Latest SharePoint Framework (SPFx) topics

The latest version of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) released a few weeks ago, v1.7.0, uncovered a few issues between how the various Node.js package managers work. These issues appear to be rooted in the package tslint and came about with a change in how Microsoft was using tslint under the covers from SPFx v1.6 to v1.7.

A fix has been submitted to tslint, but they appear to be lagging on their release schedule so there’s no ETA on when it will get rolled out.

On November 8, 2018 (last Thursday), Microsoft released v1.7.0 of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). This release is filled with a lot of new things Microsoft has been talking about for a few months. In this post, I’ll summarize some of what you can find, but also share some disappointments I had after spending some time picking apart v1.7.0.

What’s in this update?

• Generally available (GA) things in v1.7.0
  • SharePoint 2019 Support
  • Dynamic data (ie: connected components)
• Developer Preview things in v1.7.0
  • Teams tabs & apps in SharePoint
  • Full page apps
  • Domain Isolated web parts
  • Client-side list subscriptions (socket.io)

Getting the latest SharePoint Framework

There are two things to do to get your developer environment updated for v1.7.0. The first one is to upgrade the version of the SPFx Yeoman generator.

I’ve seen more and more questions since the folks at npm added an automatic scan for vulnerabilities after every npm install. What’s going on? The npm registry runs a security audit on npm packages. With the release of npm v6, this command is run automatically when you execute an npm install on your project. You can manually run one of these audits by executing the command npm audit (ref: npm-audit docs).

This month’s update on my Mastering the SharePoint Framework course features the transition from one sprint to the next.

Sprint 12 Complete

I published the final pieces of Sprint 12 this week. This includes a new chapter in the Ultimate Bundle, new lessons in two Fundamentals Bundle chapters and a bunch of fixes! Want to get the details? Join me on Facebook Live for a sprint release party tomorrow, Thursday, November 1 at 1pm ET to see what’s in sprint 12 & get a sneak peek to what is planned for sprint 13, Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals & more!

This month’s update on my Mastering the SharePoint Framework course features the transition from one sprint to the next.

Sprint 11 Complete

Earlier this week, I published the final pieces of Sprint 11. Two new chapters, the first chapters in the Ultimate Bundle! I also hosted the first Facebook Live sprint release party this week… if you missed it, you can get access to the recording here: Voitanos @ Facebook Live

In the past, I’ve written how I prefer Yarn over npm not just for SharePoint Framework (SPFx) projects, but also for all my Node.js based projects that leverage the npm package registry: https://www.npmjs.org. I wrote that post in December 2016 and things have changed quite a bit since then. Last week Microsoft released SPFx v1.5.0 & the associated Yeoman generator that added support for changing the package manager the generator ran after creating the project scaffolding. Even without this new --package-manager switch introduced in v1.5.0, the SPFx generator had the command line switch --skip-install that we could add, telling it to not run the package install step, thus allowing us to run our own package manager.

Over the last month of May, we’ve seen quite a few announcements from Microsoft with respect to what’s new and coming related to the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). This news has come out in part at the Microsoft Build 2018 conference in Seattle, WA and the SharePoint Conference North America 2018 in Las Vegas. Some of these things are available today while others are coming soon or in the next few months.

A few months ago, we partnered up with Rencore on their third annual State of SharePoint and Office 365 customizations survey. The point of this survey was to learn and share how customers were customizing SharePoint & Office 365.

Today, continuing our partnership, I’m launching the first annual comprehensive State of SharePoint Development survey. This survey is for developers with the goal of obtaining and sharing the technical state of SharePoint developers around the world. The findings of this survey will then be summarized into a report that provides valuable insights.

I’m sitting here with a smile on my face as I sit back in these last few days of 2017, reflecting on the previous year and looking forward to next year. It’s been quite a ride, finally getting Voitanos off the ground and working up production. While the stakes are not comparable, I cannot help but see similarities with my experience this past year and what Tesla has been doing with their Model 3 sedan. From delays in the ramp up, to launch and now working through issues to increase production and output, I’m working through similar things at Voitanos on a much smaller scale.

Many developers picking up the SharePoint Framework are coming from a traditional SharePoint development background. Some of these people server-side developers primarily who may have some client-side development experience while others may have been customizing SharePoint using client-side development techniques for a while.

Well, I am just about a week away from the pre-release launch of my Mastering the SharePoint Framework developer course. [Last week I wrote about](/blog/ mastering-the-sharepoint-framework-on-demand-course-pre-release-availability-news-and-a-50-discount) the September 19th release & how the special 1-day only 50% sale will work. If you missed that, not to worry, watch the following video that explains the pre-release as well as the special 1-day sale (exclusive to you, my email subscribers):

Full details on the pre-release launch, special 1-day 50% sale, terms & conditions as well as frequently asked questions, can be found on the Voitanos website.

In the most recent SharePoint Patterns & Practices - JavaScript Special Interest Group meeting, Microsoft shared some news on the SharePoint Framework. The news fell into three buckets:

• Recent Updates
• Update on SPFx Modern UI Extensions
• SharePoint Framework Engineering Backlog

Recent Updates

The big news that in the last few weeks Microsoft introduced a new, and often requested, feature for SPFx: **tenant-scoped deployment for SPFx client-side web parts and extensions. This means addins or extensions can be deployed to all sites within your tenant just a single time!