Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sunday, December 18, 2005
New lights for this year
My next camera will need to have a macro lense for sure. I really enjoy getting up close.
Santa visits with Eva
Eva didn't want to visit with Santa Claus. I gave her a few dollars for the firemans boot and she put it in the boot and then right to Santa Claus. This was her very first visit.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Link to Presentation: What I Wish Developers Knew About SQL Server
Presentation: What I Wish Developers Knew About SQL Server: Excellent Slide Deck that I happeneed across at the source.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I am a bear cub, got Honey?
You Are A: Bear Cub!
Bears are strong and independent creatures who roam in the forest in search of food. Bears are usually gentle, but anger one and be prepared for their full fury! You're big, you won't back down from a fight, you have a bit of a temper -- classic attributes of a bear. Intelligent and resourceful, though lazy at times, you are a fascinating creature of the wild.You were almost a: Monkey or a Duck
You are least like a: Bunny or a ChipmunkWhat Cute Animal Are You?
Friday, September 02, 2005
Banana Spider
I cam across this Spider while visiting my friend in Jacksnoville, Fl. Amazingly beautiful and very docile, well kinda.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
GIFTCP - TrunkMonkey
GIFTCP : : TrunkMonkey
This is the initial post for a new topic area, Great Ideas From The Car Pool (GIFTCP).
This is the initial post for a new topic area, Great Ideas From The Car Pool (GIFTCP).
No More Socks
No More Socks! (graciously copied from the newscientist site)
Not really a SharePoint related topic, however, great resources for gifts.
Not really a SharePoint related topic, however, great resources for gifts.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
GetUserCollectionFromSite Method
Looking for a method to find specific user by e-mail, userid, name from a site collection. Once found edit or delete user as needed.
Example
The following code example displays information about the collection of users for the current site collection.
[Visual Basic .NET]Dim usrgrpService As New Web_Reference_Folder_Name.UserGroup()
usrgrpService.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials
Dim ndUsers As XmlNode = usrgrpService.GetUserCollectionFromSite()
MessageBox.Show(ndUsers.OuterXml)
Example
The following code example displays information about the collection of users for the current site collection.
[Visual Basic .NET]Dim usrgrpService As New Web_Reference_Folder_Name.UserGroup()
usrgrpService.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials
Dim ndUsers As XmlNode = usrgrpService.GetUserCollectionFromSite()
MessageBox.Show(ndUsers.OuterXml)
Friday, June 10, 2005
Microsoft Webcast Series
Microsoft Webcast Series The complete listing of the series Web Cast on Microsoft Products. I highly reccomend taking a few hours a week to watch a few that pertain to items you are interested in. Heck, watch them in fast forward!
Business Intelligence with SQL Server 2005: Transform Data into Decisions
Business Intelligence with SQL Server 2005: Transform Data into Decisions Looks like a great set of Web Casts regarding the BI capabilities of SQL 2005.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
HOWTO build a siege engine at multiple sizes from different materials
HOWTO build a siege engine at multiple sizes from different materials
Cory Doctorow:
Trebuchet.com's HOWTO page includes links to plans for dozens of different home-made siege engines, from wooden tabletop models to easy-to-construct PVC pipe versions (shown here).
Link
(via Make Blog)
It has been a while since I blogged. My oldest daughter said Trebuchet when she was 2 and 1/2 so I have a special fondness for the seige machines!
Cory Doctorow:
Trebuchet.com's HOWTO page includes links to plans for dozens of different home-made siege engines, from wooden tabletop models to easy-to-construct PVC pipe versions (shown here).
Link
(via Make Blog)
It has been a while since I blogged. My oldest daughter said Trebuchet when she was 2 and 1/2 so I have a special fondness for the seige machines!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Social Bookmarking - replacement, addition, enhancement to Link List Blogging?
I just created A Delicious DrTadd Yummy! But why? I have been guility of link blogging and I think that the Social Bookmarking is a much better way to approach this. More to come.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Long Time No Blog
It's been a few weeks since I have written on any technical aspects of SharePoint world at work. Tommorrow is the kick off of some best-bets, jeywords, taxonomy items to enhance the "findability" of content on my company's intranet. I will try to document what I can on what we find that is helpful to the SharePoint Community.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
"Please Stay Out Of The Database!!!" OK, you got my attention
I like to get into the database as much as the next developer. Many times, I think that I can find the magic field or view error, and many times I can. However, I think I have now been convinced by the text at Please Stay Out Of The Database!!!, Thank you Mike. I will try to just peak a few times.
"Our object model is a contract with you. Weve gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that using the OM results in stable and performant database interactions. If anythings amiss, were honor-bound to fix it. Please, please use it." Mike Fitzmaurice [MSFT]
"Our object model is a contract with you. Weve gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that using the OM results in stable and performant database interactions. If anythings amiss, were honor-bound to fix it. Please, please use it." Mike Fitzmaurice [MSFT]
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Excellent resource page on the summary of Caching
Excellent resource page on the summary of Caching
One of the tools that I use extensively in troubleshooting is HttpWatch. I highly reccomend this tool if you need to see what is going on with the browser. I like Fiddler as well, however, with HttpWatch, I do not have to do anything special in set up, click the button and start capturing the information I need. Yes, Fiddler is Free, but sometimes a little change goes a long way.
One of the tools that I use extensively in troubleshooting is HttpWatch. I highly reccomend this tool if you need to see what is going on with the browser. I like Fiddler as well, however, with HttpWatch, I do not have to do anything special in set up, click the button and start capturing the information I need. Yes, Fiddler is Free, but sometimes a little change goes a long way.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
AppSettings In web.config
AppSettings In web.config
This article will cover a couple of tips for flexibly using the appSettings element of web.config to store runtime configuration information.
This article will cover a couple of tips for flexibly using the appSettings element of web.config to store runtime configuration information.
[RandomElements] SharePoint: Writing Custom Web Services.
SharePoint: Writing Custom Web Services.
The Writing Custom Web Services Sample download provides a sample Web service for remote document access. This sample is used in conjunction with the article "Writing Custom Web Services for SharePoint Products and Technologies."
Get it here.
[Daily SharePoint Reports from across the globe] Documenting SharePoint Solutions with Whitehorse
Documenting SharePoint Solutions with Whitehorse
I'm currently trying to document (via reverse engineering and a some manual efforts) a .NET application built on top of SharePoint using Whitehorse. Whitehorse is the codename for the Visual Studio 2005 SOA tools (or maybe it's the codename for all of the new graphical designers in VS2005 I can never get that straight). Anyways, we have a SharePoint solution that is made up of a gaggle of Web Parts, a domain and various service and utility classes. Rather than using the normal UML markup for documenting our architecture (which I've already started) I wanted to give VS2005 a run for it's money and see how easy (or hard) it's going to be to move toward this. UML is nice and works but being a Microsoft shop, we're moving towards the DSL approach where the model is the system and away from the UML documentation model where it's just a pretty picture but not reality. My end goal here is that if I document the current (ASP 1.1/SharePoint) system now and it (somewhat) reflects reality then moving to a 2.0 based system where the model is <strong>real</strong> and not just a disconnected set of bits, I get a model of a system that works to show what the migration path will be like. It would make it easier if I took a regular ASP.NET app to do this, but I figured let's really challenge the system (even though VS2005 won't be out til later this year and SharePoint won't support .NET 2.0 until at least 2006).
Anyways, using drag and drop it's easy to lay out a system with the new tools. You drag an ExternalDatabase onto the model and specify the connection, etc. This is all great as you can use the items from the toolbox. Only problem is that there's nothing I can use to represent a SharePoint site or system because it's a bit of a hybrid. It's UI <strong>and</strong> a data access component. There's a nice little wiget to drag a BizTalkWebService on the system (or just a regular ExternalWebService) but we're talking to SharePoint through the object model. What the heck do I use to represent this? A WebApplication? An ExternalDatabase? A GenericEndpoint? Anyone tried this or have some thoughts on modeling a solution where you're using various parts of Microsoft systems as essentially middleware?
SharePoint Webcasts and Samples - copied from mindsharpblogs.com/todd
Webcasts and Samples
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
TurboScout Search Engine - Enter Keyword Once! for search
TurboScout Search Engine
TurboScout
TurboScout Search Engine - Access Search Engines Without Retyping - A 21 year-old undergraduate from Singapore launched TurboScout.com, a new search tool that helps Internet users to access and compare original results from over 90 search engines across 7 categories on a single web page, removing the hassle of retyping keywords into different search engines. Comparing results from different search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, and Ask Jeeves is a common practice for many…
Now, where is the search engine that reads my mind and only returns what I want from ALL the search engines and eliminates the duplicates, and eliminates the duplicates!
TurboScout
TurboScout Search Engine - Access Search Engines Without Retyping - A 21 year-old undergraduate from Singapore launched TurboScout.com, a new search tool that helps Internet users to access and compare original results from over 90 search engines across 7 categories on a single web page, removing the hassle of retyping keywords into different search engines. Comparing results from different search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, and Ask Jeeves is a common practice for many…
Direct and Related Links for 'TurboScout Search Engine'
Now, where is the search engine that reads my mind and only returns what I want from ALL the search engines and eliminates the duplicates, and eliminates the duplicates!
Monday, March 21, 2005
SharePoint Site Definitions - Maping files to pages on a SharePoint site
Thank you to Heather for putting together a great reference on how each file is mapped within a SharePoint site at SharePoint Site Definitions - Maping files to pages on a SharePoint site
I have to remember to go back to this site
Internet Explorer ToolTask "ToolTask is an Internet Explorer toolbar written in C# to remind you to view important web pages as and when you need them.By utilizing the Microsoft Outlook functionality ToolTask can be easily integrated into almost any Windows PC that has Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later installed (NOT Outlook Express)." Found on Scoble's Link Blog Thanks!
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Another RSS convert - kind of explains what I have been trying to explain about this blog stuff
Another RSS convert
Michael La Porte is an attoney from Chicago. He's just 'got' RSS....
"For now, I'm a convert."
One by one...
Chat functionality in SharePoint? LCS WebParts
Chat functionality in SharePoint
Last week I appealed for your help regarding a possible chat functionality inside SharePoint. Eric Schoonover replied that the next version of Windows Messenger (Office Communicator) is supposed to be packaged with SPS web parts that offer all of the functionality we are looking for. Great to hear Eric and tx for the tip. When seeing Mark's post regarding the beta program for Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 which is open for nomination, I of course immediately subscribed. I will keep you informed about this when I start getting the bits.
Office Communicator 2005 links from Graham Tyler Blog
Office Communicator 2005 - next generation of communications!
You may have seen Bill Gates announce the new Office Communicator 2005 product recently (if not, you can watch a recording). This is the future of comms - and you could try it now by signing up for the beta programme! (instructions here)
Mayur has written a great overview of the new software here. I'm sure there will be plenty of reasons for further posts about Communicator over the next few months - watch this space!
Here's the blurb from the product site:
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 is an enterprise messenger that integrates communications capabilities (including instant messaging, rich presence, PC-based voice and video, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and enterprise telephony) with productivity and other communications applications.
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 will be the recommended client for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, which provides a standards-based, enterprise-grade, instant messaging (IM) solution and an extensible, real-time collaboration platform to connect people, information, and business processes seamlessly in real time.
Office Communicator 2005 - next generation of communications!
You may have seen Bill Gates announce the new Office Communicator 2005 product recently (if not, you can watch a recording). This is the future of comms - and you could try it now by signing up for the beta programme! (instructions here)
Mayur has written a great overview of the new software here. I'm sure there will be plenty of reasons for further posts about Communicator over the next few months - watch this space!
Here's the blurb from the product site:
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 is an enterprise messenger that integrates communications capabilities (including instant messaging, rich presence, PC-based voice and video, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and enterprise telephony) with productivity and other communications applications.
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 will be the recommended client for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, which provides a standards-based, enterprise-grade, instant messaging (IM) solution and an extensible, real-time collaboration platform to connect people, information, and business processes seamlessly in real time.
SharePoint Links and References from Matthew Cosier's Blog
SharePoint Links and References from Matthew Cosier's Blog
Collaboration Data Objects - Links and References
Collaboration Data Objects - Links and References as I begin another journey to make my job easier. I want to find a way to have users manage a request for addition or deletion to a distribution list that I own on Exchange. If I can cut down 3 clicks out of the 5 it now takes, wow productivity that I can share.
Eileen Brown's WebLog - Office Communicator 2005
Eileen Brown's WebLog - Office Communicator 2005 has a summary of information and links regarding the Office Communicator 2005. I am very excited of the possibilities that this allows with SharePoint technologies and other Office products. I am looking forward to the roll out of this to replace the unsupported NetMeeting.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Link to VS.Net add-in TestDriven.Net
TestDriven.Net
TestDriven.NET makes it easy to run unit tests with a single click, anywhere in your Visual Studio solutions. It supports all versions of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET meaning you don't have to worry about compatibility issues and fully integrates with all major unit testing frameworks including
NUnit,
MbUnit, &
MS Team System.
LINK - "Because software development is still hard; .NET just means it's a little less typing."
I loved the quote on their entry site, had to share the link "Because software development is still hard;
.NET just means it's a little less typing."
.NET just means it's a little less typing."
Implementing Sharepoint info in Outlook Today per Trond's Blog
Sharepoint info in Outlook Today
I got this from an ex-colleague of mine who now works with a Norwegian Oil Company. They have developed a new Outlook Today page, that in addition to the regular Outlook stuff shows the users what sites he/she has access to, sharepoint tasks, etc. Pretty cool!
I got this from an ex-colleague of mine who now works with a Norwegian Oil Company. They have developed a new Outlook Today page, that in addition to the regular Outlook stuff shows the users what sites he/she has access to, sharepoint tasks, etc. Pretty cool!
Another backup to look at, BEWARE
new free sharepoint tool
Stramit just finished a new SharePoint tool : Granular Backup Manager
from his blog:
>>> This App is the steroid version of GuiSmigrate ;)
You can manage all the tree structure of a WSS site : each site and sub site can have his own backup and his batch file.
very nice tool, saves myself some scripting ;-) .
beware! It can only be used on a pure WSS server (no SPS installed)
Windows SharePoint Services: IntelliSense XML File
Windows SharePoint Services: IntelliSense XML File
Now to find the Intellisense XML File for my kids, wife and the Starbucks order schematic
This download includes an update of the XML file used to produce IntelliSense® information for the Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services managed object model within the Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET IDE.
Now to find the Intellisense XML File for my kids, wife and the Starbucks order schematic
Group Policy to set policies that manage how Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services Interact
Thank you Bart for a great set of instructions that I will need to look more into.
You can use Group Policy to set policies that manage how Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services int...
You can use Group Policy to set policies that manage how Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services int...
You can use Group Policy to set policies that manage how Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services interact for users in your organization. You can set a policy to specify the time interval between information synchronizations or you can disallow linking altogether.
You can change the synchronization interval to make it longer, if, for example, users are linked from Outlook to a large group of Contacts which would trigger a time-consuming synchronization; or shorter, if users need access to updated information at all times. You can even turn off automatic synchronization. However, regardless of how the synchronization interval setting is configured, linked folders are automatically synchronized when users switch to one of these folders.
To set the synchronization interval for updating Outlook folders
In Group Policy, load the Outlook 2003 template (Outlk11.adm).
Under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2003\SharePoint Integration, double-click Sharepoint folder sync interval.
Select Enabled to enable configuring the policy.
In the Select interval to sync Sharepoint folders: (minutes) box, enter a decimal value (or use the up and down arrows to select a value), then click OK.
Another option is to use a policy to disallow any linking between Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services for your users.
To disable linking between Outlook and Windows SharePoint Services
In the Group Policy snap-in, load the Outlook 2003 template (Outlk11.adm).
Under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2003\SharePoint Integration, double-click Disable Sharepoint integration in Outlook.
Select Enabled to enable configuring the policy.
Select Check to disable Sharepoint integration in Outlook, then click OK.
Stretch SPS Mucking around with SharePoint Site Definitions (Thank you Chris Chapman)
Mucking around with SharePoint Site Definitions
When I was interviewed for my role here at imason, I was warned: “There is no comfort-zone here -- we expect you to always be reaching beyond your grasp.” Over a year later, this has been borne out time and again.
So it is with my current project where we are trying to bend SharePoint to our will in some weird and wonderful ways that we tried to achieve in other ways but have now resigned ourselves to creating a custom SharePoint site definition to accomplish. Once this solution gets fleshed out a little more, I may post some details -- for now, if you're new to SharePoint this is a worthwhile area to explore as it deals with the mechanics of how the page rendering engine works.
Here are some links I've found that begin to unravel the Caramilk secret of site definitions:
MSDN: Introduction to Templates and Definitions
MSDN: Creating s Site Definition from an Existing Site Definition
MSDN: Introduction to Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML)
.NET Developer's Journal: Creating Custom Site Defintions in WSS (Kris Syverstad)
Kris Syverstad: Site Defintions and FrontPage: Is there a right answer?
For my next trick - SRS using WSS/SPS list data
Ian Morris' Blogcast on using Access with WSS list data was very inspiring. I now want to see if I can use SQL Reporting Services to do something similar. I will be attempting this over the next few days on the down time.
SCRIPT - Don Jones Scripting Resources on Microsoft.com
http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/donjonesscripting.mspx
I am posting the link so I can share with some other peeps that might make their job easier!
I am posting the link so I can share with some other peeps that might make their job easier!
March Madness! Patterns and Practices Webcasts
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/practices/default.mspx
patterns & practices Live
patterns & practices Live is a series of webcasts that focus on patterns & practices guidance. Come learn about the content straight from the team that built it. patterns & practices Live webcasts are free, and are part of the comprehensive list of interactive webcasts from Microsoft.3/3/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Overview3/4/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block3/8/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block3/10/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Caching Application Block3/14/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Logging & Instrumentation Application Block3/17/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Exception Handling Application Block3/22/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Cryptography Applciation Block3/24/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Security Application Block3/28/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library - Building your own application block3/31/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Applied
patterns & practices Live
patterns & practices Live is a series of webcasts that focus on patterns & practices guidance. Come learn about the content straight from the team that built it. patterns & practices Live webcasts are free, and are part of the comprehensive list of interactive webcasts from Microsoft.3/3/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Overview3/4/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block3/8/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block3/10/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Caching Application Block3/14/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Logging & Instrumentation Application Block3/17/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Exception Handling Application Block3/22/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Cryptography Applciation Block3/24/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Security Application Block3/28/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library - Building your own application block3/31/2005 - patterns & practices Live: Enterprise Library Applied
A Few good things to read and watch, posted originally at bryantlikes
Things to Read and Watch
Enterprise Library webcasts.
- Enterprise Library Overview
- Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block
- Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block
- Enterprise Library Caching Application Block
- Enterprise Library Logging and Instrumentation Application Block
- Dennis Mulder's EntLib Slide Deck (w/ ACA.Net info) [via Baz]
- WebParts: From SharePoint to ASP.NET 2.0 [via Jan]
- Best Practices for Developing and Deploying Web Parts
- The .Net Show: SQL Server 2005
- Indigo CTP docs [via Don Box]
- Enterprise Library Exception Handling Application Block [Mar 17]
- Enterprise Library Cryptography Application Block [Mar 22]
- Enterprise Library Security Application Block [Mar 24]
- Enterprise Library Building Your Own Application Block [Mar 28]
- Enterprise Library Applied [Mar 31]
So this is a reminder for myself so that I can find all these later on...
Update: There are also hands-on labs for that go with the Enterprise Library webcasts here [via Scott Densmore]. After watching the Logging Application Block webcast I decided to add it into an existing application so that some of the other developers could get emails when the processed failed. It took me about five minutes to add it. Watching the webcast made the job easy for me.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Ian Morrish - BLOGCAST - Using Access to report on users who have not completed a SharePoint survey
Ian Morrish just posted a brief Blogcast on using Access to display, query Windows SharePoint Service data. This is an excellent demonstration and has provided me fodder to share with some of the Access junkies that have been "afraid" of SharePoint technologies. In addition, I can demonstrate more of the business power behind WSS/SPS and protect the SQL Server backend (I have been burnt before by Access in a production environment).
Thank you Ian!
http://www.blogcastrepository.com/Office/Contrib/Imorrish/AccessIM.htm
Using Access to report on users who have not completed a SharePoint survey * Get Windows Media Player 9 or above to view this page.by Ian Morrish - 3/15/2005 - Elapsed Time: 2:18 Audio= YesI recently had a customer ask how they could send follow up emails to people who had not completed a server that they were invited to through the WSS add user wizard. Although this is not an out-of-the box solution in WSS it is a solution made possible by the Office 2003 System. By Using Access 2003s ability to link to SharePoint lists via XML Web Services, you can run a query to find unmatched records between the site members and people who have responded to the survey. This would work for any list where you expect users to create a list item. E.g. asset register, annual leave calendar etc.
Thank you Ian!
http://www.blogcastrepository.com/Office/Contrib/Imorrish/AccessIM.htm
Using Access to report on users who have not completed a SharePoint survey * Get Windows Media Player 9 or above to view this page.by Ian Morrish - 3/15/2005 - Elapsed Time: 2:18 Audio= YesI recently had a customer ask how they could send follow up emails to people who had not completed a server that they were invited to through the WSS add user wizard. Although this is not an out-of-the box solution in WSS it is a solution made possible by the Office 2003 System. By Using Access 2003s ability to link to SharePoint lists via XML Web Services, you can run a query to find unmatched records between the site members and people who have responded to the survey. This would work for any list where you expect users to create a list item. E.g. asset register, annual leave calendar etc.
Diversion - Did you see that sign? you know, the one everywhere?
http://www.funnysign.com/default.htm
From the Boiler Room - CorasWorks: Understanding the Configuration Database vs the Content Database in a WSS or SPS Environment
CorasWorks: Understanding the Configuration Database vs the Content Database in a WSS or SPS Environment
Understanding the Configuration Database vs. the Content Database in a Windows SharePoint Services or SPS Environment
With the move to Windows Sharepoint Services and Sharepoint Portal Server 2003 all data has moved into the SQL server instead of the file system and database. This has made maintenance simpler but the new configuration requires some understanding.
There are 2 logical types of data storage in Windows SharePoint Services & SPS. One is the Configuration database and the other is the Content Database. For those of you with some knowledge of IIS & SharePoint terminology, this comparative review will provide a clearer understanding of how these databases should function in the SharePoint environment.
The Configuration Database
Typically, Windows SharePoint Services & SharePoint Portal Server do not access the configuration database for every user request, but reserve the configuration database for comparatively infrequent administrative tasks such as, extending virtual servers, adding physical servers, and adding web parts.
There should only be one Configuration Database per Windows SharePoint Services environment installation shared by all Virtual Servers. It should store all the global configuration information for your Sharepoint or Windows SharePoint Services implementation and maintain the current set of metadata describing all resources available in the server farm. This allows the configuration database to define the boundaries of a server farm, including all of the metadata necessary to reconstruct a server farm. This includes information such as physical server identification (web server and database servers), globally installed Site templates and content database and installed web part information. (For the database table structure see below.)
The configuration database for Sharepoint Portal Server is a Windows SharePoint Services configuration database configured with SharePoint Portal Server-specific extensions.
Name and Descriptions
AntiVirusVendors- Antivirus software vendors
CustomTemplates- Templates that appear in the global templates list (template picker)
Databases-Content databases and associated settings
Globals-Settings that apply to all sites on the physical server within a Windows SharePoint Services topology
InstalledWebPartPackages-Web Part Packages that are available to the virtual server
Servers-Physical computers in the Windows SharePoint Services topology
Services-Services such as database, Web, and mail services that are included in the Windows SharePoint Services topology
Sites-Sites in the Windows SharePoint Services topology
VirtualServers-Virtual servers and their associated settings
WebPartPackages-Web Part Packages that are installed in a topology
The configuration database for Sharepoint Portal Server is a Windows SharePoint Services configuration database configured with SharePoint Portal Server-specific extensions. Since there is only one configuration database and it is not used in every query its location relative to the servers returning the content is less critical than that of the content database.
The Sharepoint Services Administrative Virtual server Application Pool is the one reading from and writing to the configuration database.
Backup Strategy
Changes occur when web parts / virtual servers / templates / databases are added at a global level. Daily back-up is generally sufficient.
The Content Database
All web part page configuration information, list item data, documents in document and Picture libraries for any given virtual server are contained in the content database.
Close physical proximity to the web servers providing the content for the virtual server is required since this database is used for EVERY page returned to the user.
The application pools assigned to the virtual servers use this database. See below for the database table information.
Name and Descriptions
Categories-Associations among documents and their assigned areas
ComMd-Document discussions
Deps-Document dependencies
DiskWarningDate-Date and time of last warning about disk quota
Docs-Documents and document folders
DocVersions-Version history of documents from document libraries
EventCache-Cache for alerts
EventLog-Log for alerts
HT_Cache-Cache of documents transformed for viewing in a Web browser
HT_Settings-Settings for HTML viewing
ImmedSubscriptions-Alerts that are set to be sent as soon as the changes occur
Links-Links to be recalculated during a site recalculation
Lists-Lists in the site
NavNodes-Nodes that are displayed in the navigation bars
Personalization-Personalization done to Web Parts
SchedSubscriptions-Alerts that are set to be sent on a daily or weekly basis
SiteGroupMembership-Members of cross-site groups
SiteGroups-Cross-site groups
Sites-Sites in the content database
TimerLock-Locking scheme that determines which server locks which database
UserData-List data
UserInfo-Info about each user added to the site
WebCat-Links between Web sites and areas
WebGroupMembership-List of members of the site groups
WebGroups-Site groups (such as Administrator, Web Designer) for the site
WebMembers-Members of a site
WebParts-Web Parts available for the sites. A view is a Web Part
Webs-Subsites associated with a site
WelcomeNames-Default documents for the site
Every Virtual server has at least one physical content database. Every single page requires access to the database. There is one logical content database per virtual server but this could actually be multiple physical databases.
For example, if you wanted to restrict the file size of the database due to back-up concerns or disk space restrictions you can create a second database to assign to a virtual server. This could be on the same physical server as the first content database or another completely different physical server.
Then you would take the first database off-line (meaning that no new sites could be created there but current sites could be accessed) and leave the second to hold new sites.
Backup strategy
Since this database contains every single page & list item it is advisable to back up more frequently than the configuration database. This could be achieved using SQL backup set to run more frequently or there are other options out there in the market. For example Per list item backup solutions available, this allows a single list item to be restored. This presents a great advantage in mission critical list and site usage.
Avepoint-http://www.avepoint.com/website/feature_docave_2.5.html is one example.
Note from the field - Implications of Database storage for External Cache effectiveness.
In our experience there is little benefit to external caching in front of a Windows SharePoint Services or SPS infrastructure due to the fact that the last modified date on web pages is always the time the page was requested – making caching almost useless. This is because the page is composed on the fly from the database contents.
Only those files served from the _layouts folder (ows.css & shared graphics files for example) can be cached since they have a reliable modified date. In fact we only saw around 1% of content being delivered from the cache on our ISA server rather than the almost 99% being directly delivered from the Windows SharePoint Services & SPS server infrastructure.
Oldy But Goody - The SharePoint Portal Server Object Model
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sppt/reskit/c3461881x.mspx
All about the Object Model!
All about the Object Model!
VIA Larkware - Book Review: Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit
http://www.larkware.com/BookReviews/LogParser.html
Sheep banging, HA you perv, shooting the sheep
WHILE YOU'RE WATCHING 24
You'll have plenty of time for shooting the sheep.
(Thanks to cydstep) via Dave Barry's log
No, I will not be writing any Ransom Notes! But a cool linkl
Turn any string into ransom-note type based on found images
Cory Doctorow:
Wil Wheaton sez, "When I was a kid, I loved cutting up magazines and newspapers to make fake ransom notes. Via Waxy, I just discovered The Web of Letters. You can enter any text you like, and using the Yahoo API and its image search capabilities the text will be recreated using random image search results. It's very cool."
Link
(Thanks, Wil!)
Cory Doctorow:
Wil Wheaton sez, "When I was a kid, I loved cutting up magazines and newspapers to make fake ransom notes. Via Waxy, I just discovered The Web of Letters. You can enter any text you like, and using the Yahoo API and its image search capabilities the text will be recreated using random image search results. It's very cool."
Link
(Thanks, Wil!)
Update: Andreas points us to a Flickr version
Monday, March 14, 2005
Picking Da Colors - not out of a hat
Great Color Picker
[Found via Andy Britcliffe, Thanks!]
Check out this great (and simple) color picker, which helps you find associated, related colors to complement the base color.
S A Nicholls - "The CSS Playground"
A colleague sent along an intriguing link to http://www.stunicholls.myby.co.uk/index.html for some things that are done only with CSS. Very impressive.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Posted from FeedDemon using w.bloggar
Now using w.blogger
I LIKE IT!
I was digging around and even about to code my own poster so I could post from FeedDemon. In researching XML-RPC, I came across a link to http://wbloggar.com/. If this makes it to my blog, and I can make it work from FeedDemon, donation on the way!
I LIKE IT!
Now using w.blogger
I was digging around and even about to code my own poster so I could post from FeedDemon. In researching XML-RPC, I came across a link to http://wbloggar.com/. If this makes it to my blog, and I can make it work from FeedDemon, donation on the way!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 Overview
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 Overview Just published, "Istanbul" presence.... more to come.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Poynter Online - RSS for Journalists
A great, quick read on RSS and "cravings"
Poynter Online - RSS for Journalists
Poynter Online - RSS for Journalists
Blogs and RSS Search Engines || Fagan Finder
I came across this site while looking for a better way to search the BlogoSphere. I will be posting more of these as I am trying to spread the blogitis to other techies that I work with.
Blogs and RSS Search Engines || Fagan Finder was linked from Bots, Blogs and News Aggregators Presentation Sources and White Paper by Internet expert, author, keynote speaker and consultant Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A.
Blogs and RSS Search Engines || Fagan Finder was linked from Bots, Blogs and News Aggregators Presentation Sources and White Paper by Internet expert, author, keynote speaker and consultant Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A.
Friday, March 04, 2005
bartdart.com -- freeware for you
bartdart.com -- freeware for you Looking at the Context Menu Editor. Have you used or had any luck?
StrokeIt - Mouse Gestures for Windows
StrokeIt - Mouse Gestures for Windows The name is hopefully mis-leading. I am investigating to see if this tool will allow some customization of right mouse context.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
CHK-Mate :: CHK file analysis and recovery
CHK-Mate :: CHK file analysis and recovery To see if it helps my sister out.
Lloyd Borrett - Computing - Play the Petals Around the Rose game (JavaScript)
Lloyd Borrett - Computing - Play the Petals Around the Rose game (JavaScript) This is a GREAT diversion. Share, but don't reveal your secret.
Capture Desktop Activities As a Movie
Capture Desktop Activities As a Movie Going to try this to demo RSS and business processes, that or Camtesia.
Research Resources Subject Tracer� Information Blog
Research Resources Subject Tracer� Information Blog Looks like an excellent find on finding objects on the web.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Testing BlogJet
Now I need to get it working on another machine behind a firewall, tunnel, vpn, blah blah
A simple InfoPath blog editor for .Text - SimpleBlogger
A simple InfoPath blog editor for .Text - SimpleBlogger Now to see if I can implement with FeedDemon, SharePoint and blogger. If not, off to the white board.
The Community Engine Blog: A Learning Blogosphere (1): Into the Deep
The Community Engine Blog: A Learning Blogosphere (1): Into the Deep Maybe I can learn how to educate some of my not so technical friends and family about the "blogospher"
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The SnoMold
The SnoMold Wow, I grew up in Florida, but learning in Michigan and Maryland about the white stuff!
Belief-O-Matic -- A personality quiz about your religious beliefs and spiritual beliefs - a quiz answering What Religion Am I -- Beliefnet.com
Belief-O-Matic -- A personality quiz about your religious beliefs and spiritual beliefs - a quiz answering What Religion Am I -- Beliefnet.com Hey, it's a quiz!
TOOLS I USE - HttpWatch - HTTP Viewer for IE
HttpWatch - HTTP Viewer for IE
This is a VERY HANDY plug in that saves me lots of time in debugging issues between the browser and the server. I Highly reccomend this to any support engineer, web developer, geek etc!
This is a VERY HANDY plug in that saves me lots of time in debugging issues between the browser and the server. I Highly reccomend this to any support engineer, web developer, geek etc!
Molecular Expressions: The Galleria
Molecular Expressions: The Galleria Even better, they are out there!
Molecular Expressions: Images from the Microscope
Molecular Expressions: Images from the Microscope Thank you to a fellow geek! You know who you are, now don't you.
LogParser Rocks - What are users searching for in SharePoint Search
I have been very pleased with LogParser for analyzing various log files. I have been wondering how can I determine what are the search strings that users are looking for on our intranet. Well, I can now wonder about other things, no problem there!
1. Download and install LogParser 2.2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=890cd06b-abf8-4c25-91b2-f8d975cf8c07&displaylang=en) Works best if you have the LogParser.exe on the same machine that the IIS Logfiles are on.
2. I create a cmd file that calls the Logparser.exe and passes a sql file (check the documentation for other methods). "C:\Program Files\IIS Resources\Log Parser\LogParser" -o:csv file:search.sql
3. The Search.sql file contains the following text.
SELECT DISTINCT EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 'k') AS SearchString, COUNT(*) AS HowMany
FROM *.log
TO search.csv
WHERE cs-uri-stem = '/search.aspx'
AND cs-uri-query NOT LIKE '%[Microsoft+Office+SharePoint+Portal+Server+2003+LOG]%'
AND SearchString IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY SearchString
ORDER BY HowMany DESC
Alternative SQL (Cleans up mixed case search strings - Adds Scope)
SELECT DISTINCT TO_UPPERCASE(EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 'k')) AS SearchString, EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 's') AS Scope, COUNT(*) AS HowMany
FROM *.log
TO search.csv
WHERE cs-uri-stem = '/search.aspx'AND cs-uri-query NOT LIKE '%[Microsoft+Office+SharePoint+Portal+Server+2003+LOG]%' AND SearchString IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY SearchString, Scope
ORDER BY HowMany DESC
4. Run the CMD file and Voila! Very fast (example statistics from my Feb 05 logs)
Statistics:
-----------
Elements processed: 22480133
Elements output: 16441
Execution time: 110.55 seconds (00:01:50.55)
Oui Oui Parsie!
1. Download and install LogParser 2.2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=890cd06b-abf8-4c25-91b2-f8d975cf8c07&displaylang=en) Works best if you have the LogParser.exe on the same machine that the IIS Logfiles are on.
2. I create a cmd file that calls the Logparser.exe and passes a sql file (check the documentation for other methods). "C:\Program Files\IIS Resources\Log Parser\LogParser" -o:csv file:search.sql
3. The Search.sql file contains the following text.
SELECT DISTINCT EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 'k') AS SearchString, COUNT(*) AS HowMany
FROM *.log
TO search.csv
WHERE cs-uri-stem = '/search.aspx'
AND cs-uri-query NOT LIKE '%[Microsoft+Office+SharePoint+Portal+Server+2003+LOG]%'
AND SearchString IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY SearchString
ORDER BY HowMany DESC
Alternative SQL (Cleans up mixed case search strings - Adds Scope)
SELECT DISTINCT TO_UPPERCASE(EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 'k')) AS SearchString, EXTRACT_VALUE(cs-uri-query, 's') AS Scope, COUNT(*) AS HowMany
FROM *.log
TO search.csv
WHERE cs-uri-stem = '/search.aspx'AND cs-uri-query NOT LIKE '%[Microsoft+Office+SharePoint+Portal+Server+2003+LOG]%' AND SearchString IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY SearchString, Scope
ORDER BY HowMany DESC
4. Run the CMD file and Voila! Very fast (example statistics from my Feb 05 logs)
Statistics:
-----------
Elements processed: 22480133
Elements output: 16441
Execution time: 110.55 seconds (00:01:50.55)
Oui Oui Parsie!
Monday, February 28, 2005
Forrester says - Microsoft taking the lead in portal market
Forrester says - Microsoft taking the lead in portal market: "
"
Mark made a posting about
how the portal market is devided. According to Forrester,
Microsoft is taking a lead here...
Blogger API: blogger.newPost via XML-RPC
Blogger API: blogger.newPost via XML-RPC I am driven to create a solution to allow FeedDemon to post to my blogspot blog with one click
XML-RPC.NET FAQ
XML-RPC.NET FAQ Starting point to post via XML-RPC to blogspot.com from FeedDemon RSS Client
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
Videos of people being zapped by tasers
Videos of people being zapped by tasers: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Here are a bunch of QuickTime videos of people (and in one case, a bull who was minding his own business) getting shot with taser guns. Ouch. Link
"
Here are a bunch of QuickTime videos of people (and in one case, a bull who was minding his own business) getting shot with taser guns. Ouch. Link
"
Telegraph | Sport | Ferguson stirs row with his tunnel vision
Telegraph Sport Ferguson stirs row with his tunnel vision This is a quick story about blogging.
Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning Carlos Mencia made me hurt my chest from laughing so hard while driving and listening to him! Now to find out where to see him.
Download details: Log Parser 2.2
Download details: Log Parser 2.2 Update to a very easy and powerful tool that any IIS engineer/developer MUST be proficient with.
I Got My Xbox Replacement Cord
I Got My Xbox Replacement Cord: "I submitted my serial number a few days ago, to get the Xbox Replacement Cord. Why is a new Xbox power cord needed? According to Xbox, “the replacement power cords are designed to protect consumers and their Xbox consoles from rare electrical component failures that can pose a fire hazard.” Has anybody really been burned yet? Microsoft is providing new power cords at no charge to replace the cords that originally came with some Xbox…
Direct and Related Links for 'I Got My Xbox Replacement Cord'
"
Fact Or Fiction? Don't Be Myth-taken.
Fact Or Fiction? Don't Be Myth-taken.: "People get some of the weirdest ideas, and not all of them come from the Internet. However, the Internet has developed some wonderful tools for checking on the credibility of rumors. Recently as a dinner party composed entirely of seniors, one rather open woman scandalized the whole table with a story about “Sex Bracelets” that come in different colors and are worn by girls. The boys rip off colored sections to tell her what sexual…
Direct and Related Links for 'Fact Or Fiction? Don’t Be Myth-taken.'
"
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Windows SharePoint Services RSS
Windows SharePoint Services RSS: " "
XSL converts RSS to a native Windows SharePoint Services DataViewWebPart DWP file
Creating XML Mappings in Excel 2003
Creating XML Mappings in Excel 2003: ""
This is cool and tricky in my mind. I think with this sort of client sometimes it will be very easy to impress customers, i.e. if they have to do analysis of xml stuff.
Office Developer Center: Creating XML Mappings in Excel 2003
U2U - Software Tools and Components
U2U - Software Tools and Components: ""
Very interesting, if you want to create a rss feed out of your SharePoint site content.
U2U - Software Tools and Components
Can I post to Blogger from FeedDemon?
I just adapted the post on bradsoft to be able to post to my blogger blogspot.
http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.g?source=FeedDemon&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&u=$ITEM_LINK$&n=$ITEM_TITLE$&t=$ITEM_DESCRIPTION$
If this makes it to my Blog, it worked!
Here is the original link
Can I post to MovableType from FeedDemon?: "Yes - FeedDemon's 'BlogThis' feature enables posting to MovableType. To configure this, select Tools > Blog this News Item > Configure Blog Publishing Tools, then click the Add button.
In the next window enter a name, such as Movable Type, and add the following for the command line (all on one line):
Where '<your mt>/cgi-bin' is the URL of your MT installation."
http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.g?source=FeedDemon&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&u=$ITEM_LINK$&n=$ITEM_TITLE$&t=$ITEM_DESCRIPTION$
If this makes it to my Blog, it worked!
Here is the original link
Can I post to MovableType from FeedDemon?: "Yes - FeedDemon's 'BlogThis' feature enables posting to MovableType. To configure this, select Tools > Blog this News Item > Configure Blog Publishing Tools, then click the Add button.
In the next window enter a name, such as Movable Type, and add the following for the command line (all on one line):
http:///cgi-bin/mt.cgi?is_bm=1&bm_show=&__mode=view&_type=entry&title=$ITEM_TITLE$&link_title=$ITEM_TITLE$&link_href=$ITEM_LINK$&text=$ITEM_DESCRIPTION$
Where '<your mt>/cgi-bin' is the URL of your MT installation."
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
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