What's Rockin' in Singapore

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 is now available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b98a61ba-99b0-40b7-ab6e-5386a2b94217&DisplayLang=en

For the designers, the August preview for Expression Blend 2 is also now out, simultaneously with the Silverlight 1.0 RC and 1.1 Alpha refresh. Obviously this build of Blend will now create SL projects with the 1.0 RC. For those who've gotten started on developing with SL 1.0, there are a couple of breaking changes. The preview for the 1.0 SDK contains a document that lists these breaking changes, which you can download  here

Tim Sneath has two exciting posts up on his blog:

• Silverlight 1.0 RC 1 Is Here
• What's New In WPF 3.5? Here's Fifteen Cool Features

Linda and I have been looking forward to the Silverlight 1.0 RC1 release in particular as we are working with several enterprise customers to implement Silverlight here in Singapore.

Tim's blog entry reveals significant improvements in performance, robustness and stability over the beta release.

While Tim also notes to that existing Silverlight beta deployments need to be checked for compatibility, he stresses that this will be the final breaking change.

I learnt from our recent MGX (Microsoft Global Exchange) conference, the product team is hardcore about delivering a "instant-on" experience with Silverlight -- which means fast, seamless in-place installation. RC1 and subsequent versions also incorporates an auto-update capability to simplify the installation process when new releases become available. There are also a lot more exciting features that should appear with Silverlight 1.1.

Our customers are doing some interesting stuffs with Silverlight, and we'll share more when we can...

Check it out.  The latest in our developer Tools.

OBA as the consumption layer for SOA  

SOA allows for decomposition and refactoring of IT assets, however to make it tangible for end users these assets need to be composed into task centric, role based applications. OBA is one of the ways to build these applications. You can find an OBA & SOA deck here for more information.

Through the combination of vertical industry scenario and horizontal patterns built on Office System, we have 5 Reference Architecture Packs (RAP). They are...

1. OBA RAP for Financial Service Loan Origination launched at the Financial Services Developer Conference, the RAP generated considerable buzz in the industry press (CRN: “Microsoft continues to build bridges between Office and back-office application”, more…,  GTNews: “Microsoft Launches OBA Reference Application Pack for Loan Origination Systems”, more…). The RAP provides a reference architecture for Loan Origination Services in Financial Services Industry. It consists of a lender portal built on MOSS for brokers and underwriters to register, lock and underwrite loans. A loan registration form implemented using InfoPath allows brokers to register a loan, the forms can be designed with a InfoPath forms designer which allows access to MISMO XML schema and are rendered on the SharePoint site in a XmlFormView Web part to provide contextual editing.  A BDC Web part enables searching and filtering of the loan pipeline. The Master Loan Workflow, which is the backbone of the lending process is modeled as a WF state machine and is associated with the forms library that holds the loan registration and approval forms. Another products and pricing sequential workflow provides dynamic rates information for loan pricing. The RAP uses BizTalk to interact with various third party services for flood information, credit reports etc. Finally, the RAP provides various reports using SQL Reporting Services Web part. Check out the architecture document for more details. In addition to whitepapers, webcasts, click through demos, the code bill of materials for the LOS RAP includes 7000 lines of code, 1 SharePoint portal, 2 Web parts, 1 BDC entity, 2 Workflows, 4 Web services, 1 business rule, 1 report, 3 InfoPath forms and 1 Excel doc.

2. OBA RAP for Manufacturing Plant Floor Operations launched around WPC timeframe illustrates how to build an Analytics OBA using Office 2007, SQL Server 2005, and PerformancePoint Server 2007. The scenario is based on manufacturing plant floor operations in a fictitious Oil & Gas company and provides analysis and decision making for strategic, tactical and operational levels. Silverlight components provide real time plant floor views on role based SharePoint sites, plant floor managers monitor operational KPIs and take actions when exceptions happen. At WPC, multiple partners such as Invensys showed interest in extending the scenario and building OBAs for their plant floor apps. The code bill of materials for the PF RAP includes 2 SQL Server Databases (PEM DB, Plant Floor Data Mart), 1 SSAS Database (1 Holistic plant floor cube with a perspective for analyzing safety incidents, 1 SSIS package to load data from the data mart to the cube (no code)), 1 PPS Monitoring Model with around 30 KPIs (operational, tactical and strategic) sourced from the SSAS cube and the PEM DB, 1 MOSS site with 3 Role Portals (Shift foreman, Plant Manager, VP Operations) and 16 web parts across all 3 portals (3 scorecards, 6 Excel Web Access Parts, 2 Page Viewer Parts to render the SilverLight XAMLs, 4 lists (3 for contacts and 1 for safety incidents), 1 Quick Links part), 1 Web Service for operational plant monitoring, 7 Excel Report Books that source data from the SSAS cube, 1 InfoPath Form (designed to render in both the InfoPath client and in the browser) to report safety incidents, 2 custom SilverLight 1.1 XAMLs  integrated into the role portals (for rendering the operational PF map and the strategic 360 Regional view), 1 Plant Operations Simulator Console Application.

3. OBA RAP for Public Sector E-Forms processing addresses common patterns in data collection and processing using InfoPath 2007, SharePoint Server 2007, InfoPath Forms Services, Outlook, and WF. While the scenario is based on the application form and process to obtain a hunting and fishing license from a state agency, the underlying solution framework is generic and can be readily adapted to enable end-to-end processing of similar forms. The biggest pain we identified building this scenario is the lack of Offlining support for InfoPath forms, we are helping the product team understand the use cases better as they plan to address in the O14. The code bill of materials for this RAP are: 1400 lines of code, 3 SharePoint portals, 1 Workflow, 2 Web service, 1 InfoPath form

4. OBA RAP for Health Plans launched at the AHIP annual conference, shows how to build architectures that unify people, process and technology through familiar Office 2007 user interfaces using Windows Live platform for member and coach identification, Windows Live Service Agents as automated bots and SharePoint Server 2007 for coach and member collaboration. This RAP was built based on a project we are engaged in with the MS Health Plan team at United Health. The launch at the AHIP annual conference and on MSDN resulted in OBA introduction to the Health Insurance industry and created significant interest from various customers. The code bill of materials for this RAP are: 1800 lines of code, 1 SharePoint portal, 5 Web parts, 2 BDC entities, 2 Workflows, 1 Web service, 3 InfoPath forms

5. OBA RAP for Price Management provides an architecture framework for Price Management with an OBA based on SharePoint, BizTalk and Office Clients. The RAP allows for sales reps to create price quotes in Excel using pricing rules cached on the reps machine, supporting both online and offline modes. The RAP integrates with SAP using BizTalk to synchronize the cache and automates several workflows to begin production, escalation and exception handling. SharePoint enables rich collaboration between sales and service organization, reduces errors and improves visibility into the decision making process

Microsoft launched the following 11 OBA and  industry architecture centers on MSDN to present OBA content for key horizontal and vertical scenarios.

1. Office for Architects MSDN portal – The MSDN Office portal was launched on the msdn Architecture center with content of interest to architects.

2. Composite Applications  on the MSDN Architecture Center was launched with a series of articles demonstrating our thought leadership in this new application development paradigm and positioning SharePoint as the platform for developing composite applicationss, checkout the paper The 2007 Office System and other Platform Technologies for building composite applications.

3. Financial Services Industry Center The MSDN Financial Services Industry Center provides architecture guidance for CIOs, CTOs and Architects looking to solve industry concerns with Microsoft technologies. The site provides prescriptive architecture guidance addressing current and emerging challenges the industry faces. Customers, partners, and system integrators can view webcasts, whitepapers, blogs and podcasts that addresses industry concerns.

4. Banking Industry Center As a sub site of the Financial Services Industry Center, the Banking Industry Center provides prescriptive architecture guidance addressing current and emerging challenges the banking industry faces. Customers, partners, and system integrators will be able to view webcasts, whitepapers, blogs and podcasts that address banking concerns.

5. Insurance Industry Center The Architecture Center for Insurance is designed to provide both Developers and Architects in the Insurance industry with technical content focused on Microsoft’s Insurance Value Chain industry initiative, as well as links to valuable technical content on the Microsoft platform technologies that enable best-in-class industry partner solutions.

6. Manufacturing Industry Center The MSDN Manufacturing Industry Center provides technical content for architects and technologists in the manufacturing industry vertical. You will find information on new technologies that are transforming manufacturing today, and also architectural guidance around technology solutions for key manufacturing scenarios.

7. Retail Industry Center The MSDN Retail Industry Center offers retail technologists the guidance they need to create, deploy, and support solutions built on the Microsoft platform. The Center includes information on industry trends, retail business scenarios, and guidance aligned by roles and responsibilities.

8. Health Industry Center The MSDN Health Industry Center offers architecture guidance and technical material for CIOs, CTOs and Software Architects in the health industry. This industry center covers information relevant to healthcare provider organizations as well as Health and Human Services agencies for state, local and federal/national governments.

9. Life Sciences Industry Center At the MSDN Life Sciences Industry Center you can find architecture guidance and technical material for CIOs, CTOs, Developers and Systems Architects in the life sciences industry. This industry center covers information relevant to pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies along with universities and other organizations in the life sciences industry.

10. Health Plans Industry Center At the MSDN Health Plans Industry Center you'll find architecture guidance and technical material for CIOs, CTOs, Developers and Systems Architects in the Health Plans industry. This industry center provides information relevant to Health Plans, Health Plan service providers, Health Plan solutions providers and consultants and other organizations in the Health Plans industry.

11. Public Sector Industry Center In the public sector today, technology and automation provide numerous opportunities to optimize related end-to-end processes that could yield significant cost reductions and an enhanced end-to-end experience for external users, citizens, customers, and organization workers.

Microsoft Corp has just launched an OBA portal at http://www.obacentral.com. OBA Central is a one-stop resource for OBA solutions.  It was launched with great success, the site has had 170,000 hits in the first week itself. This is a community of Microsoft partners developing interesting Office Business Applications across industries and horizontal scenarios. Customers can search for OBAs by verticals, geography, business process or LOBs. The site also provides basic OBA introduction and points to resources on msdn solution architecture center and other sites. The site will grow the number of solutions and partners and also in terms of what customers and partners can do on the site. The phase 2 roll out will allow for more collaboration and networking with Wikis and Blogs and many other interesting features. Do visit the site today!

Another edition of Architect Council is coming... this time, the topic would be around Software+Services and Web 2.0. We also have a guest speaker to share his real life experience in using Silverlight technologies for building portals.

In a previous post I documented the steps to install the latest in tools and technologies to support development of Silverlight Applications.  One comment I received was that it seemed like allot to do to just start developing Silverlight Applications.  This may have mislead other people and so I will document how to get started with a minimal software install. 

To begin with you can write a silverlight app in note pad!  Here is an example:  Open a new file and save the following with an .htm extension.  Then open it IE and you can see the result!

<html>
<script type="text/xaml" id="MySilverlight">
    <Canvas xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007"> 
        <TextBlock  Text="Hello World from my Script Tag"/>
            </Canvas>
</script>
       <object
           type="application/ag-plugin"
            id="myControl"
           width="400"
            height="100">
           <param name="background" value="Red" />
           <param name="source" value="#MySilverlight" />
 </object>
</html>

Obviously this is a simple example but we can see here how this simple xaml fragment and object tag can enable the basic UI instantiation.  There is a lot you can do with XAML but to really enable interactivity you need to support some eventing framework.  We will start with java Script.  Add the attribute Loaded="Page_Loaded"  to the base canvas element and the following script block:

<script type="text/javascript"> 
function Page_Loaded(){
alert("Loaded");
}

</script>

We could then extend the integration to other entry points of the control and embrace the full range of functionality in the Silverlight 1.0 framework.

Notepad is not the best tool for development and there are many more examples of tools for editing HTML and Javascript.  Microsoft produces some express tools that have this functionality and are freely available for download.  Microsoft's Expression Suite is also a good place to go to view some of our latest in design tools.

To take advantage of Silverlight 1.1 ability to host a subset of the .Net CLR functionality, we will have to compile assemblies and while this can be done with a command line interpreter, Visual C# Express edition is what I will use next.   I will also need to download and install the Silverlight 1.1 SDK.  This will provide me with the assemblies I will need in order to compile my project.

Start by launching C# Express and selecting File-New Project and select a Class Library Template.

Remove the auto generated class1.cs file and add three code files and Modify them as below:

SampleSL.xaml

<Canvas x:Name="parentCanvas"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007"
           xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Loaded="Page_Loaded"
        x:Class="DemoSilverlight.SampleSL;assembly=bin/Release/DemoSilverlight.dll">
    <TextBlock x:Name="MyText" Text="This is the start"/>
</Canvas>

SampleSL.xaml.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Controls;

namespace DemoSilverlight
{
    public partial class SampleSL : Canvas
    {
        public void Page_Loaded(object o, EventArgs e)
        {
            Canvas can = o as Canvas;
            TextBlock txt = (TextBlock)can.FindName("MyText");
            txt.Text = "Hello from C#";
           
        }
    }
}

ShowMySilverlight.htm

<html>
    <object
           type="application/ag-plugin"
          id="myControl"
          width="400"
          height="100">
          <param name="background" value="Red" />
           <param name="source" value="SampleSL.xaml" />
     </object>
</html>

Remove all references in the project and then right click on the project file and select "Properties" and then "Build". 

 Click on the "Advanced.." button and check the setting to remove the automatic inclusion of mscorlib.dll during compile.

 Now go to the references section of the project and add the following references from the directory you installed the Silverlight SDK in (default=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Silverlight).

agclr.dll

mscorlib.dll

system.dll

system.core.dll

system.silverlight.dll

system.xml.core.dll

Compile the project and then view the html file in the browser.  You should see the SIlverlight 1.1 control and have an example of how to access xaml objects.

One thing to keep in mind is that in these examples I have avoided using the Silverlight.js helper file to instantiate the host objects to improve the clarity of what is happening.  Therefore these examples will only work in an IE browser.  If you would like to use firefox / safari   to view them, replace the object tag references with embed tag or use the helper file provided.  Details on this file can be found here.

Let me know if this helps

Dopod 838Pro, 810, P800W users should be happy to note that the long awaited upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 is finally here.  See the HTC press release, "HTC Offers Windows Mobile 6 Upgrade" for more information. 

The shortcut to the download page is at Windows Mobile 6 Upgrade Program login page. A login password is required.

Lots of exciting stuffs are being announced at the Microsoft World Partner Conference (WPC.)

Windows Live Quick Apps (Beta) are showcase online sites that demonstrate the applications that can be built using the Windows Live Services. Two Quick Apps were unveiled today:

• Contoso University
• Contoso Bicycle Club

For example, the Bicycle Club demo site shows a mashup using Windows Live's Virtual Earth with Silverlight Streaming services to synchronize a simulated bike ride on the map with a video -- very cool!

For many months now we have been talking up our "Software + Services" strategy.

A key concept in this new world is the notion of "Web 2.0"-type mashups, where web applications are created by composing & aggregating services available over the Internet, rather than building them ground-up.  

Given a rich set of services and well-designed programming model, web sites can be built and deployed quickly, fully leveraging on the services and the network as a platform for content storage. 

Windows Live provide just such a platform for developers, offering core service-based capabilities such as Live Spaces, Silverlight Streaming, Live ID, etc. while ensuring availability, reliability, and security.  

More Quick Apps should be forthcoming. Meanwhile, get the source code for the two released applications on CodePlex.

Whether you're an ISV who's interested in building an OBA Solution, or you already have one, http://www.obacentral.com is the community for you!

About OBA Central
OBA Central is intended as a vibrant and active community that brings together Microsoft, Microsoft OBA ISV, services partners and customers, and makes it easy to connect, and find solutions and services that address their business and technical needs.

If you are looking for solutions that can help

• improve your organization’s productivity
• realize the full potential of your LOB investments
• Improve data management
• Achieve better workflow or compliance
• Support better decision making 

OBA Central can help you locate OBA solutions and services that meet your needs!
As an ISV or SI, you can use OBA Central to get the word out about your solution or services to a broad audience interested in the key capabilities that make OBAs so powerful. Here are some benefits of being on OBA Central*:

• Solutions featured on OBA Central

• Opportunity to participate in OBA Central interviews about your OBA solution

• Opportunity to create and show interactive demos of your OBA solution - details below

• Ability to publicize your upcoming events, make announcements and take polls

For additional details about these benefits, please contact OBA Central via the Ask OBA Central link at the bottom of the OBA Central home page.

Just got wind from folks in the Microsoft Office System product team about the launch of the new OBA Central portal site at http://www.obacentral.com.

Quick glance at the page source reveals that the site is hosted on Office SharePoint Server too.

Good job, guys! Book-marked...

On the 8th of August 2007, we'll be running a hands-on lab on Open XML for our ISV Partners. We'll be talking about the Open XML file format and schema, the .NET 3.0 packaging API, and the WordprocessingML among others. This is part of our efforts to scale up our partner ISVs on the latest technologies. Find out more about the Microsoft Partner Program http://partner.microsoft.com and if you're an ISV who wants to get more details on the Partner Program in Singapore, feel free to email sgisv[at]microsoft[dot]com.

What is Software + Services (S+S)? Is it Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)? Or is it Software as a Service (SaaS)? Web 2.0? Or some fluffy terminology?

If you look at these phenomena – they all have a common denominator of services

• SaaS – 1:many delivery of software over the internet. About delivery and operations. Primarily coming out of the business applications space.
• SOA – service composition or assembly, become heavily enterprise focused of late. Rise of service orientation is more important as it is the new development paradigm. MS invested enormously here with .NET and web services.
• Web 2.0 – service experience and economics. Renaissance of Web development after the collapse of the bubble, harnessing collective intelligence, richer browser experiences via AJAX but not limited to the browser. More debate over what this one means but people seem to know it when they see it.

All address different aspects of services and likely to be increasingly intertwined. Been marching towards services for a couple years now – that trajectory continues and accelerates.

There are a couple things that add up to S+S:

• Starts with the fact that services are software.
• We take an expansive view – can take technology much further and adoption is still limited to early adopters today.
• We need integration across these different phenomena.
• Could really use a platform that brings all these phenomena to bear, makes it much easier and accessible to much broader set of developers.

We call this Software + Services (S+S) – our strategy for this era. In conclusion,

SaaS = Service Delivery

SOA = Service Composition

Web 2.0 = Service experience and economics

Services are software

+ Take an expansive view

+ Need integration

+ Want Platform

Good stuff! This is something that I've been looking forward to. At least, we can help our government agencies and statutory boards in Singapore who are interested to automate or lessen their load and pain in terms of e-forms processing.

OBA RAP for E-Forms processing in the Public Sector

The OBA Reference Application Pack for E-forms processing in the public sector was released on MSDN. Work on this RAP commenced in May 2007 and culminated with this release to the web.

This RAP contains a reference solution architecture and solution that illustrate how an OBA (Office Business Application) can be built to automate and optimize forms processing in a Public Sector organization. The reference solution framework show cased in the RAP is generic and can be adapted to enable end-to-end processing of a number of forms in the public sector

Products/Technologies highlighted in this RAP: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath Forms Services, Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation, Microsoft Outlook 2007

Resources

MSDN page for the OBA http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb643796.aspx

Artifacts of this OBA RAP (Links to all artifacts are listed on the RAP’s MSDN page):

- A TDM/Solution Architecture slide deck (with detailed notes) & voice over presentation

- A BDM slide deck (with detailed notes) & voice over presentation

- A PPT click through demo

“Coming Soon” Artifacts of this OBA RAP for Health Plans:

- An MSDN Virtual Lab to enable exploring the RAP online – ETA End July 2007

- A video presentation of the end-to-end scenarios – ETA 7/6

- Reference application VPC image with hands on lab document (downloadable by registering in the OBA RAP Connect Program) – ETA 7/6

Check out the new portal dedicated solely for ISV's http://www.microsoft.com/isv/

Right now, they're featuring a Worldwide ISV Contest. Visit the site for more details!

Also, there are a number of ISV's on showcase so if you'd like to check out what the rest of the world is doing, check out http://www.microsoft.com/isv/showcase.aspx

It's going to be an exciting year for the Singapore ISV Community: we'll be launching Windows Server 2008 ("Longhorn"), SQL Server 2008 ("Katmai") and Visual Studio 2008 ("Orcas") early next year! In line with that, we're on the lookout for ISV's that are willing to get their hands dirty with these latest technologies and start building solutions on them. If you want to know more about how you can participate in our Early Adopter Initiative program, drop us a mail at sgisv[at]microsoft[dot]com

We’ll be conducting a Longhorn Server Application Compatibility Lab from the 1st to 3rd August 07. This half-day session would focus on application compatibility testing of your product with Longhorn Server. This is a great opportunity for you to meet our technology experts and learn about Microsoft’s emerging technologies.

Certain days, mana just seem to drop from the heavens -- and the release of the new OBA RAP for E-Forms processing a week back was one such timely moment.

We are working with a number of customers (both public sector and commercial) to explore automating forms handling. These forms are accessed from the customers' respective public portal web-sites, and is typically processed wither manually or with difficult-to-maintain custom code. Suffice to say, agility, faster turnarounds, and better accuracy are often cited as basic automation goals. Customers also look forward to end-user maintained forms business logic, better business insights, better integration with existing or external systems.

The E-Forms Processing RAP (or Reference Application Pack) describes just such a system enabled by Microsoft Office Systems (hence the OBA or Office Business Application moniker) -- specifically with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (providing the Portal front-end, Forms, Workflow and Business Data Catalog service features), Microsoft Office InfoPath (for forms design), Microsoft SQL Server (for records management, content, document, metadata storage) and Microsoft Windows Server (leveraging on the .NET Framework, and core infrastructure services.)

Although this reference application illustrates an application for hunting and fishing license (not exactly applicable in Singapore's context,) the underlying architecture framework can be adapted to many of the common forms scenarios we see.

Go download the PowerPoint slides from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb643796.aspx. Keep a watch out as the accompanying source code will be made available soon.

More OBA RAPs for various vertical industries such as (Banking, Healthcare) and scenarios (Supply Chain Management, Price Management) are available at the 2007 Microsoft Office System for Architects site.

Live Earth, the Concert for a Climate in Crisis, a series of concerts around the world this weekend to raise climate change awareness, kicked off today (Saturday, 7 July 2007) in various parts of the world. As I type this entry, Australia and Japan crowds are jamming along nicely right now, China, Brazil, South Africa, U.S., U.K. and Germany will follow suit.

The Live Earth web site describes the event best -- "Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series of 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 150 music artists and 2 billion people to inspire a global movement to 'Answer the Call' and combat the climate crisis."

View the concert live or post-event on demand at http://liveearth.msn.com. Many artists (including several personal favorites: Crowded House, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, Alicia Keys, Corinne Bailey Rae, Keane, etc.) are taking part in this concert.  

Microsoft's online services group MSN is contributing to Live Earth as the exclusive online media partner, and enriching the interactive experience for our participation in the concerts virtually with blogging, video and other online infrastructure and technologies.

Look out for the following:

• Learn more about the climate crisis hotspots and concert venues with this Windows Live Virtual Earth-powered interactive map.
• Download cool Live Earth desktop images Live Earth desktop wallpapers.

Great way to have fun, reflect and begin playing our individual part to heal the planet. Answer the Call.