BDC

HOW TO: Programmatically create a SharePoint 2010 External Content Type

  I demonstrated how to make an external content type programmatically during the SPC 405 - Business Connectivity Services Runtime and Object Model Deep Dive session at the 2009 Microsoft SharePoint Conference.  Since the conference I have received a couple of dozen emails about the this topic.  Most of the emails ask for the code samples and an explanation of the code, and at least half of the emails inquire about when and why you may need to create an external content type programmatically.  Because this is obviously a hot topic I decided to write it up in a blog post. Sample...

posted @ Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (2)

HOW TO: Register an External Content Type with the SharePoint Search Service to make the data searchable

  In part 1of this blog post series I showed you how to create a .NET Assembly Connector to read data from a flat file.  This blog post shows you how to register an external content type associated with a .NET Assembly Connector with the SharePoint search search service so you can index and search the data coming from the external content type. The Business Context As I mentioned in part 1 of this blog post series, it’s commonplace to find critical business data stored inside flat files in large, mature organizations.  In addition to being able to browse the data inside web...

posted @ Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (4)

HOW TO: Create a Searchable SharePoint 2010 BDC .NET Assembly Connector Which Reads From A Flat File

  The Business Context In many large organizations business data is stored inside of flat files from mainframes or other legacy systems.  These systems chug along just fine everyday and support many key elements of the business; they aren’t going away anytime soon.  Traditionally, accessing flat file data, making it viewable in a web pages, and making it searchable requires an enormous amount of custom code.  The Solution New functionality inside SharePoint 2010’s Business Connectivity Services (BCS) makes it extremely easy to connect to flat file data sources (or any other data source), display it in web pages, and make it searchable.  This...

posted @ Thursday, November 05, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (11)

SharePoint Conference 2009 Follow Up & Session Materials

It was quite a week in Las Vegas at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009!  Wow, what a long way the product has come!  I can remember several years ago speaking at SharePoint conferences and seeing only a few dozen people attending many of the sessions.  That’s certainly not the case anymore.  In fact, SharePoint has grown so much that now the conferences come complete with live bands and fireworks! My wife and I embraced the 80’s spirit during the beach party Tuesday night at the Mandalay Bay.  We were surprised to find only few handfuls of folks were taking the same...

posted @ Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (0)

SharePoint On The Web and AdventureWorks Travel Site Installer Released!

New content was added to the www.mssharepointdeveloper.com web site last week!  This content includes the SharePoint on the web modules and the much anticipated release of the AdventureWorks Travel Site installer! Update:  Download the installer here:  http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/spotw/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2702 The new SharePoint On The Web modules cover the following topics: Getting Started with SharePoint Development on the Web Site Structure and Branding Custom Field Types and Mode FBA Authentication Web Interoperability SharePoint Search Content Deployment Minimal Publishing Site Definition ...

posted @ Monday, May 18, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (13)

TechEd 2009 BDC Session Materials

Thanks to everyone who came to my Go Beyond With The BDC! session last week at the Microsoft TechEd 2009 North America conference!  You can find the Site Template Package (STP) for the SharePoint site I used for my demos here.  See this post for more details about the AdventureWorks Travel Site that I used to demonstrate Silverlight, SharePoint, and the BDC working together. Andrew Connell and I will be posting the session materials from the session we co-presented - Extending the Content Query Web Part to Aggregate Data Across Site Collections and External Sources - sometime soon (this week or...

posted @ Monday, May 18, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (0)

HOW TO: Enhance SharePoint User Profiles With The Business Data Catalog

If you look hard enough you can find several articles on the Internet which describe different ways to enhance SharePoint User Profiles with the Business Data Catalog.  Each of the articles takes a different approach to implementing this functionality, however none of the articles provide a prescriptive step by step approach and end to end example.  This article is geared toward someone who has limited or no experience with the BDC and provides a prescriptive step by step approach and sample code. The other articles I found on the Internet about this topic include the following, they are well worth reading. ...

posted @ Sunday, March 08, 2009 12:00 AM | Feedback (19)

Speaking at TechEd 2009

I found out a few days ago that I'll be presenting at TechEd again this year.  This year the Microsoft TechEd North America 2009 conference takes place in Los Angeles, CA.  The event runs from May 11-15 and, as always, should be a great time to network, see friends from around the world, and learn some great things. This year I have two sessions on the schedule, the first of which I will be co-presenting with Andrew Connell (MOSS MVP).  This session should be a whole lot of fun as Andrew and I walk you through the creation of...

posted @ Saturday, February 21, 2009 5:39 PM | Feedback (0)

Speaking at the SharePoint Web 2.0 FireStarter next week

If you missed my Creating Solutions With The Business Data Catalog session at TechEd last week, and you'd like to see the SilverLight / BDC integration demo I did there, come attend the SharePoint Web 2.0 FireStarter event next week on the Microsoft campus.  Heck, come attend anyway, there are many great topics and presentations scheduled.  I'll be presenting my demo at the tail end of Steve Fox's SilverLight on SharePoint session.  You can see the complete schedule and register here.

posted @ Saturday, June 07, 2008 6:04 PM | Feedback (3)

TechEd North America 2008 Session Materials : Creating Solutions with the Business Data Catalog

Thanks to everyone who came to my session last week at the Microsoft TechEd 2008 North America Developer conference!  It was really nice to see so many past students at the show and I enjoyed catching up with everyone.  On Wednesday night I had the chance to hang out with many of the Microsoft MVPs and watch the Blues Brothers kick it at the House of Blues.  Eric Shupps accompanied the Blues Brothers for a song, I wish I had a picture of it, I thought he did pretty well.  :)  I met Brett Lonsdale for the first time, Nick...

posted @ Saturday, June 07, 2008 5:57 PM | Feedback (3)

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