SharePoint 2013 Capabilities Useful for Developers

Discussion in 'ASP.NET' started by MinalS, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. MinalS

    MinalS New Member

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    SharePoint helps user manage projects, create documents, schedule management, exchange data, etc. The Business Intelligence features, social features, abilities to govern are the major benefits of sharepoint.

    SharePoint Functions

    SharePoint consists of different areas where they are useful. The following diagram shows the three areas where the SharePoint functions.

    [​IMG]

    1. Collaboration

    In SharePoint, there are different collaborations used for bringing people together. The different collaboration types are enterprise content management, Web content management, social computing using newsfeeds, dashboards creation, etc. The apps are used for managing collaboration.

    2. Interoperability

    The collaboration is bought together through the use of interoperability. The Offica and web based document integration, capacity to develop and deploy secure solutions, integrate with web technologies, deploy application to cloud.

    3. Platform

    SharePoint is a platform that supports interoperability and collaboration. It also supports extensibility using the object model, set of developer tools, and good developer community. The cloud introduces new app models that are useful for developing, deploying and hosting applications, forms authentication using OAuth, data interoperability using OData.

    User Interface

    User interface helps understand the site creation in SharePoint. The different templates are available to the user for creating sites.

    [​IMG]

    The above figure shows the different templates where user can access the different templates.
    1. The toolbar shows the access to other areas of Office 365 as Outlook, Calendar, People or the Site settings.
    2. The search box is used to enter queries and search for the site collection
    3. The quick launch tiles are helpful to the user to start with the site creation
    4. The quick links for the other areas of the team site are provided by the user.
    Introduction to Structure

    The structure of SharePoint consists of multiple levels. The first or the initial level for the site consists of template. There are different template types useful for site creation. User can create more sub sites in a site. In a specific site, user can add apps.

    The SharePoint infrastructure is useful for internal site and managing projects that need business process workflow. Many site types and apps can be developed. There are different components like document library, custom list, tasks, mailbox which are useful for creating site development.

    Different levels for SharePoint development

    In SharePoint, each development level provides end user with specific information. The following areas where the development is done are as mentioned below:
    1. Designer: When the user needs to customize the master pages, designer graphics for a web site, CSS implementation or style sheets, etc.
    2. Power User: The user who has the advanced privileges on the SharePoint site, administering permissions, apps management, light customized sites.
    3. Website developers: Need to create code, mark-up code, or unmanaged code solutions for SharePoint users.
    The Platform

    SharePoint 2013 maintains a high level architecture consisting of number of components. The three tired architecture is explained to the user. The roles of the SharePoint architecture are web server role used as a fast, light weighted server which responses the user request. The application server role provides services like excel services. The Database server role connects the store content and the service data.

    The standalone server acts as the entire farm. The components listed in the diagram work on a single machine.

    [​IMG]

    For the light workloads the configuration can be adequate. The Windows operating system in the underlying base installed. It is useful for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012. User can install the SharePoint foundation or SharePoint Server on top of which user can build and install customizations.

    Installation Types

    When user installs the SharePoint, it can select different deployment and installation types. There are three different ways to install and use the SharePoint.

    SharePoint Foundation

    The SharePoint foundation is a free, downloadable install. It provides foundational parts of SharePoint. It contains number of features as security, administration, user and team site collaboration. It provides features that help user in using and developing SharePoint.

    SharePoint Server

    The SharePoint Server provides user with features like more app types, office server side services as Excel and word services, search versions, etc.

    The list of service provided by the SharePoint server is as mentioned below:
    1. Access Services: It helps user create a new Access service applications using Access 2013 Preview client.
    2. Access Services 2010: The Access service applications are created using Access 2010 clients, access 2013 preview clients.
    3. Business Data Connectivity: It is used for accessing the line of business data systems
    4. Search: It searches for the indexes and provides search queries
    5. State Service: It provides user with the temporary storage of user session
    6. Word Automation service: It performs automated bulk conversions
    7. Work Management: It provides task aggregation across work management systems consisting of SharePoint products, exchange server, project server
    Office 365

    Office 365 is a cloud hosted model of SharePoint. User can develop rich applications and manage the cost of the infrastructure. It provides great development capabilities to the user. User can customize SharePoint editions like SharePoint foundation, Server or Office 365.

    Capabilities of SharePoint 2013

    SharePoint provides built in set of capabilities that are useful for consuming the platform without development work. The capabilities are extended and used for application building. They are known as workloads. The workload helps combine different SharePoint capabilities together.

    The core capabilities of SharePoint 2013 are as listed below:
    1. Sites: The sites contain many features like capacity to create, store, and access data. User can maintain data, tag and search content, documents and information. The list and document library provides connectivity to the client applications.

      The site templates, SharePoint apps, workflow, master and site pages are provided through sites.
    2. Social: It provides user with social networking capacity, newsfeeds, profile searching and tagging. User can search, locate, and interact using the skills, locations and rating content.

      The search customization, rating capabilities, blogs, wiki and metadata are provided.
    3. Content: It consists of capacity to explore, manage and search content, apps, workflows, or content types.
    4. Search: The capacity to search content of SharePoint in dynamic way using Office Web apps. The SharePoint search, business data connectivity ( BDC ) is provided.
    5. Interoperability: The LOB integration to Office integration through the new apps for office application model. The apps for Office, custom development is possible.
    6. Branding: It is used for changing the look and feel of the site using the built in template. The master pages and customized apps for SharePoint can be created.
    Site Collection and Sites
    The site acts as the base for the SharePoint and is used as the starting point for developers. User cannot develop code till the site is created. There are various site templates available for the user. There are various template types from which user can select one. When a new site collection is created, in the site collection dialog box click meetings, enterprise, publishing, custom tabs are present.

    SharePoint 2013 APIs

    Once user creates a site collection, the fundamental parent object is used for the start of the coding. The APIs and services are used for the coding. The object model levels as server object model and client side object model is used.

    Server Object Model

    The server object model is used for full instance SharePoint foundation or server installations. The server needs to be installed and hosted by the user. User can build different types of applications using the server object model for document library, metadata management, information retrieval, list creation and manipulation, site administration, backup, etc.

    The object model is present in a set of assemblies that are deployed to the global access cache ( GAC ). User must deploy the apps on the server using the classes and libraries.

    The following code snippet demonstrates the title and description for a list known as Tasks and Insert method is called for the modifications.
    Code:
    	SPList mylist = mySPList.Lists(“Tasks”);
    	mylist.Title=”OrderList”;
    	mylist.Description=”List of orders”;
    	mylist.Insert();
    
    Client side object model

    The client side object model is used for remote or client side applications. The applications can be .NET, Silverlight, mobile API, etc. The user can create and deploy apps that are not dependent on server side resources.

    The following code snippet shows the client side code for the site.
    Code:
    ClientContext cont = new ClientContext(“http://Site1”)
    Web web = cont.Web;
    cont.Load(web);
    cont.ExecuteQuery();
    lbl1.Text = web.Title;
    
    In the above code, user sets the context of the SharePoint site. The site is loaded and the ExecuteQuery() method is called. The Text property of the label object is set the SharePoint site title.

    JavaScript model

    SharePoint 2013 cotains JavaScript object model. The client side object model is present and helps user build variety of SharePoint hosted apps. They can be integrated with HTML 5, JQuery, and different web technologies.

    SharePoint Central Administration

    Once user installs the SharePoint administration, a separate site collection is created. User can perform different administrative functions that need to be performed in a routine. The site collection is known as central administrative site. The site collection is executed as web application on IIS, separate from other sites.

    The following figure shows the SharePoint central administration site.

    [​IMG]

    The following activities can be managed using the administrative features. The areas are as mentioned below:
    1. Application Management - The application management is used for creating a new web application and site collection. The services that are installed using the SharePoint site are managed. The tasks like content database, activate features, new site collection creation are managed.
    2. Monitoring - The monitoring is within the central administration for managing reporting, monitoring and sharepoint site status. The following three areas are present in the monitoring site.
      1. Timer jobs: The timer jobs are enabled for user to define the jobs specific to run and perform log cleanup or audit log trimming.
      2. Reporting: The reporting service provides user with the set of tools that enables user to create and manage reports, view reports, run the diagnostic logging, and perform server side activities.
      3. Health Status: The health status provides user for viewing the status of different services on the server. User can define rules and check which services are failing.
    3. Security - It covers the areas like management of accounts, configuration and management of service accounts, password change settings, authentication provider specifications, identity providers, antivirus settings, self service security and so on.
    4. General application settings - The general application settings site provides user to configure the number of general options for the site and collections. The options for sending mails to the user are done using settings.
    5. System settings - When user wants to configure the server centric settings like access features, manage services available in the site collection. They can be managed from the System settings site.
    6. Backup and Restore - The backup and restore helps user to create and schedule the backups of the SharePoint. It performs backups, restores the backed up sharepoint site, etc. It acts as an entry point for ensuring that the failover plan for the backup site is successful.
    7. Upgrade and migration - There are requirements when user needs to upgrade from SharePoint Standard to SharePoint Enterprise. The license and upgrade facility helps server upgrade.
    8. Apps - The new category in the central administration site helps user to manage different facets of apps installed on the SharePoint instance. The apps are useful for license management, error free apps execution, App catalog management.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 21, 2017

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