Latest SharePoint topics

Once you start doing SharePoint development… specifically developing your own web parts, you’ll find deployment may not be a straightforward thing. Partick’s blog has a nice post about deployment of web parts. You may also have to deal wth Code Access Secrity (CAS) in .NET… there’s a good article on MSDN about this. » Deploying Web Parts - Possible Scenarios » Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Code Access Security

Just got tipped off to a post on Jan Tielens’ blog that details four free web parts he built for SharePoint. There is an MSI that will install into the GAC, or there’s a ZIP that explains how to install it manually for a specific site (I prefer this… esp since I’m in more of a shared environment). The single assembly contains four web parts in Jan’s Leadit.SharePoint.Essentials: What’s New: Shows new items added to a SharePoint site.

An article posted in May 2004 on MSDN was just highlighted on their front page and I just noticed it. As the teaser states: Stephen Toub walks you through customizing native Outlook 2003 integration with the Lists Web service from Windows SharePoint Services to build a Web application that serves up custom data. How will this help with WSS development? Not sure ~yet~… but definitely good code sample.

Anyone doing Web Part development (currently for SharePoint) knows how much of a PITA it is to code the WP by hand… almost entirely from the code behind. Fons has come up with an incredible SmartPart to save a ton of time!!! Together with Jan Tielens , I have created a improved version of my User Control Container Web Part called the SmartPart for SharePoint. Jan has written an introduction and even created a video demonstrating it in action.

I haven’t spent too much time investigating this as we’ve still been pretty busy about planning our SPS-CMS implementation, but I do plan to dig into it. I have seen it get lots of good press in numerous blogs. From GDN: An extension framework for building SharePoint Web Parts. The initial goals of this framework is to extend the base Web Part class with features needed in most common Web Parts.

Lamont Harrington has compiled a nice set of resources for SharePoint developers.

Chris Sells has a page filled with some nice utilities… I especially like the .NET CollectionGen tool .