Tom's MSDN Belux Corner

Web Analytics with SharePoint 2007 Whitepaper

2009-11-02T13:43:00Z

Download the 'Web Analytics with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007' whitepaper (in XPS format)

The freely downloadable 72-page whitepaper has the following major chapters:

Analytics Objectives and Benefits

Web Analytics Technologies and Methodologies

Implementing SharePoint Analytics Solutions

Processing and Analyzing Web Analytics Data

Additional Benefits for MSDN Subscribers – Free & Discounted Products

2009-06-12T16:37:00Z

MSDN Subscriptions are an excellent solution people needing a full development platform (including development tools, client applications, servers, etc…). As an active MSDN Subscriber, you can take advantage of special offers from Microsoft or other companies. The list of offers below is taken at the moment of writing and will change over time. To redeem the offer, make sure to sign in with the Windows Live ID that is assigned to your currently active MSDN Subscription.

Go to the MSDN Subscriptions Special Offers (only accessible to MSDN Subscribers with an active subscription)

Technorati Tags: MSDN Subscriptions,offer,benefit,MSDN Belux,Visual Studio,VS2008,VSTS

MSDN Ramp Up launched 3 new free web development tracks

2009-05-19T11:19:00Z

MSDN Ramp Up is a free online learning program for developers. They’ve just launched three new ASP.NET tracks: “Web Development with ASP.NET”, “Move from ASP to ASP.NET”, and “Move from PHP to ASP.NET”. These tracks, along with the other currently offered ones (eg, Windows Mobile 6, SharePoint for Developers, Visual Studio 2008), teaches the important skills in a guided path, making the learning process easier and more efficient. The easy-to-access content (provided by subject-matter gurus) is specifically tailored for the Ramp Up program, and offered in a variety of forms (article, v-lab, codecast and slidecast). Check them out now at www.MyRampUp.com, and see how Ramp Up can help you become more employable by learning important and marketable skills.

New dates announced for TechEd 2009 Europe

2009-04-06T08:49:00Z

Just got an update from the TechEd team about changes for TechEd 2009 Europe. The format will be a combined event again for both Developers and IT Professional in only one week, just like a few years ago. The conference will take place from 9 till 13 November in Messe Convention Center, Berlin (Germany).

Official communication and more information will be posted soon at http://www.microsoft.com/teched/europe.

Looking back at TechDays 2009 in Antwerp, Belgium

2009-03-19T15:43:00Z

The Microsoft TechDays 2009 conference in Belgium was held from 10 till 12 March. A little more than 1.650 unique individuals came to Antwerp to attend one of 83 different sessions.

Want to see how it looked like? Here are some pictures of TechDays 2009.
Added 26 March 2009: And here is the TechDays 2009 compilation video.
Quite some twitters about TechDays: both on the Belgian TechDays as well as all TechDays conferences around the world. Apparently more developers than administrators are twittering. @unexxx and @aralves are hoping connect with more IT pro’s on Twitter.
Did you know a Microsoft team in Redmond is organizing a “Virtual TechDays around the World” on April 1st during 24 hours? Don’t expect the same experience as attending the local conferences, but they signed up quite some great speakers.
Katrien posted some info of the Brussels Girl Geek Dinner @ TechDays side event.

Here are a few blog posts from attendees and speakers:

At this point, most of the evaluations are in. We listen to our attendees:

95% wrote that their time at TechDays was (very) well spent;
Attendees were happy with the content delivered – almost all sessions scored above our the required minimum score;
Also about the food and drinks:
- Quite some people found the sandwiches too fancy and prefer more simple food;
- Developers and IT pro’s are hungry after attending sessions – the caterer obviously didn’t expect people were so hungry;
- We definitely must make all the rest rooms easier to find;
- Attendees don’t like to get their drinks in a glass instead of the bottles (unfortunately the caterer ran out of bottles and had to give drinks in glasses on Thursday afternoon
- Last year a lot of people asked for healthy food (fruit) instead of cakes and cookies - apparently people want to have both cookies and fruit.
Many people like the infrastructure of Metropolis and the location of the venue in Antwerp; some commented that they prefer Ghent as location for TechDays.

SharePoint: part 2 of free learning track on MSDN Ramp Up

2009-01-30T01:10:00Z

After the first part, MSDN Ramp Up just published the second part of the SharePoint learning track. From the website:

As a developer, would you like to learn more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)? MOSS is based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, which gives developers the opportunity to get more problems solved with less effort. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 takes full advantage of Microsoft ASP.NET and the Microsoft .NET runtime. The new features and added programmability support in MOSS provide a wealth of development opportunities. This second course will immerse you in even more of the developer-centric capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

Level 1: Page Navigation
Did you know that you can integrate your application into SharePoint’s navigation? This topic looks at how SharePoint pages are arranged into web sites. Menus such as the site actions menu, the top navigation bar menu and the edit control block menu are explained. It shows how the menus in SharePoint can be updated so that a web site built on SharePoint can be customized.

Level 2: Page Branding
Did you know that you can completely brand a SharePoint site to look like your existing web? Web applications need design and SharePoint allows for this using master pages, cascading style sheets and themes. This topic walks through how to apply these artifacts to a SharePoint site and covers the process for modifying them to achieve a web site design in SharePoint.

Level 3: Web Services
Did you know that SharePoint developers have access to SharePoint list data using built in Web Services? SharePoint allows access using code running on the SharePoint server machine and also access using web services. This topic covers use of some of the simple web services provided by SharePoint and it also shows how to create a new web service on a SharePoint machine.

Level 4: Custom Content Types
Did you know that SharePoint developers can implement different behaviors for different document types? Content types define what documents or other content types are used in SharePoint document libraries. Content types can have several SharePoint aspects associated with them including custom menus and custom processing. This topic shows how to create a custom content type and how to associate an event handler with the new content type to do data validation.

Level 5: User Management
Did you know that you don’t have to write code to manage web site users in SharePoint? SharePoint allows for end user site creation and when a user creates a site they can also manage the user permissions on that site. This topic shows how some aspects of user management are handled in SharePoint including how you can audit activities that users do and show different data depending on the role a user belongs to.

Technorati Tags: Ramp Up,SharePoint,free,elearning,course,training,moss,ASP.NET

Microsoft's Security Toolbox for Development

2009-01-25T12:12:49Z

An analyst report from Cascade Insights covers the Security Development Lifecycle applied at Microsoft. From the website:

This article is the fifth in the "SDL series" – a set of 8 articles investigating the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle. In this series, through extensive interviews and research, the authors pull back the covers on Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle- a development practice upon which millions of users (and billions of dollars) depend.

Summary

Microsoft makes heavy use of tools throughout the Security Development Lifecycle. In this article, you will see how tools assist in threat modeling, code analysis, and penetration testing.

Included in this document

The Microsoft SDL

Threat Modeling Tools

Compiler and Linker Protections

Code Analysis Tools

Manual Code Inspection

Fuzz Testing

Benefits and Limitations

About the Authors

Technorati Tags: SDL,Security Development Lifecycle,Microsoft,security,MSDN Belux,threat,threat modeling

SharePoint: new free learning track on MSDN Ramp Up

2008-11-07T12:32:00Z

MSDN Ramp Up has a new free learning track on SharePoint. This information comes from the website:

As a developer, would you like to learn more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)? MOSS is based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, which gives developers the opportunity to get more problems solved with less effort. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 takes full advantage of Microsoft ASP.NET and the Microsoft .NET runtime. The new features and added programmability support in MOSS provide a wealth of development opportunities. This course will immerse you in many of the developer-centric capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

Level 1: Web Parts
Did you know that in SharePoint you can build pages as easy as in ASP.NET – and allow end users to create dashboards? Web parts allow for creating components of Web user interface that can be reused on multiple Web pages. These are introduced in ASP.NET and built on in SharePoint where they can be added to pages by end users and managed by IT Professionals. In this topic you will learn about building simple Web parts for SharePoint and how to connect them back to SharePoint site data.

Level 2: Data Lists
Did you know that SharePoint developers can work with data from lists that users get access to too? Data lists provide data storage for end users in SharePoint. End users can create lists with schema all through the SharePoint user interface and they can create, edit, and view the data. All of this data can be programmatically accessed by developers and this topic is all about that.

Level 3: Event Handlers
Did you know that SharePoint developers can automatically process data that your users upload via a spreadsheet? Event handlers (or event receivers) are custom code that runs on the SharePoint server in response to something that happens on the server. Event handlers can be useful for running business logic in response to data being added to the site. This topic shows how to create simple event handlers and investigates ways that event handlers can be used in SharePoint.

Level 4: Workflow
Did you know that you can write WF workflows in SharePoint without having to worry about storage, persistence, or how to interact with the user? Workflow in SharePoint allows for implementation of processes that require interaction such as email approvals or form completion by people in your organization. This topic shows you how to create simple workflows in SharePoint using Visual Studio that involve approvals from people by email and for meeting room resource bookings with an administrator.

Level 5: Silverlight Web Parts
Did you know that you can build rich Internet applications with SharePoint? Silverlight is a new Web user interface technology from Microsoft that allows for each implementation of animations and videos. This topic shows how a SharePoint user interface can be enhanced by using Silverlight in Web parts as part of a SharePoint site.

Technorati Tags: Ramp Up,SharePoint,free,elearning,course,training,moss,ASP.NET

Pre-register to get certified at TechEd EMEA 2008 Developers

2008-10-10T03:48:56Z

Currently already more than 200 Belgians and Luxembourgers have registered for TechEd Developers in Barcelona from 10 to 14 November. The certification group of Microsoft Learning just sent us a notice on their onsite testing offer that I want to share with you.

You can benefit from an exam voucher with 25% discount and a free retake (“Second Shot”) if you don’t pass the exam at your first try. If you pass your exam at the conference, you also get an extra free eLearning voucher. Plus, the first people to get certified will receive a t-shirt “Certified at TechEd 2008 Barcelona”. To receive your voucher code for pre-registration, please send an email to v-tries@microsoft.com.

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Week on Channel 9

2008-10-01T17:10:24Z

This week is Visual Studio Team System 2010 week on Channel 9! Brian Keller and friends will have 20 videos going live this week featuring interviews with the Visual Studio Team System product team including several screencast demonstrations of the latest bits.

Technorati Tags: visual studio team system,vsts,channel 9,microsoft,team system,team foundation server,alm,sdlc

Patrick Tisseghem, We Will Never Forget You

2008-09-05T09:35:49Z

Patrick Tisseghem passed away on Wednesday 3 September 2008 in Goteborg (Sweden). Here is a copy of the official announcement on the U2U website:

It’s hard to believe and understand. I want to express my deepest sympathy to his family and his co-workers at U2U.

It’s about 9 years ago that I first met Patrick. A humble and friendly man, but at the same time very knowledgeable and smart. Somebody that earns your respect almost instantly. Now 9 years later, Patrick is a worldwide renowned SharePoint expert, has published two books, has given trainings and presentations all over the world. He is a guru in IT. At the same time, he was still the nice guy, always helpful, always prepared to share his knowledge (also with the Belgian developer and SharePoint community); just the same as when I got to know him. It was always nice to have Patrick around for a drink and a chat. He was great company...

Thank you for all that you’ve done, and for all that you are! Thank you for the great times! Thank you, Patrick… We will never forget you!

pptPlex: Pan-and-Zoom Presenting with PowerPoint

2008-08-15T10:12:13Z

Microsoft Office Labs have just released pptPlex, a new add-in for PowerPoint that enables a new way of navigating through a presentation. Instead of the traditional transition effects of PowerPoint, pptPlex allows a user to zoom in and out of slides with panning effects between slides as transition.

During Mix Essentials in Belgium, Martin Tirion used a similar effect for his presentation but he developed it completely in Silverlight. Contrary pptPlex is completely integrated in PowerPoint and doesn’t require any coding from you.

Here’s a video the Microsoft Office Labs team created to introduce pptPlex:

Video: An Overview of pptPlex

Please note that software from Microsoft Office Labs are prototypes. As they say themselves: “The prototypes <…> are like "Concept Cars". They aren't products or features of Microsoft Office. Don't expect them to work perfectly, or be available here forever.” In the discussion forum

Technorati Tags: pptPlex,PowerPoint,Microsoft,office

Team Foundation Server integration with Dynamics AX 2009

2008-06-20T10:59:18Z

A few weeks ago we released Dynamics AX 2009. Great news for Dynamics AX developers: they can now leverage Team Foundation Server for Version Control. Here is a preview video that was created before the final release on the version control features in MorphX, the IDE of Dynamics AX. And there is also a whitepaper available describing how to set up the version control system for Dynamics AX using Team Foundation Server.

Technorati Tags: tfs,microsoft,dynamics,dynamics ax,axapta,team foundation server,vsts,visual studio team system

Deferred Loading in LINQ to SQL

2008-06-13T12:48:00Z

After the post on LINQ and Architectures, this time co-author Marco Russo of “Programming Microsoft LINQ” shares information on deferred loading in LINQ to SQL.

The deferred loading of data in LINQ to SQL can operates at two granularity levels: the entity and the entity data member.

LINQ to SQL allows the definition of an entity model that maps relational table rows to instances of a .NET class. One interesting feature is the navigation between entities. For example, you might have the following lines of code:

Order_Det order = db.Orders.Single((o) => o.OrderID == 10251);
decimal total = order.Order_Details.Sum(od => od.Quantity * od.UnitPrice);

By default, each of these lines of code produces a different query to SQL Server. The first line looks for the order 10251. The second line get the lines of the order and calculates its total value. I said “by default” because this is a behavior controlled by the DeferredLoadingEnabled property of the DataContext. If you disable this property with the following line of code:

dataContext.DeferredLoadingEnabled = false;

the access to the Order_Details property will result in an empty list.

Probably it is not common disabling DeferredLoadingEnabled setting. More often, you might find useful to load in memory all the lines of an order together with an Order instance. To do that, you can use the LoadOption setting of the DataContext, which has to be set before querying the Orders in the DataContext instance.

DataLoadOptions loadOptions = new DataLoadOptions();
loadOptions.LoadWith<Order>(o => o.Order_Details);
dataContext.LoadOptions = loadOptions;

As I said, another level of deferred loading is the entity data member. If you have a table with a very large column (for example, a VARCHAR(MAX) one), you can avoid to load that property in memory each and every time you build an instance of the containing entity. To get deferred loading on a data member, you need to declare the storage member of Link<T> type, which is a wrapper over the T exposed type of the data member itself. In the following code we can see the Address property of a DelayCustomer class declared in this way.

[Table(Name = "Customers")]
public class DelayCustomer {
     private Link<string> _Address;
     [Column(IsPrimaryKey = true)]
     public string CustomerID;
     [Column]
     public string CompanyName;
     [Column]
     public string Country;
     [Column(Storage = "_Address")]
     public string Address {
          get { return _Address.Value; }
          set { _Address.Value = value; }
     }
}

The Link<T> wrapper produces an access to the SQL Server database whenever that property is accessed for the first time after the container object initialization. The following code will produce a query to SQL Server for each of the row in the foreach loop.

var query =
     from c in Customers
     where c.Country == "Italy"
     select c;

foreach (var row in query) {
     Console.WriteLine(
          "{0} - {1}",
          row.CompanyName,
          row.Address);
}

Deferred loading of entities and properties is useful to consume less memory when not all the related entities and/or not all the entity data members are accessed frequently.

The Programming Microsoft LINQ book describes deferred loading for both entities and data members. The book is for sale at Belgian IT book stores:

Technorati Tags: MSDN Belux,LINQ,architecture,marco russo,MSPress

LINQ to MSI (Windows Installer database)

2008-06-12T11:57:00Z

Bart De Smet is back with a new sample of a LINQ query provider, this time targeting Windows Installer databases, or more commonly named MSI’s. (If you want to learn more about MSI’s, you can also watch the recording of “Building setup packages with WiX”.)

Technorati Tags: MSDN Belux,LINQ,MSI,query provider,windows installer