HOW TO STORE THE DATA YOU NEED IN SHAREPOINT 2010

Mick BadranMVP, V-TSP,XYZ,ABC

mickb@breeze.netocs:mickb@breeze.net

MY MAIN OBJECTIVES FOR YOU

• To show SharePoint as a Data Platform

• Get an understanding of data storage within SharePoint 2010 – above and beyond Documents and Tasks etc.

• Ways to get Data In/Out of SharePoint 2010.

SESSION AGENDA

• Places to store data within SharePoint 2010.

• Data at the Site/Web level

• Data in Service Applications

• Data in Lists/External Lists

• Data in Custom Fields

• Data exposed through Silverlight

PLACES TO STORE DATA IN SHAREPOINT

• PROBLEM: SharePoint is ‘generally’ pitched to be all things to everyone.“I can’t do…”“Don’t worry, SharePoint will fix it!”

• Question to ask yourselves:• What is the data?

• Where is the data?

• How long do I need it for?

PLACES TO STORE DATA IN SHAREPOINT

• Common SharePoint data storage structures:• Documents!!! Xml Documents, Excel Docs, Reports

• Lists lists lists lists, custom columns, folders – offline issues?

• Content Types

• Site/Web/List/Folder – Property Bags

• Access Services – ‘Web Database’ !!!

• User Profile – custom properties

• Custom Service Applications

DATA AT THE SITE/WEB LEVEL

• Storing data/content at a Site Collection or Web level.

• What sort of data?

• How?

• How does it become exposed?

SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOLSite/Web Properties Demo

DATA IN SERVICE APPLICATIONS

• By far the most flexible storage mechanism within SharePoint.

• What sort of problem would warrant this?

• Benefits of a Service Application?

• Cons of a Custom Service Application?

• No guarantee this data is going to be exposed – e.g. Access Services

SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOLService Applications Demo

DATA IN LISTS/EXTERNAL LISTS

• Flexible and easy access for both read and write

• Up to 50 million items (apparently) per list.

• What data is placed in lists?• How does relational data get processed? E.g. parent/child.

• How are lookup fields resolved when inserting external data.

• How to access List data?• ServerAPI, RSS, ClientOM, ListData.svc, REST, Offline..

SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOLExternal List Demo

DATA IN CUSTOM FIELDS

• Provide flexibility around packing/unpacking data – e.g. complex address.

• Fields have 2 main modes:• Presentation Mode

• Author/Editing Mode

• We can perform different logic for each mode.

• Custom XSLT Field Rendering in lists allows for exciting interactions.(No CAML required)

SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOLCustom Fields - I

EXPOSING DATA THROUGH SILVERLIGHT

• Why Silverlight?

• Silverlight runs on the Client machine with a ‘Silverlight CLR’ – an App in english.

• Is able to talk to SharePoint/WCF Services etc.

• Great for desktop notifications!

• Can be initialised with particular parameters

SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOLCustom Fields - II

WRAP UP

• SharePoint is more than just Documents and Tasks

• It’s a flexible data platform!

• Many structures exist out of the box – e.g. lists etc.

• Or you can build your own.

NB: all demos and slides will be on my blog as well.http://blogs.breezetraining.com.au/mickb