SharePoint 2010 Development with Visual Studio 2010

by Eric Carter, Boris Scholl, Peter Jausovec

Overview

With SharePoint 2010, developers finally have the powerful, end-to-end development tools they need to build outstanding solutions quickly and painlessly. What’s more, those tools are built directly into the latest version of Visual Studio, the development platform most Microsoft developers already know. In this book, the Microsoft experts who created these tools show you how to take full advantage of them.

 

The authors focus specifically on the SharePoint scenarios that Visual Studio 2010 now makes accessible to mainstream Microsoft developers. They assume no experience with SharePoint development and focus on SharePoint Foundation 2010: the low-cost version designed for organizations and departments of all kinds, not just large enterprises.

 

SharePoint 2010 Development with Visual Studio 2010shows how to get your solution up and running fast, and then extend it to meet your precise business requirements. You’ll learn how to develop, package, and deploy robust SharePoint business collaboration applications without any unnecessary complexity or overhead.

 

Following a practical, developer-focused introduction to Microsoft SharePoint 2010, you’ll learn about

• Visual Studio 2010 templates and tools that simplify the creation of SharePoint solutions
• The SharePoint object model and its most frequently used methods, properties, and events
• Using lists to store, manage, and share data
• Responding to events related to lists, features, items, or workflows
• Integrating external data with Business Data Connectivity Services
• Using content types that ship with SharePoint 2010—and creating new ones
• Building multi-step workflows and custom forms that work with them
• Utilizing Web Parts to present different data and applications on the same page
• Customizing SharePoint pages or navigation with ASP.NET
• Packaging and deploying solutions, and customizing deployment to your unique requirements

Whether you’re just starting out with SharePoint development, upgrading from earlier versions, or building on experience with ASP.NET, this book will help you solve real problems and get real results—fast!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321718778
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	08/26/2010
Series:	Microsoft Windows Development Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	912
File size:	50 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Eric Carter is a development manager in the Bing team at Microsoft. Previously, he worked as a development manager in the Visual Studio team, helping to invent, design, and implement many of today’s key features. He has also worked on Visual Studio Tools for Office, Visual Studio Tools for Applications, the Visual Studio Macros IDE, and Visual Basic for Applications for Office 2000 and Office 2003. His other Addison-Wesley books include Visual Studio Tools for Office (2006) and Visual Studio Tools for Office 2007 (2009).

 

Boris Scholl, program manager on Microsoft’s Visual Studio team, works on Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint developer tools. Previously, as senior technical product manager in Microsoft’s Office Server group, he focused on developer readiness and SharePoint integration with Project Server.

 

Peter Jausovec helped test and design the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint developer tools, focusing especially on SharePoint workflows.

Table of Contents

Figures xvii

Tables xxxv

Foreword xxxix

Preface xli

Acknowledgments xliii

About the Authors xlv

Chapter 1: Introduction to SharePoint 1

What Is SharePoint Development? 1

Introduction to SharePoint Site Collections and Sites 7

The Central Administrative View of a SharePoint Server 74

A Visual Studio View of SharePoint: The Server Explorer 93

Conclusion 103

Chapter 2: Introduction to SharePoint Development in Visual Studio 2010 105

Creating a SharePoint Solution 105

Conclusion 152

Chapter 3: Introduction to the SharePoint Object Model 153

Introduction 153

The Disposable Pattern in SharePoint Development 157

Sandboxed Solutions 160

A Little Set Up 162

From the Top: Web Applications, Site Collections, and Sites 172

Working with Lists 194

Working with Queries 221

Working with Users 226

Other Important SharePoint Objects 227

Conclusion 229

Chapter 4: SharePoint Lists 231

Introduction to SharePoint Lists 231

Creating Lists 231

Conclusion 315

Chapter 5: SharePoint Event Receivers 317

Introduction to Event Receivers 317

Creating Event Receivers in Visual Studio 331

Creating Feature Event Receiver Projects 341

Deploying and Debugging Event Receiver Projects 347

Conclusion 358

Chapter 6: Working with Business Data 361

Introduction to Business Connectivity Services 361

Creating External Content Types Using SharePoint Designer 362

Creating External Content Types Using Visual Studio 384

Conclusion 455

Chapter 7: SharePoint Content Types 457

Introduction to Content Types 457

Content Types in Visual Studio 2010 470

Advanced Content Types 491

Conclusion 522

Chapter 8: SharePoint Workflow 525

Workflow Basics 525

Workflow Activities 528

SharePoint Workflows 536

Workflow Forms 552

Workflows in SharePoint Designer 562

Conclusion 578

Chapter 9: SharePoint Web Parts 579

Introduction to Web Parts 579

Web Part Fundamentals 580

Creating a Visual Web Part 581

Creating a Code-only Web Part (Sandboxed) 609

Creating a Silverlight Web Part 619

Web Part Connections 636

Configuration of Web Parts 643

Conclusion 654

Chapter 10: SharePoint Pages 655

Introduction to SharePoint Pages 655

SharePoint Architecture 655

Customizing and Developing SharePoint Pages 661

Conclusion 697

Chapter 11: Packaging and Deployment 699

The Basics and Beyond 699

SharePoint Features 699

SharePoint Solution Packaging 712

The SharePoint Project Structure in Visual Studio 721

Configurable Deployment 751

Conclusion 786

Appendix A: Preparing for SharePoint Development 787

Supported Operating Systems 787

Installing SharePoint 2010 788

Installing Visual Studio 2010 803

Installing SharePoint Designer 2010 807

Creating a Site Collection 809

Developer Dashboard 812

Conclusion 815

Index 817

Editorial Reviews

Beyond just describing the basics, this book dives into best practices that all SharePoint developers should know.”

—Arpan Shah, Director, SharePoint

“The fact is, developers are either limited or liberated by the tools they use. This book brings a strong tools focus with Visual Studio 2010, and the authors are the experts when it comes to the tooling enhancements that vastly improve developing with SharePoint 2010. This book is the must-have SharePoint 2010 developer instruction resource for all ranges of experience, novice to expert.”

—John R. Durant, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading this SharePoint 2010 development book. Every chapter had useful information that was to the point and developer focused—a great addition to any SharePoint developer’s library.”

—Greg Galipeau, Director, SharePoint Practice, Optimos Consulting

“As a developer, you’re always looking for new opportunities, and SharePoint offers plenty. Visual Studio 2010 adds a great set of tools for working with SharePoint 2010 and Eric Carter, Boris Scholl, and Peter Jausovec do an excellent job of explaining how to use them. After reading this book, you’ll know what to do to begin building professional SharePoint solutions.”

—Robert Green, Sr. Consultant, MCW Technologies

“A really useful guide that every SharePoint developer should have in their bookcase.”

—Tomáš Herceg, Microsoft Visual Basic MVP

“Carter, Scholl, and Jausovec have created an invaluable resource for professionals who need to learn the new Visual Studio Tools for SharePoint. With great walkthroughs and thorough explanations, this book is required reading for every SharePoint developer.”

—Scot Hillier, Microsoft SharePoint MVP, Scot Hillier Technical Solutions, LLC

“If you’re a .NET developer looking for a book to help you quickly get up to speed then SharePoint 2010 Development with Visual Studio 2010 is the book. You won’t get stumped or overwhelmed. It is laid out in an easy to consume way that will get you developing SharePoint apps in no time!”

—Joel Oleson, Sr. Architect & Evangelist, Quest Software

“The depth and insightful nature of Eric Carter’s writing has always been impressive. This book is no exception. Eric and coauthors Boris and Peter were key members of the team that designed and built the SharePoint Developer Tools in Visual Studio 2010, giving them the uncanny ability to describe how and why these powerful new tools in Visual Studio 2010 work the way they do.”

—Ted Pattison, Author and Instructor, Critical Path Training

“From no-code, list-based approaches to service applications and back-end heavy lifting, SharePoint 2010 is a huge application, and an even larger development platform. If you are a SharePoint Developer, regardless of your level or experience with any current or previous SharePoint version, you should read this book in order to better understand your dizzying array of solution approaches. This is a valuable read thanks to in-depth guidance and insightful code samples.”

—Matt Ranlett, MVP SharePoint Server

“Carter, Scholl, and Jausovec certainly have the credentials for putting their names on the cover of this book. They’ve been deeply involved in shaping the developer platform and tools for SharePoint 2010 from its inception to release, and their experience and knowledge are shared across all 912 pages—a must have reference for professional developers writing solutions and features for SharePoint 2010, written by the people that built it.”

—Richard Riley, Group Product Manager, SharePoint, Microsoft

“I was delighted to review this quality manuscript straight from the Visual Studio development team. As seen with Eric’s previous books, Eric, Boris, and Peter managed to create an excellent book not only to learn how to develop great solutions but also to use as a reference guide to explore the specifics of SharePoint 2010—a real gem to add to your developer book collection.”

—Maarten van Stam, Microsoft MVP for VSTO, www.maartenvanstam.nl

“This is the most indispensable resource for SharePoint 2010 development with Visual Studio by the team that built the tools.”

—Andrew Whitechapel, Program Manager Architect, Microsoft

From the Publisher