Photo Credit: Wonderlane

Here is a bringing together of free webcast tutorials on SharePoint for Developers.

Please click on this site to view a list of webcasts:SharePoint Videos

SharePoint Also goes by the name of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies. SharePoint is a cluster of products that include these:

• Process management modules
• Search modules and a document-management platform
• Web browser based collaboration functions

SharePoint can be used to host web sites that access:

• Shared workspaces
• Documents
• Host defined applications such as wikis and blogs
• Information stores

All users can manipulate or interact with:

• Web parts
• Lists
• Document libraries

Background:

SharePoint refers to a base platform and a variety of services. The platform is Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), which is included with Windows Server and available as a free download for those with Windows Server licenses. (Vista users can use a helper application from Bamboo Nation to allow them to run SharePoint without having to have Windows Server installed.) Services such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) provide additional functionality and features and are licensed accordingly.

SharePoint Products:

Photo Credit: Wonderlane

Here are the current SharePoint products and technologies:

• Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS)
• Search Server 2008 Express
• Search Server 2008
• Forms Server 2007
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 MOSS Standard
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 MOSS Enterprise
• Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007

SharePoint is not just a single use solution that replaces a full file server. Instead, it is geared and positioned to play numerous roles in the business and enterprise environment. Microsoft markets these vectors as Collaboration, Processes, and People.

Users access SharePoint through a web browser. While all browsers are supported, only Internet Explorer is fully integrated and able to utilize the full functionality of a SharePoint Solution.

SharePoint sites are functionally ASP.NET 2.0 web applications, which are served using IIS and use a SQL Server database as a data storage back end. All site content data, such as items in document libraries and lists, are stored within an SQL database named by default as “WSS_Content_ID”.

Microsoft Search Server:

Microsoft Search Server (MSS) is an enterprise search platform from Microsoft. It builds on the search capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. MSS is based on the Windows Search platform, and they both use the same querying engine and indexer. MOSS search allows one to search metadata attached to documents.

Microsoft has made Microsoft Search Server available as Search Server 2008, released March 2008. A free variant, Search Server 2008 Express, is also available. The express edition features the same feature set as the commercial edition, including no limitation on the number of files indexed. However, it is limited to a stand-alone installation and cannot be scaled out to a cluster.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer:

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer is a free WYSIWYG HTML Editor that administrators can use to customize the design of the SharePoint site and that end users can use in designing workflows. SharePoint Designers is the follower to Microsoft FrontPage and replaces it.

More Resources:

• Sharepoint Community Portal
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

I just heard about a church that had their door locks glued shut by vandals. One week the front doors were vandalized and the next week the back door locks were ruined with super glue and I paused and wondered why people feel like they need to destroy other people’s possessions.

For those of you that don’t know vandalizing a door lock is one of the most popular methods to cause damage to someone else’s personal property. Think of the anger and frustration you would have coming home some day to find out that you can’t put your key in your front door lock and unlock your front door.

There are a variety of techniques to vandalize a lock including these…

Epoxy glue

Sand

Toothpick inserted into keyhole

As I thought about this stuff I felt maybe it was time to look for a new lock for our front door. Since I had done some initial research I thought that the following qualities would be very important in making my decision…

1. Vandal proof
2. More than one way to open the lock
3. Temporary user access
4. Fits our décor
5. Reasonably priced

I found a web site that had some handy posts here: keyless door locks. Maybe it will help you also but in a nutshell here is what I learned…

The door lock I picked after spending I don’t know how many hours researching door locks (I’m very thorough when I am thinking about buying something) was the AP501 from Sunnect. This was primarily based on a 7 page review by The National Locksmith magazine that concluded:

This lock is far superior than other door locks I read about because of all of the capabilities such as:

Key components (motor, batteries, computer chips) mounted on the inside of the door to protect against extreme weather and vandals

Cannot duplicate lost or stolen keys

A standard door and a Phillips screwdriver is all it takes to install

Special bypass circuitry to protect against high-voltage attacks

Auto lock option locks door after about 3 seconds when it is closed but can be turned off during high traffic

Quality checked 200,000 times which is equivalent to 54 yrs. Of opening and closing a door ten times a day under extreme weather and temperature conditions

Built to withstand sawing, hammering, drilling and even a direct hit from a gun

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the bullet clip!! What is even more surprising is that I found the Sunnect lock at Amazon.com which means I can purchase it there instead of having to get it from an expensive locksmith and install it myself in no time which means I save a chunk of money and I get the best lock too!

Just in case you are thinking about new locks I have included a link to the page on Amazon so you can learn more about this high tech lock.

Here is the link to the page for the SunnectAP501 lock on Amazon.com

As I stated earlier if you want to discover more you can always visit: pushbutton lock for some very handy posts.

Put a little fun in your life with Tom And Jerry Checks.

Here is a library of over 10 hours of video tutorials on VS 2010. The collection subsists of two video series. One video series is from the msdev.com website, and it is presented by Nancy Strickland. Nancy is a teacher at IT Mentors. The other series is from Learn Visual Studio, and it is delivered by Bob Tabor. The Learn Visual Studio Series requires that you become a member in order to see those videos.

The codename for Visual Studio 2010 is “Hawaii.” A CTP (Community Technology Preview) variant was released in 2008 as a preinstalled virtual hard disk. In May 2009, the VS 2010Beta 1 was published as an installable variant, unlike the previous CTP variant that was preinstalled as a virtual hard disk.

The IDE for Visual Studio 2010 is supposed to abate the complexity and clutter by providing better support for:

• Floating tool windows
• Multiple document windows
• Multi-monitor support

The IDE has been rewritten in WPF and the internals have been redesigned using MEF (Managed Exensibility Framework). Revolutionary additions to the programming languages include:

• F# (multi-paradigm programming language ML)
• M – textual modelling language
• Quadrant (visual model designer)

VS 2010 will come with version 4.0 of the NET Framework and it will target developing applications for Windows 7. Silverlight is built into Visual Studio 2010 and there is much better support for parallel programming. Search abilities and Intellisense have been much improved in the new variant.

This article provides links to three sets of video tutorial collections on C-Sharp. . The videos in this collection are entitled Modern Software Development: Architecting Solutions in C#. Another collection consists of 10 videos on Microsoft’s Chief Architect for C-Sharp, Anders Hejlsberg. There is also a collection of 26 hours of videos by Bob Tabor on C-Sharp.

History: C# is a simple object-oriented programming language. Anders Hejlsberg is the chief architect for C#. C-Sharp’s syntax is based on the object-oriented syntax of C++. The most recent version of the language is 3.0, and it was published in conjunction with the .NET Framework 3.5 In 2007. The next proposed version, 4.0, is in development.

Anders Hejlsberg has repeatedly said that flaws in most major programming languages, like Java, Delphi, and Smalltalk, drove the fundamentals of the Common Language Runtime, which, in turn, drove the design of the C-Sharp programming language itself.

In 1999, when Anders Hejlsberg formed a team to create the language, they originally planned to call it COOL, which stood for C-like Object Oriented Language. However, there were copyright problems with that name, and it was renamed C#. In music, C-Sharp means a half of a pitch higher, and, in programming, C-Sharp indicates that it eveolved out of C++.

Versions:

• C# 1.0 – introduced 2000 / released January 2002
• C# 1.2 – published April 2003
• C# 2.0 – published November 2005
• C# 3.0 – published November 2007
• C# 4.0 – in development

Primary Design Goals:

• C# is supposed to be a modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language.

C-Sharp ought to support:

• Strong type checking
• Array bounds checking
• Detection of attempts to use uninitialized variables
• Software robustness
• Durability
• Programmer productivity
• Automatic garbage collection
• The language is for developing software parts suitable for deployment in distributed environments.
• The most important features are programmer portability and source code portability, especially for those programmers already familiar with C and C++.
• Another key feature is internationalization.
• C# is intended to be suitable for writing applications for

Distingushing Features of C#

• Local variables cannot shadow variables of the enclosing block, unlike C and C++.
• C# supports a strict Boolean datatype, bool. Statements that take conditions, such as while and if, require an expression of a boolean type. While C++ also has a boolean type, it may be freely converted to and from integers
• In C#, memory address pointers can only be used within blocks specifically marked as unsafe, and programs with unsafe code need appropriate permissions to run.
• Managed memory is automatically garbage collected and cannot be explicitly freed.
• Multiple inheritance is not supported, although a class can implement any number of interfaces.
• C# is more typesafe than C++.

Here is a assembly of over 35 hours of premium video tutorials on ASP.NET by Learn Visual Studio. In order to watch some of the the videos, you need to become a card-carrying member of Learn Visual Studio.

You need to click on the following link to look at a library of webcasts:15 Hours of Free Videos on Essential ASP.NET by Fritz Onion

Background: ASP.NET is a web application framework developed by Microsoft. The framework makes it possible for programmers to manufacture dynamic web sites, web applications and web services. ASP.NET is assembled on the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLR allows programmers to manufacture ASP.NET code using any supported .NET language.

Please click on this link to look at a library of webcasts:84 ASP.NET Video Tutorials

Succeeding the release of Internet Information Services 4.0 in 1997, Microsoft began researching possibilities for a new-fashioned web application model that would solve oft-repeated complaints pertaining to ASP, mostly with respect to separation of presentation and content and being able to set up “clean” code. Mark Anders, a manager on the IIS team, and Scott Guthrie, who had joined Microsoft in 1997 subsequent to graduating from Duke University, were tasked with determining what that model would look like.

Please click on the following site to see a list of webcasts:35 Hours of Premium Videos on ASP.NET by Bob Tabor

The beginning version was called “XSP”, but the “X” did not literally stand for anything. It was decided to set up the unique platform on top of the Common Language Runtime (CLR), as it offered an object-oriented programming environment, garbage collection and other features that were seen as desirable features that Microsoft’s Component Object Model platform didn’t support.

XSP was renamed to ASP+ as it was seen as being the offspring of Active Server Pages. Then, in 2000, it was renamed to ASP.NET to emphasize that it rested on the underlying .NET framework.

Versions: ASP.NET 1.0 was released in January of 2002. 2.0 was released in November 2005, and 3.0 in November 2006. The current variation is 3.5, and it came out in November 2007. 4.0 is scheduled to released in the next few months.