Visual Studio 2008 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Problem

When you try to install Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint services or SharePoint 2007 on your Windows XP workstation, it fails after displaying the following or similar message:
"This product can only be installed if Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 has been installed"

You don't have to install WSS on your workstation. Even if you try, it fails after showing a message similar to the following:
"This product requirs Windows Server 2003 SP1. Install this service pack and re-run setup"

I attempted a few workaround and then came across Umakanth's blog post  that fixes this problem in one simple registry edit to make the setup program believe that SharePoint is installed on your workstation.

1.Run regedt32 and navigate to
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools]

2. If there is a key "Web Server Extensions" get into it else create one

3. If there is a key "12.0" get into it else create one

4. Create the following string value
Name = Sharepoint
Value = ”Installed”

5. Re-run the setup and see it work.
Wait! Though the extensions are installed, your project may still show errors like "Could not load file or assembly" when you reference "Microsoft.Sharepoint" and other assemblies.

All you need is to drag the SharePoint assemblies from folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ISAPI on your ShaerPoint server and drop to c:\windows\assembly folder of your workstation. Make sure that the files are from a 32-bit server.

Public Web Sites Hosted on MOSS 2007

When I asked someone about a few local web sites being hosted on MOSS 2007, her answer was, "Everyone uses MOSS." I wasn't surprized by the answer though it didn't help me. At wssdemo, I found a list of hundreds of web sites hosted on MOSS 2007: http://www.wssdemo.com/Pages/websites.aspx

Approval Workflow Status Values in MOSS 2007

The workflow approval status values are listed below:
the integer values:

0 - Not Started
1 - Failed on Start
2 - In Progress
3 - Error Occurred
4 - Stopped by User 
5 - Completed
6 - Failed on Start, Retrying
7 - Error Occurred, Retrying
8 - View Query Overflow
15 - Canceled
16 - Approved
17 - Rejected

Workflow in MOSS 2007

A workflow can be defined as a model to represent real work for further assessment, In computerized environment, workflow may mean a software solution to capture the events and actions of these assessments as an attempt to computerize the actual business process.

Workflows could be implemented in three different ways in SharePoint 2007. SharePoint 2007 has some OOB workflows. Simple workflows can be created using SharePoint Designer. More complex workflows can be developed in Visual Studio. SharePoint 2007 uses Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) as an engine for workflows. WWF provides workflow runtime, and SharePoint lists and document libraries provide data repository for the items used by workflows.


If you are interested in knowing more this MSDN link is a good starting point: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc514224.aspx#MOSS2007DevWorkflowSolutions_WorkflowPlatform

The 12 Hive in MOSS 2007 Explained

The legendary 12 hive folder is where the OOB system files are located afterSharePoint 2007 installation. 

It is located at "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12" in a standard MOSS 2007 installation. This folder contains the following sub-directories:

• ADMISAPI - This folder maps to IIS virtual directory  for SharePoint Central Administration web service
• BIN - MOSS utilities binary files such as STSADM.EXE. Sub-directory LCIDD stores language specific binary files in individual folders for each language. 
• CONFIG - As the name suggests configuration files used by MOSS
• Data - Indexing services save indexes here.
• HCCab - A set of cab files containing manifest and content information used by the SharePoint help sytem are stored in LCID subdirectory
• Help - The help files used by the configuration wizard
• ISAPI - This folder maps to IIS virtual directory "_vti_bin" and stores all the standard Web Services for SharePoint except SharePoint Central Administration.
• LOGS - SharePoint logs.
• Resources - Localization resources for SharePoint sites
• TEMPLATE - The templates for a SharePoint web site. The features and xml files are also stored in subdirectories of this folder.

A snapshot of 12 hive folder (Click image to zoom)

Server Roles in a MOSS Farm

The architecture of a MOSS farm may contain one or more servers. These servers have various roles which can be divided into three broad categories, Web Front End (WFE), application server and database server.

1. Web Front End (WFE) Servers
The fast and lightweight WFE servers interact with the user. The MOSS site is hosted on the IIS installation on WFE. These servers connect to the database servers to query the MOSS database for grabbing the requested content and rendering the results in the client browser. All WFEs in a farm must be identical and may be load balanced.

2. Application Servers
An application server provides all shared service level capabilities to the users through WFEs.Just like WFEs, load balancing can be implemented on the application servers too. Following are some examples of the shared services hosted on an application server:

• Search Indexing
• Search Query
• Excel Calculation Service
• Windows SharePoint Services Search

3. Database Servers
The database server has the maximum impact on the availability of the MOSS solution because it is the single point of data storage for all MOSS data (users, applications and configurations). Redundancy and high availability can be ensured by clustering or mirroring.

Some SharePoint Jargons

Here is a quick reference of a few  abbreviations, acronyms, and   commonly used while working with SharePoint:

ADSI - Active Directory Service Interfaces
AJAX - Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
BDC - Business Data Catalog
BLOB - Binary Large Objects
CAML - Collaborative Application Markup Language
CAS - Code Access Security
DPM - Data Protection Manager
ECS - Excel Calculation Serv ice
GAC - Global Access Cache
IIS - Internet Information Server
ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library
KPI - Key Performance Indicator
LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LINQ - Language Integrated Query
LOB - Line of Business, Large Objects
MOSS - Microsoft Office SharePoint server
OLAP - Online Analytical Processing
OOB - Out of the Box
SLA - Service Level Agreement
SKU - Stock Keeping Unit
SSP - SharePoint Service Provider
STS - SharePoint Team Services
WCF - Windows Communication Foundation
WFE - Web Front End
WSDL - Web Services Description Language
WSP - Windows SharePoint Solution Package
WSS - Windows SharePoint Services

Default Security Levels in SharePoint 2007

User security levels can be assigned by the administrator. There are four levels by default. Custom security levels can be created by various permutations and combinations of the permissions. The four out-of-the-box (OOB) levels are as listed below:

• Reader - Has read-only access to the Web site.
• Contributor - Can add content to existing document libraries and lists.
• Web Designer - Can create lists and document libraries and customize pages in the Web site.
• Administrator - Has full control of the Web site.

WSS 3.0 Web Services

A complete reference is available at this MSDN link for the following WSS 3.0 web services:

Administration Web Service
Alerts Web Service
Authentication Web Service
Copy Web Service
Document Workspace Web Service
Forms Web Service
Imaging Web Service
List Data Retrieval Web Service
Lists Web Service
Meetings Web Service
People Web Service
Permissions Web Service
SharePoint Directory Management Web Service
Site Data Web Service
Sites Web Service
Search Web Service
Users and Groups Web Service
Versions Web Service
Views Web Service
Web Part Pages Web Service
Webs Web Service

MOSS 2007 Web Services

MOSS 2007 web services are actually ASP.NET Web Services (ASMX). The physical files for these ASMX web services are located in the IIS virtual directory "_vti_bin" which physically maps to the folder "%Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ISAPI" through SharePoint metadata and HttpModules. Following are a few out of the box services available with MOSS 2007:

Search - spsearch.asmx
Lists - Lists.asmx
List Data Retrieval  - DspSts.asmx
People - People.asmx
Permissions - Permissions.asmx













spsearch service and methods


The admin web service for "Central Administration" is located in IIS virtual directory "_vti_adm" which physically maps to the folder  "%Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\ADMISAPI."

Each one of these services consist of a *.wsdl.aspx file and a *.disco file too besides .asmx files for the service WSDL (Web Services Description Language), and  the service discovery implementation.

The URL for the Admin.asmx web service:
http://:portnumber/_vti_adm/Admin.asmx

The URL for all other services is:
http:///_vti_bin/.asmx

Advanced features of MOSS 2007

• User Interface (UI) and navigation enhancements
• Document management enhancements
• Enhanced Search, Workflows, Lists  
• Office 2007 Integration
• New Web Parts and Site-type templates
• Business Data Catalog
• Search Center
• Report Center
• Business Intelligence and Excel Server
• Forms Server and InfoPath
• The “Features” feature

Some good SharePoint Blogs

Just a list for some good resources (blogs, websites etc.) related to SharePoint, ASP.NET, and other related subjects. I'll keep updating this list as often as possible.

• Andrew Connell
• Installing. Configuring and Managing WSS
• Programming SharePoint
• SP Interview Questions (Stackoverflow)
• Mano from Pittsburgh
• The SP Blog
• SP Test
• Quest Pond
• InterviewUp
• SP Questions

Site Collection versus Site

There are ocassions when you ask yourself if it makes sense to create a new site collection or a new site. The question may look simple to many but a bad decision may have serious consequences. Many organisations keep only one site collection and add a lot of sites to it leaving no room for scaling. Site collections have several advantages such as distributed administration. Dave Wollerman wrote an excellent article explaining the advantages of having multiple site collections.
Site Collection Logical Architecture