Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010: Business Connectivity Services

Book description

Put your organization’s data to work with Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010—and build valuable business solutions. Led by a team of SharePoint experts, you’ll learn how to integrate data from several systems—such as sales, accounting, and inventory—and then search, display, combine, and modify the information using code and no-code SharePoint solutions. This hands-on guide is ideal for SharePoint project managers, business analysts, architects, and administrators.

Create a central hub for your business data with SharePoint 2010

  • Access data from applications and databases using Business Connectivity Services

  • Create external lists in SharePoint to display your business data

  • Build dashboards to present charts and key performance indicators

  • Use business information offline with Microsoft Office applications

  • Create custom SharePoint applications to insert, modify, and delete business data

  • Populate SharePoint user profiles with information from several sources

  • Build Business Connectivity Service solutions in SharePoint Online

  • Table of contents

    1. Dedication
    2. Introduction
      1. Who Should Read This Book
      2. Who Should Not Read This Book
      3. Assumptions
      4. System Requirements
      5. Organization of This Book
        1. Part I: Planning and Maintaining Business Connectivity Services
        2. Part II: Presenting External Data
        3. Part III: Extending the Out-of-the-Box Business Connectivity Services Functionality
      6. Conventions
      7. About the Companion Content
      8. Acknowledgments
      9. Support and Feedback
        1. Errata
        2. We Want to Hear from You
        3. Stay in Touch
    3. I. Planning and Maintaining Business Connectivity Services
      1. 1. Making SharePoint the Central Hub for Business
        1. Reviewing How Businesses Store Data
        2. Bringing Data Together in One Place with Business Connectivity Services
        3. Using SharePoint as the Central Hub for All Your External Data Sources
        4. Building New Solutions
        5. Summary
      2. 2. Introducing Business Connectivity Services
        1. What Is Business Connectivity Services?
          1. Types of BCS Solutions
          2. The Structure of a BCS Solution
            1. External System
            2. Connectivity
            3. Presentation
            4. Tools
            5. Interaction Between the Layers
        2. Alternative Methods of Connecting SharePoint 2010 with External Systems
        3. Introducing the BCS Architecture
        4. Connecting to Business Applications
          1. BDC Administration
          2. BDC Runtime
          3. External Content Types
          4. BCS Security
            1. Authentication
            2. Authorization
          5. Taking External Data Offline
        5. Extending Solutions
        6. Planning to Use BCS
        7. Summary
      3. 3. Creating and Maintaining Business Data Connectivity Service Applications
        1. What Are Service Applications?
          1. BCS and the Service Application Architecture
            1. Using Multiple Service Applications
            2. Sharing Service Applications Across Farms
            3. Partitioning Service Applications
          2. BCS and the Service Application Infrastructure
            1. Service Instance
            2. Service Application Proxy
            3. Service Application Groups
        2. BCS Security Options
          1. Authentication
            1. Authentication Modes
            2. Authentication Methods
            3. Client Authentication Considerations
          2. Authorization
            1. BDC Metadata Store Permissions
            2. BDC Objects
        3. Creating BDC Service Applications
        4. Configuring Business Data Connectivity Service Applications
          1. Creating a BDC Service Application Administrator
          2. Importing and Exporting BDC Models and Resource Files
            1. Importing a BDC Model
            2. Exporting a BDC Model
          3. Setting BDC Metadata Store Permissions
          4. Configuring Profile Page Creation
          5. Creating a Profile Page
        5. Configuring the Secure Store Service
          1. Creating a Secure Store Service
          2. Using the Secure Store Service
            1. Creating a Target Application ID
            2. Setting Field Credentials
            3. Troubleshooting Connection Problems
            4. Configuring an ECT to Use Secure Store Service Credentials
        6. Using Windows PowerShell to Administer BCS
          1. Enabling the RevertToSelf Authentication Method
          2. Importing a BDC Model
          3. Modifying External System Throttling
        7. Administrating BCS in a Tenant Environment
          1. Creating a PartitionMode BDC Service Application
          2. Managing BCS from the Tenant Administration Site
        8. Summary
      4. 4. Defining External System Connections Using SharePoint Designer
        1. Creating ECTs Using SharePoint Designer
          1. Using the ECT Summary View
            1. Create an ECT
            2. Areas on the Summary View Page
          2. Using the Operations Design View
          3. Using the Summary View and Operations Design View Ribbon Tabs
            1. Views
            2. Connection Properties
            3. Operation
            4. Field
            5. Lists & Forms
            6. Profile Page
        2. Creating and Modifying Data Connections
          1. Defining a SQL Server Database Connection
            1. Authentication
            2. Data Source Explorer
          2. Defining a WCF Service Connection
          3. Defining a .NET Assembly Connection
          4. Modifying a Data Connection
        3. Creating and Maintaining Data Source Operations
          1. Defining Parameters for an Operation
            1. Identifier
            2. Show In Picker
            3. Office Property
          2. Understanding Filters
          3. Creating Associations
          4. Operation Considerations
        4. Exporting ECTs
        5. Summary
    4. II. Presenting External Data
      1. 5. Creating External Lists and Using External Data in Lists and Libraries
        1. Creating and Using External Lists
          1. Creating an External List
          2. Creating External Lists Using SharePoint Designer
        2. Managing External List Views and Forms
          1. External Data and Throttling
          2. Creating Views Using the Browser
          3. Creating Views Using SharePoint Designer
          4. Creating and Modifying Forms
          5. Managing Forms Using the Browser
          6. Creating Forms in SharePoint Designer
          7. Site Columns and External Data
          8. Manipulating Data in External Lists with Workflows
        3. Using External Data in Lists and Libraries
        4. Using External Data Actions
          1. Profile Page
        5. Summary
      2. 6. Building Business Data Dashboards
        1. Building SharePoint 2010 Dashboards
          1. Designing a Dashboard
          2. PerformancePoint Dashboards
          3. Using a Report Library to Create Dashboards
        2. Exploring the Business Data Web Parts
          1. Business Data List Web Part
            1. Edit View
            2. Formatting Data
            3. Using SharePoint Designer to Format Data
          2. Business Data Item and Business Data Item Builder Web Parts
          3. Business Data Related List Web Part
          4. Business Data Connectivity Filter Web Part
          5. Business Data Actions Web Part
          6. Chart Web Part
        3. Other Business Data Web Parts
          1. Excel Web Access Web Part
          2. Status List and Indicator Details
          3. Visio Web Access
        4. Summary
      3. 7. Using External Data with Office Client Applications
        1. Surfacing External Data in Word 2010
        2. Using External Data in InfoPath Forms
          1. Using External Data as Lookup Data
          2. Implications of Web Forms vs. Client Forms
          3. InfoPath Data Connections
          4. Customizing External List Forms with InfoPath
        3. Connecting External Data with Office Client Applications
        4. SharePoint Workspace 2010
        5. External Data and Access 2010
        6. Data Visualization in Excel and Visio
        7. Troubleshooting BCS Solutions on the Client
        8. Optimizing Back-End Synchronization
        9. Summary
      4. 8. Finding Information from External Systems
        1. How SharePoint Search and BCS Work Together
        2. Creating Content Sources to Crawl External Systems
        3. Creating a Search Scope and Scope Rules
        4. Configuring Crawled and Managed Properties
        5. Customizing the Search Center
          1. Creating Search Tabs
          2. Introducing the Search Web Parts
            1. Search Box Web Part
            2. Search Core Results Web Part
        6. Amending the Search XSLT
        7. Creating Advanced Search Properties
        8. Summary
      5. 9. Using External Data in User Profiles
        1. Audience Targeting
        2. People Search
        3. Introducing User Profile Service Applications
          1. Mapping External Data to User Profile Properties
          2. Business Data Connectivity Synchronization Connection
          3. Importing User Profile Properties from External Systems
        4. Using Duet Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP
        5. Displaying HR Information from SAP Applications in My Site
        6. Summary
      6. 10. Exploring Office 365 and Connecting to External Data
        1. Introducing Office 365
        2. Exploring BCS Functionality in SharePoint Online
        3. Differences Between BCS in Office 365 and On-Premises SharePoint 2010 Installations
        4. Building BCS Solutions in SharePoint Online
          1. Different SharePoint Online Scenarios
          2. Connecting to SQL Azure with SharePoint Online
            1. Creating the SQL Azure Database
            2. Creating the Windows Azure WCF Web Service
            3. Connecting to the Windows Azure Web Service Using SharePoint Designer
          3. Using a Data Source in SharePoint Designer to Expose External Data
        5. Summary
    5. III. Extending the Out-of-the-Box BCS Functionality
      1. 11. Using Client-Side Code and External Data
        1. Creating Web-Based Solutions Using External Data
          1. Server-Side vs. Client-Side Code
          2. SharePoint 2010 Client Object Model
          3. Client Object Model and Business Data Connectivity
          4. Building External Data Solutions Using jQuery
          5. Other Example Scenarios
        2. Creating Client Application Solutions
          1. Client Object Model vs. BCS Client Runtime
            1. BCS Cache
            2. BCS Sync
          2. Using the BCS Client Runtime in an Excel Add-In
          3. Creating VSTO Add-Ins
          4. Declarative Outlook Solutions
          5. Creating a Declarative Outlook Solution for BCS
            1. Subscription Files
            2. OIR File
            3. BDCM File
            4. Relationship File
          6. Packaging the Outlook Declarative Solution
          7. Outlook Advanced Code-Based Solutions
        3. Data Solution for Office Add-In
        4. Client-Side Authentication Considerations
        5. Client-Side Caching Considerations
        6. Summary
      2. 12. Building Server-Side BCS Solutions
        1. Using Visual Studio 2010 to Create SharePoint Solutions
        2. Creating BCS Connectors
        3. Stepping Through a BCS Connector Example
          1. Understanding the User Interface with the “Hello World” Example
          2. Creating Your First External Content Type
          3. Adding Filters
          4. Adding a SpecificFinder Method
          5. Writing C# Code for the BDC Model
        4. Using Custom Connectors
        5. Connecting to Non-Microsoft SQL External Data Sources
          1. Importing BDC Models into Visual Studio
          2. Building Solutions Using the BCS Application Programming Interface
        6. Building Workflows with External Data
          1. Deploying BDC Models
        7. Summary
      3. A. BCS Model Infrastructure
        1. Basic Structure
        2. Model
          1. Access Control List
          2. LobSystems
          3. Properties
          4. LobSystemInstances
          5. Entities Element
          6. Entity
          7. Identifiers
          8. Methods Element
        3. Method
          1. Method Properties
          2. Filter Descriptors
          3. Parameters
          4. Type Descriptor
          5. Method Instance
    6. Index
    7. About the Authors
    8. Copyright

    Product information

    • Title: Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010: Business Connectivity Services
    • Author(s): Brett Lonsdale Penelope Coventry and Phill Duffy
    • Release date: June 2012
    • Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
    • ISBN: 9780735671386