SharePoint BUZZ

Just browsing around at all the wonderful blogs that have started up and I have to say, its refreshing. SharePoint 2007 has definitely become one of the most welcomed versions of SharePoint. This might have been caused by the blogosphere, global community or just the great features that ...

Here are some quick links for you today: Microsoft Announces New Package to Extend Microsoft Dynamics ERP Solutions to Microsoft Office Users Providing you with 12 new applications and a license for Office SharePoint Server 2007. For ...

Here are a few tips and tricks to remember when dealing with Business Data Catalogs (BDC): When you try to import invalid metadata, the Business Data Catalog displays an error message explaining the problem, and provides the line number where the error occurred. It is helpful to open the XML in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, use the Go command (Edit menu) to locate the line where the error occurred, and then review the XML statements near that line. Business data in lists and Business Data Web Parts are driven by Business Data Catalog permissions. When you author metadata, try to import one entity at a time so that you can identify and debug problems more easily. The minimum permission you need on an entity to use it in clients is the Selectable in Clients right. Site Settings has little relationship with Business Data Catalog permissions. The Business Data Catalog provides a schema definition file (XSD) that defines the schema allowed in the XML file, and that defines the metadata for a business application. It is important for the XML documents to adhere to this schema. You can find the BdcMetadata.XSD file in the \Bin directory of your Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 installation, typically at <Root>\Program Files\Microsoft Office Server\12.0\Bin. When authoring metadata in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, copy the .xsd file to the working folder and set the SchemaReference attribute in the XML file to point to the .xsd file in the working folder. As a result, Visual Studio provides IntelliSense, which greatly simplifies editing. Another name for the Business Data Catalog is "Application Registry". You must read the Business Data Catalog: Metadata Model section and understand how to write each metadata element. The topics also list supported children and properties, and their limits and accepted values.

Want to know how to add an application definition to the business data catalog? Well this programming task shows how an administrator can add an application definition to the Business Data Catalog (BDC) after the developer writes and tests the metadata. Adding the application definition is also referred to as importing a metadata package. For instructions on how to write metadata, see Business Data Catalog (BDC) Metadata Model. Don't know what a Business Data Catalog is, here's a quick write up on the topic: Business Data Catalog is a new business integration feature in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. It is a shared service and it enables SharePoint 2007 to surface business data from back-end server applications without any coding. Business Data Catalog (BDC) bridges the gap between the portal site and your business applications and enables you to bring in key data from various business applications to Office SharePoint Server 2007 lists, Web Parts, search, user profiles, and custom applications. To add an application definition to the Business Data Catalog Open SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration. In the left navigation pane, click the name of your Shared Services Provider (SSP). In the Business Data Catalog section, click Add Application.

Lawrence over at the MS SharePoint Team Blog has his monthly post on recommending reading for January. MOSS Search Word Stemming: Part 1 and Part 2 – written by Mike Taghizadeh, SharePoint Ranger; clarifies one of the most esoteric topics about SharePoint Search. If you’re interested in SharePoint Search, then ...