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SharePoint 2014: Where to save my data, for devs!
The document discusses various options for where developers can save application data in SharePoint. It provides an overview of options such as databases, lists, property bags, web part properties, temporary data stores, and SPPersistedObject. It also highlights advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The document aims to help developers choose the best location for storing different types of data based on factors like data structure, persistence needs, and permissions. It includes code demonstrations of using lists, property bags, serialization, and web part properties to save and retrieve data.
SharePoint 2014: Where to save my data, for devs!
- 1. Where to savemy data, for devs! Benjamin Steinhauser SharePoint Saturday Virginia Beach 2014 1
- 2. Welcome to SharePoint Saturday Virginia Beach Jan11, 2014 7:30 - 8:30 – Registration(Lobby) Breakfast (Sponsor Hall) 8:30 - 8:45 - Welcome 9:00 - 10:15 – 1st Sessions 10:30 - 11:45 – 2nd Sessions 11:45 - 12:30 – Lunch (Sponsor Hall) 12:30 - 1:45 - 3rd Sessions 2:00 - 3:15 – 4th Sessions 3:30 - 4:45 – 5th Sessions 5:00 - 5:30 - Closing & Giveaways 2
- 3. About Me • BenjaminJ. Steinhauser • • • • • • SharePoint Solutions Developer B&R Business Solutions BS/MS in CS; MCP, MCTS (SP2010 Config. & Dev.) 10+ years as ASP.NET Application Developer 5+ years as SharePoint Developer Creator of Open Source CodePlex Projects • • • • • SPCAMLQueryHelper (over 25,000 downloads) SPFileZilla (over 200 downloads) SPMetroGrid SPMMDNavigator SPClippy, SPjQuerify, SPEasyBranding • Presenter at SP User Groups and SharePoint Saturday Events 3
- 4. Intro • Where doI put my application’s data? • “Every custom SharePoint application is driven by data in one way or another” –W. Wilen • Developers face many choices when building solutions that consume data • “Knowing is half the battle!” • Who: is the consumer of the data? • What: is the type of data being saved? • When: is the data needed, and for how long should it persist? • Why: is the data being stored in the first place!? • Where: is the data being stored? 4
- 5. Cont’d • What arethe advantages/disadvantages for each option? • What are the restrictions? • What type of data is it? • Settings, configuration, licensing • Structured data (employees, favorites, HR forms, etc.) • How long should the data persist? • Who is the data consumer? • End user, Power User, Administrator • Web Part, Application Page, Timer Job, Web Service, Service Application 5
- 6. Where is mydata!? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. MS SQL Server SharePoint List Property Bags Web Part Properties View State/Hidden Fields Cache Web.config SPPersistedObject Session State Cookies 6
- 7. Databases • • • • • MS SQL Server,Oracle, MySQL CRUD: create, read, update, delete For structured data, relational data Easy (if you know SQL), very fast Ways to interact: • • • • LINQ to SQL LINQ to Entity Stored Procedures Inline-sql in .NET • But… • • • • • • Farm solutions only (not for Sandbox Solutions) Database needs to be created (database administrator) Permissions need to be configured (database administrator) Contexts need to be built (when using LINQ) Another actual “layer” to manage Connections strings need to be saved (more data!) • “Put it in a list, duh!”, not so fast, does it need the SP overhead? • Better for custom business applications that store lots of data, specialized data, data that doesn’t need to be accessible via a List, Searched. 7
- 8. SharePoint List • • • • • • • ECM: SiteColumns, Content Types, Custom Lists BCS External Lists too! Provisioning, create on Feature Activation, WSP Site level (root web), Web level Accessible to Power Users and Admins Sandbox Solutions supported May ways to interact: • • • • • • Direct access via SOM LINQ to SharePoint SPQuery (with CAML) SPSiteDataQuery: cross site list queries SP Client Object Model: from JS, Silverlight, .NET REST 8
- 9. Cont’d • Implementations: • MyCustom Config List • Codeplex: http://spconfigstore.codeplex.com • SharePoint Enterprise Patterns and Practices • But… • SharePoint overhead • Permissions are very important • RunWithElevatedPrivileges may be needed, or use current user permission • Across site collections gets tricky 9
- 10. DEMO: Config ListReader • Custom List created in Feature Activation • Filled with default data • Custom Class: ConfigListHelper • CreateConfigList() • GetAllValsElev() • GetAllVals() • Custom application page: • Reads all config data into Hashtable • Displays to page 10
- 11. Aside: LINQ toSP • Enables you to use Language Integrated Query (LINQ) queries • Translates LINQ queries into Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML) queries. • Sandbox Solutions supported • From MSDN, steps to use LINQ2SP: • Generate the entity classes. create or generate the strongly-typed entity classes that represent your list data and lookup column relationships. • Use SPMETAL.exe, batch file (.bat, .cmd) • Develop the solution. write LINQ queries against the strongly-typed entities that represent your data model. • Run the solution. provider dynamically converts your LINQ expressions into CAML queries, executes the CAML, and then maps the returned items to your stronglytyped data entities. • Pros: • No more CAML! Natural Language syntax or Expression syntax, FTW! • Cons: • Need to build context • SPMETAL.exe by default builds entity classes for ALL lists, content types, etc. • Can customize this with xml parameters file, see MSDN 11
- 12. DEMO: LINQ toSP • Feature Activation, Event Receiver: • Create List, “Best SharePoint Blog Sites” • Fill with sample data • SPMETAL BAT file, creates Entity context • SPSVB2014Linq.cs • Custom Application Page: • Display ListItems • Add a ListItem 12
- 13. Web.config • Usually thefirst place “web developers” look to start saving settings • We quickly find out that it’s a double edged sword • Pros: • Find file, open, add key/value pair, save … profit! • 1 LOC to access data from app • Cons: • Farm solutions only (not for Sandbox Solutions) • Have to update every WFE separately • SPWebConfigModification can be used, which may “nuke” your custom settings added manually (so I’ve heard) • Need server access, admins only • Either don’t use this, or use this for farm-wide settings that “need” to be secured in web.config • Better yet, use a nested web.config in your applications layouts folder 13
- 14. DEMO: Web.config • NestedWeb.config file in app “_layouts/<appname>” • Custom Class: WebConfigHelper • Designed to use modes, makes it easy to store different environments together (ex. dev, test, staging, prod) • GetMode(): get the current mode • GetKey(): get the key associated with the current mode • Custom application page: • Retrieves single property and displays 14
- 15. Property Bags • Hashtable/Dictionarycollections to store simple objects (string, int) • Can use Serialization to save custom objects, Lists, collections, etc. • PropertyBags are available here: • Farm: Farm admins only; no Sandbox; WFE read-only(?) • TimerJob: Each timer job has its own bag; Farm admins only; no Sandbox • Web Application: Each web app has its own bag; Farm admins only; no Sandbox; WFE read-only(?) • Site Collection (via root web): Web admin to edit; root web read access to read; Sandbox supported • Web: Web admin to edit; web read access to read; Sandbox supported • List (via root folder): List owner to edit; list read access to read; Sandbox supported • Pros: • Easy to use, quick/efficient to store settings, small amounts of data • Saved in content database • Cons: • Not meant for large data, approx. 4-8kb and below • No interface to CRUD, build your own, or use a plugin (codeplex), or SPDesigner • http://pbs2010.codeplex.com/ • http://pbs2013.codeplex.com/ 15
- 16. DEMO: Property Bags •Custom Class: PropBagHelper.SiteRootWeb • SafePropBagSave(site, key, value) • SafePropBagRead(site, key) • SafePropBagRead(site) • Custom Application Page: • Get all root web keys • Save a key 16
- 17. Aside: Serialization • Serialization:converting an object into a stream of bytes, to store or send the object • Its main purpose is to save the state of an object in order to be able to recreate it when needed. • The reverse process is called Deserialization. • We convert bytes to strings, to save in Property Bags, ViewState, cache, etc. • Popular Formats: • XML Serialization • SOAP Serialization: Conform to the SOAP specification. SOAP is a protocol based on XML, designed specifically to transport procedure calls using XML • JSON Serialization • Tools/API: • NewtonSoft’s Json.NET • My API 17
- 18. DEMO: Serialization • CustomClasses: • JsonExtensionMethod • XmlSerialization • Custom application page: • Local class: Person • On page load, Person created, Serialized to text, displayed in textboxes • Button to Deserialize, fill Person Objects, display IDs 18
- 19. Web Part Properties •The Web Part base class contains a set of properties that users can use to control its appearance and behavior (width, height) • A custom property is a property that you create when you need additional properties to enhance your Web Part's functionality • The custom properties you create and specify as able to be browsed are displayed automatically in the default property pane • If the default property pane isn't rich enough in functionality, you can create a custom user interface called a tool part to manipulate your custom properties • Available in Sandbox Solutions • Available in Standard and Visual Web Parts • Standard Property Attributes: • WebBrowsable = true, property visible to user in properties pane • Category = “Licensing”, section where property added in pane • Personalizable = PersonalizationScope.Shared, for all users • Easy to update in custom tool pane Class, tricky to update in regular Web Part page lifecycle events • SetPersonalizationDirty() • ***Checkout required, Content Approval, Publishing 19
- 20. DEMO: Web PartProperties • • • • • Web Part Feature Add to page Read web part property value Update web part property value Show in default properties pane 20
- 21. Temporary Data • PerWFE all Sessions, or Per Session, or Per Web Page, • Options: • Session State: disabled by default in SharePoint, can be turned on • ViewState: easy way to save data between postbacks, string data only, but with serialization… • Hidden Fields: with viewstate enabled (by default), can be useful for mixing ASP.NET postbacks and JavaScript operations; only saves strings, but with serialization… • Cache: HTTPRuntime, Application state; server side cache, useful for data that only needs periodic refreshing; per WFE, load balancing may interfere; behaves like static/shared/singleton • Cookies: ASP.NET management of client side cookies, or use jQuery Cookie plugin (recommended) • HTML5 web storage: not all browsers support it, but cool! 21
- 22. DEMO: Temporary Data •Custom application page: • Read/write ViewState • obfuscated/encoded/encrypted in browser • Read/write HiddenField • accessible via JavaScript 22
- 23. SPPersistedObject • • • • • • • • For storing settingsat the Farm and Web Application level For storing multiple settings and more complex values Create a class that inherits SPPersistedObject Add your settings as properties Mark them as Pesisted (with attribute) Then use SPFarm.GetChild or SPWebApplication.GetChild Settings saved in SP Configuration database Cons: • • • • Requires Farm Admin to save settings Farm solutions only (not for Sandbox Solutions) There is no built in user interface to manage SPPersistedObjects Must impersonate Farm admin to read and write, since access to Config database required (RunWithElevatedPrivs doesn’t help) 23
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- 25. Thanks! • Go downloadmy CodePlex projects! • SPCAMLQueryHelper • SPFileZilla • SOURCE CODE & PRESENTATION: http://sdrv.ms/1adh74r • Twitter: @njitben • Email: bsteinhauser@bandrsolutions.com • Company: http://www.bandrsolutions.com 25