life's revolved around TechEd SEA 2008 since the past one month. Check out my profile on the TechEd SEA 2008 website here. My session synopsis are all on this site, just search for my name.

It was also the first month in Microsoft's new fiscal year of FY09, which starts in July every year. That means plenty of business meetings with my ISV partners, especially with managed partners to ensure we start the new fiscal year fresh with good plans, and means to bring in the results.

While preparing for my session that was titled SharePoint To Go!, I holed up in my study room for 4 days straight in sharpening that rusty coding-Swiss army-knife of mine. It was enjoyable and very satisfying to say the least. In doing that I learnt a great deal about the Microsoft Sync Framework, which has since RTM, and also played with one of the app blocks in the Smart Client Software Factory.

The week before TechEd SEA 2008, I was in Seattle to attend an internal technical conference called TechReady. It was also a satisfying and unforgettable experience as I won the Top Performing Partner Evangelist award. The award comes with a Flip video camera, which sadly I haven't had the time to start using it yet. I should have used it at TechEd to do some video recording of the crowd. It wasn't all party and drinks in Seattle, I had to go back to my hotel room every evening to continue working on my demo!

In a later blog post, I will surely explain what were my key learning, steps, and resources I came across while developing the demo for my TechEd session. While I was thinking about how best to retain and share the knowledge, an idea was born. This will be my pet project for this FY, and I hope to have more details of that at a later time, perhaps around Oct timeframe. Meanwhile keep reading my blog. Cheers!

SharePoint To Go!

hoongfai — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:15:00 GMT

I'm back. My apologies to those who have been waiting for me to upload the bits after my breakout sessions and ILL session from TechEd SEA 2008. I'll start off with my session that is titled OFC311 SharePoint Applications To Go! - Building Occasionally-Connected SharePoint Applications Using the Microsoft Sync Framework.

You can go ahead and create a list on your SharePoint site. Update the part of the code that points to the SharePoint List Web Service, which I have bookmarked. You need to open this solution using Visual Studio 2008, go to the Bookmarks windows, and navigate through all the bookmarks in sequence.

At a later point, I will provide more meat to this, but in the meantime, check this out.

I'll also talk about what I've been doing since I went MIA.

Big SharePoint Announcement got my ISV partners all excited!

hoongfai — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:09:10 GMT

Microsoft is posting on MSDN the preliminary versions of a significant portion of the remaining technical documentation for protocols promised as part of the interoperability principles. Specifically, this includes approximately 10,000 pages of technical specifications for:

· Protocols between Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office client applications;

· Protocols between Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and other Microsoft server products;

· Protocols between Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook;

· Protocols between Microsoft Office 2007 client applications and other Microsoft server products.

As a result of the posting, all types of developers - including independent software vendors (ISVs), open source developers, and developers in customer IT departments - will have consistent, open access to this protocol documentation that defines how these Microsoft products communicate with other Microsoft products. This consistent, open access to information will promote more interoperability options for developers of all types and will help foster improved real-world interoperability solutions in the marketplace.

In fact this got me so excited that I went to MSDN to find out where are these protocol documentation. I didn't see it in the Headlines for Developers section, where could it be? Hmmm.. I was almost skeptical that it's been released until I clicked on Library, and there's a new entry on the MSDN Library on the left navigation tree; Open Protocol Specification. Drum rolls..... The SharePoint Products and Technologies Protocols are right there.

Woo hoo! Just the kind of stuffs that my ISVs are expecting. In fact this came at the right time. About a month ago, a few "technologist" at a few ISVs decided to group together and form a SharePoint User Group. Initially some of them started abbreviating the name as SUG. I immediately replied to them saying that the name almost sucks. I proposed "SPUG", and hey it rhymes with SPARK. MOSS is where great ideas are sparked. Cool. In fact I often joked with an ISV of mine, MyBiz, that "May the MOSS be with you". In fact we can totally find a lot of analogies in Star Wars, but I reckon I should just leave all those comments undocumented. :p

The Malaysian SPUG does not yet have a website of its own. Eventually it shall have its home at techNation, and they shall be the first group to spearhead an effort to have a community site on MOSS 2007. Meanwhile I'm hosting the SPUG members in an Office Live Workspace of mine, and here's a screen clipping of it:

SPUG had a group created in FaceBook and here it is, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12021714387. It was started by Patrick Yong, who is an Office Business Application (OBA) Specialist in my team. If you want to read more about some OBA patterns and SharePoint tips and tricks, his blog is the place to go.

In a later blog post, I will write about how Office Live Workspace is just the right place to start collaborating on a project like starting your own user group. You want to create a distribution group in Outlook 2007, and have the contacts synchronized with your Office Live Workspace, no sweat. Consider it done.