Monday, February 28, 2005
Coveo press release ... CES for SharePoint
Further to my Saturdays blog entry on Coveo Enterprise Search for SharePoint - here is the press release.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
MCMS.Rapid at the Butler Symposium 2005: Enterprise Content Management
I'm looking forward to this Wed/Thu when i'll be joined by Microsoft partners ArtemisCorp, CScape and Diagonal at the Butler Symposium (Enterprise Content Management) and where we shall be showing the Rapid/MCMS combined proposition.
Information Bridge Framework 1.5
Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework 1.5 is now available ... with IBF developers can create and deploy custom solutions that integrate with an organization's existing IT infrastructure. It reduces development costs and increases flexibility, manageability, security, and extensibility of Microsoft Office-based information integration solutions.
From Patrick ...
From Patrick ...
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Coveo Enterprise Search for SharePoint
I just got word that Coveo is going to be introducing a 'plug-in' for Sharepoint next week that adds their enterprise search product to the Sharepoint Products and Technologies. I had been in contact with Dan Bauhaus, technical guy for Coveo prior so I inquired as to the news. Here is his take:
Dan ...
Dan ...
Several month's ago we had two big Coveo users ask us if they could look into adding Coveo Enterprise Search (CES) into Sharepoint. The salesperson of course said, "Sure thing!" I of course was intrigued but could not understand why this was interesting to them. After our discussion the bar was set pretty high to look at success in this area. The plug-in had to install and be operational in short order, it had to use the existing security, and it had to be completely integrated into the existing SharePoint interface. Oh, and it had to be priced like you wanted to sell it.
Turns out since we started the core architecture of CES with the MSFT eco-system in mind we had a couple of distinct advantages. We could handle SharePoint security out of the box, we could imbed CES into the interface with no user issues on usability and our dev team figured out the install. The next step was why would they use us? Turns out there are many reasons. Rather than list them all there where three that stood out from my talks:
- Coveo is an excellent tool for data discovery and secure results rendering across an enterprise by itself. Adding it to Sharepoint gives users a way to access any repository. The administrator configures the admin interface to "bring content into Sharepoint" thus avoiding time and effort integrating into all the other apps (CMS, DMS, databases, Notes, NAS, SAN and others) by being able to quickly crawl and make this data available. This is the "Rising tide lifts all boats" (JFK) metaphor. By being able to quickly and with enterprise wide (world wide) reach add content to Sharepoint, the value of the portal to the user rises dramatically.
- The Coveo engine provides all the functionality of any enterprise search engine priced 3 to 10 times as much. So all our additional functionality--full Boolean, meta-data handling, relevance tuning, collection management, reporting ... you get the idea-- now takes Sharepoint to a new level in information discovery and retrieval. Through our GUI CES adds dozens of advance search operators, custom field handling, index driven spell check ('Did you mean?'), user set search preferences, view as HTML, concept extraction, summarization, have I lost you yet?
- Finally we look like what the IT folks expect us to look like. We use XML, COM, VB, .Net, ASP and are in line with how they operate everyday in their IT environment. No surprises, no weird code. The API we use to allow users to extend and operate CES in SharePoint is familiar territory.
We have customers using it and kudos to our dev team for the effort.
We are priced for the SharePoint market in that we start $5K for $500K documents for a server and go from there. We also have our desktop product integrated which we sell by the seat.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
ioko Publish
ioko Publish enables users to automatically publish their Microsoft Office Documents in a number of ways and can include publishing of documents in either HTML or Adobe PDF formats.
The solution also provides the uploading of documents into Content Management Server, pushing documents to file areas in folders or via FTP or simply mirroring them directly to another SharePoint site. The solution can also generate the appropriate RSS feed information for these uploads.
More information Steve.Saxton@ioko.com
The solution also provides the uploading of documents into Content Management Server, pushing documents to file areas in folders or via FTP or simply mirroring them directly to another SharePoint site. The solution can also generate the appropriate RSS feed information for these uploads.
More information Steve.Saxton@ioko.com
SQL Server 2005 product line
Microsoft today detailed the new product line for Microsoft SQL Server 2005, the next version of its flagship database and analysis product, including information about new functionality and pricing for the expanded product line.
Announced in the lineup is a new Workgroup Edition, which joins the Standard, Enterprise, and Express (MSDE) editions. At the same time, a Workgroup Edition was announced to be available for SQL Server 2000.
More
Announced in the lineup is a new Workgroup Edition, which joins the Standard, Enterprise, and Express (MSDE) editions. At the same time, a Workgroup Edition was announced to be available for SQL Server 2000.
More
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Microsoft Scientists Search for Breakthroughs in HIV Vaccine Design
Microsoft Research has pioneered promising new ways to combat one of humankind's most deadly viruses with advanced software typically used to analyze large computer databases and complex digital images, or to separate spam from legitimate e-mail.
David Heckerman and Nebojsa Jojic are the first to use algorithms similar to those in Microsoft database and anti-spam software to uncover hidden patterns within the genetic mutations of the virus and the immune system of the patient.
David Heckerman and Nebojsa Jojic are the first to use algorithms similar to those in Microsoft database and anti-spam software to uncover hidden patterns within the genetic mutations of the virus and the immune system of the patient.
SPS Advanced Search Tools
From Matthew Cosier ... (spotted by Angus & Andrew)
I have been working on a toolkit to provide the web part developer the ability to run advanced boolean searches against the underlying MSSearch engine that is integrated with Sharepoint Portal Server 2003. I have written a managed assembly that provides the developer with a means of converting a standard google-style search string into an MSSQLFT WHERE clause that can be plugged directly into the MSSearch engine query packet to produce the needed results.
More
Update:
I have been working on a toolkit to provide the web part developer the ability to run advanced boolean searches against the underlying MSSearch engine that is integrated with Sharepoint Portal Server 2003. I have written a managed assembly that provides the developer with a means of converting a standard google-style search string into an MSSQLFT WHERE clause that can be plugged directly into the MSSearch engine query packet to produce the needed results.
More
Update:
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
MCMS Web Author Enhancement v2.0
Monday, February 21, 2005
SharePoint Wrappers - access SharePoint through Web Services
Bil Simser is creating a set of SharePoint Wrapper Classes to simplify accessing SharePoint servers, libraries, lists, etc.
SPS Single Sign-on article
SPS Single Sign-on article from Ed Hild walks through a sample of using SharePoint's Single Sign-on service. The article includes using impersonation as well as asynchronous threads for retrieving data.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Interse iBox
Interse iBox is an add-on to SPS/WSS to provide superior and accurate metadata tagging thus resulting in more effective searching. The iBox suggests specific and accurate metadata from its metadata model and this is fed directly in to the items property fields.
SPS/WSS : Pharma : Legal : High-tech : Consulting
SharePoint+
SPS/WSS : Pharma : Legal : High-tech : Consulting
SharePoint+
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Essential XML Quick Reference: A Programmer's Reference to XML, XPath, XSLT, XML Schema, SOAP, and More
From Roberdan ...
Addison-Wesley and Developmentor have provided TheServerSide.NET with the entire book of Essential XML Quick Reference for free download
More
Addison-Wesley and Developmentor have provided TheServerSide.NET with the entire book of Essential XML Quick Reference for free download
More
Integrating 3rd Party Single Sign On in Sharepoint Portal Server
From Robertdan ...
This article examines how to integrate 3rd party single sign on solutions such as Netegrity Site Minder with Windows SharePoint Portal 2003 using web page authentication. It explains how to protect SharePoint sites with 3rd party SSO and use the same credentials to login into SharePoint Portal Server.
This article examines how to integrate 3rd party single sign on solutions such as Netegrity Site Minder with Windows SharePoint Portal 2003 using web page authentication. It explains how to protect SharePoint sites with 3rd party SSO and use the same credentials to login into SharePoint Portal Server.
Creating Custom Site Definitions
From Kris Syverstad ...
I finally got around to writing an article on custom site definitions. I realize that there is already a lot of resources out there for this, but hopefully I was able to provide a fresh look at this process. Now I need to start on the sequel.
I finally got around to writing an article on custom site definitions. I realize that there is already a lot of resources out there for this, but hopefully I was able to provide a fresh look at this process. Now I need to start on the sequel.
MCMS Rapid v1.0 released
Enterprise library webcasts
Enterprise library webcasts:
- Enterprise Library Sneak Preview (Level 200)
Recorded on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - Enterprise Library Overview (Level 200)
Thursday, March 03, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block (Level 300)
Friday, March 04, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block (Level 300)
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Caching Application Block (Level 300)
Thursday, March 10, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Logging and Instrumentation Application Block (Level 300)
Monday, March 14, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Exception Handling Application Block (Level 300)
Thursday, March 17, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Cryptography Application Block (Level 300)
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 1:00 PM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Security Application Block (Level 300)
Thursday, March 24, 2005 9:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library - Building Your Own Application Block (Level 400)
Monday, March 28, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) - Enterprise Library Applied (Level 200)
Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:00 AM(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Creating a web service under Share Point Portal Server
From Eric Rouse ...
The process presented here describes what is needed to create a .Net Web Service that runs under the same context as Share Point.
More
The process presented here describes what is needed to create a .Net Web Service that runs under the same context as Share Point.
More
RSS 2.0 framework
From Andrew Connell ...
RSS 2.0 framework implements the RSS 2.0 specification in strongly typed classes. The framework enables you to create and consume valid RSS 2.0 feeds in your code in just a few minutes.
CodeProject.com: RSS 2.0 Framework
RSS 2.0 framework implements the RSS 2.0 specification in strongly typed classes. The framework enables you to create and consume valid RSS 2.0 feeds in your code in just a few minutes.
CodeProject.com: RSS 2.0 Framework
WSS Cross-Site Search - free Web Part from CorasWorks
From Todd Bleeker ...
The out-of-the-box SharePoint WSS Search performs a full text search through all of the list items and document libraries (including attachments) in the current WSS site. This search box is found in the upper right corner of a WSS SharePoint web page. Searches via the WSS Search box are limited to the current site. Sub-sites cannot be searched without first going into the sub-site.
The WSS Cross-Site Search Web Part performs the same type of search, except it searches through sub-sites as well. In addition, the starting URL for the search can be customized. As a result, a WSS Cross-Site Search web part placed on one site can search for results within another.
More
The out-of-the-box SharePoint WSS Search performs a full text search through all of the list items and document libraries (including attachments) in the current WSS site. This search box is found in the upper right corner of a WSS SharePoint web page. Searches via the WSS Search box are limited to the current site. Sub-sites cannot be searched without first going into the sub-site.
The WSS Cross-Site Search Web Part performs the same type of search, except it searches through sub-sites as well. In addition, the starting URL for the search can be customized. As a result, a WSS Cross-Site Search web part placed on one site can search for results within another.
More
Friday, February 18, 2005
SharePoint offline - Digi-link Revelation - new version 1.5
Want to take SharePoint offline ??check this - Digi-Link Revelation Demo
This is very simple to use ... its all done via a client side application - there is no server-side install.
Version 1.5 was released today.
Are you a SharePoint evangelist ... if so you might be able to persuade ivor@digi-link.com to give you a permanent key (tell Ivor you read my blog)
SharePoint+
'Go To' Menu - Sig's Style
From Tariq ...
A couple of months back I was talking to Sig, and we were discussion how the entire navigation story in SharePoint can be improved. This was the discussion that started this off for me. But he happened to show me a couple of alternatives that he was working on. And this one really caught my eye.
More
A couple of months back I was talking to Sig, and we were discussion how the entire navigation story in SharePoint can be improved. This was the discussion that started this off for me. But he happened to show me a couple of alternatives that he was working on. And this one really caught my eye.
More
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Microsoft Anti-Spyware refresh
Microsoft Anti-Spyware build 1.0.509 is now available.
UGS Web Part collection
From Eli Robillard ...
UGS contains one of the nicest web part collections I've seen:
UGS contains one of the nicest web part collections I've seen:
- Breadcrumbs - Fairly standard.
- Connected Page Viewer - More IFrame attributes than the Page Viewer, and works with connected web parts.
- Event Rollup - Aggregate calendars from subsites. Nifty!
- Flash Movie - Just what it says, clean implementation.
- Google Search - Displays results in-place, and can be configured to search a particular site.
- Google Translator
- Importable WebParts
- Outl2TccSyncer - Much potential, the goal is to synchronise Outlook and SharePoint calendars.
- Poll - Looks more like what you're used to than the built-in survey.
- QuickTime Movie - Just what it says, clean implementation.
- RateThisPage - Short and sweet, again more like what you're used to.
- Ressource Plan
- Site Navigation - Clean display, and many display options (from root, from child, etc.)
- TccFeeder
- TccRoleSyncer
- User Alerts - Lets an administer add, remove or change alerts for any site user. One way to push alerts rather than wait for users to subscribe.
- Welcome - Display personalised welcome messages.
- What's new - A concise list of New items on a team site.
- World Time - If your users work in different time zones, it helps to show clocks for each.
Building Web Parts the Smart Way
MSDN article: Building Web Parts the Smart Way - Patrick Tisseghem & Jan Tielens
The idea of using ASP.NET user controls in web part development received a lot of adoption in the SharePoint community and has evolved in a generic framework called the SmartPart. In this article we will highlight what the SmartPart is and how to use it when involved in SharePoint web part development.
The idea of using ASP.NET user controls in web part development received a lot of adoption in the SharePoint community and has evolved in a generic framework called the SmartPart. In this article we will highlight what the SmartPart is and how to use it when involved in SharePoint web part development.
U2U RSS Feed for Microsoft SharePoint 2003
From Jan...
The U2U RSS Feed for Microsoft SharePoint 2003 allows users to subscribe to SharePoint lists as RSS feeds.
The U2U RSS Feed for Microsoft SharePoint 2003 allows users to subscribe to SharePoint lists as RSS feeds.
AchieveForms Lite 1.1
AchieveForms Lite - eForms for CMS - has been updated ... version 1.1 now provides MCMS.Rapid integration.
Protect against phishing identity-theft scams
Watch this video to find out more about phishing e-mail scams and how they are used for identity theft. The video will show you how fraudulent e-mail messages and spoofed Web sites - two common forms of phishing - can trick you into sending personal information, such as a credit card number, to an identity thief. You'll also learn three things you can do to protect yourself from being hooked by a phishing scam.
Play video (3:32 minutes) 300k (broadband) : 100k
Pass this on to your friends and family.
Play video (3:32 minutes) 300k (broadband) : 100k
Pass this on to your friends and family.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
SharePoint Bloggers
Mark Kruger has compiled a list of SharePoint Bloggers : OPML .
IE7 announced
Yesterday at the RSA conference, Bill Gates mentioned about Internet Explorer 7. See what the IE blog says plus the numerous items of feedback.
MCMS Site Map control
Great work continues to get shared by Stephen Huen ...
... the MCMS Site Map web control displays channel structure in a hierarchical tree that is expandable and collapsible when viewed in a IE4+ or NS6+ browser. When viewed in NS4, the tree is fully expanded.
... the MCMS Site Map web control displays channel structure in a hierarchical tree that is expandable and collapsible when viewed in a IE4+ or NS6+ browser. When viewed in NS4, the tree is fully expanded.
Back from the MCMS.Rapid launch event
Just back from participating in the MCMS.Rapid Launch event which was a great success - check Nicks blog entry. Rapid V1.0 will be available on Friday. Other hot news is Rapid now supports multi-language sites by means of just simple configuration.
Ive spent the last two days on a Project Management Fundamentals for Technical Architects course. This quote made me smile:
Ive spent the last two days on a Project Management Fundamentals for Technical Architects course. This quote made me smile:
"The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete
surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. "
Sir John Harvey-Jones.
Monday, February 14, 2005
MCMS.Search - free Lucene implementation
Update - links updated
SnowValley have release their free MCMS.Search which provides a complete open-source search solution for Microsoft CMS based around the high-performance Lucene search engine.
Features include:
SnowValley have release their free MCMS.Search which provides a complete open-source search solution for Microsoft CMS based around the high-performance Lucene search engine.Features include:
- Indexing of a site's HTML content
- Full text indexing of PDF and Word attachments
- Indexing of metadata
- Support for simple and complex search queries
- Logging of search terms used on a site for later analysis
- A spider component that indexes a CMS site
- A search component that executes searches against the index
Microsoft and Nokia collaborate
Two interesting agreements between Microsoft and Nokia were announced today at the 3GSM World Congress :
- Nokia have licensed Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Digital Rights Management 10 and Media Transfer Protocol on music oriented Nokia handsets, and including support for Open Mobile Alliance Digital Rights Management and the MPEG Advanced Audio Coding family of codecs in Windows Media Player via a plug-in.
- Nokia have licensed Microsoft's Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol to enable synchronisation between Microsoft Exchange Server and future Nokia enterprise mobile devices.
MCMS.Rapid update
MCMS.Rapid gets launched tomorrow at our evening TechNet event - Vince has just sent me the release candidate so we seem 'ready to go' and it should be available to download after the event.
Nick has blogged here some great new features that managed to make the cut.
And we are not stopping here ... Rapid v1.1 is already on the drawing board and the planned feature list should be known (by us) by the end of the week.
Nick has blogged here some great new features that managed to make the cut.
And we are not stopping here ... Rapid v1.1 is already on the drawing board and the planned feature list should be known (by us) by the end of the week.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
The Rings of the Enterprise
The Rings of the Enterprise - from ObjectWatch - describes a new way of thinking about an enterprise architecture: as a series of rings, each with its own governing rules and implementation technologies.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Defining 'Software Architect'
Steven P. Davis, Vice President of IT for Walt Disney Studios, describes the ever-changing role of software architects - watch the video from VSLive.
Exploring ASP.NET 2.0 Using Visual C# 2005
This download contains an ISO image of Exploring ASP.NET 2.0 Using Visual C# 2005, a training course provided by AppDev, the nation’s leader in developer training. CD Contents include:
- AppDev user interface
- Video demonstrations
- Testing
- Full courseware on PDF covering the content on the CD
Spectrum Is Green
... watch out for the Mysterons !
Indigo
From Joris ...
... is amazing how many posting about Indigo I saw the previous week - here's a quick overview:
... is amazing how many posting about Indigo I saw the previous week - here's a quick overview:
Thursday, February 10, 2005
MCMS.Rapid ... global webcast registration open
From Nick ...
http://www.msusapartnerreadiness.com/eventregister.asp?eid=1904
MSUSAPartnerReadinesss is an official MS site for US partners and the webcast has been sponsored by that coordination unit but is for anyone who wishes to attend. Customer organisations will just have to select some 'dummy' partner details.
We'll provide further details in due course but feel free to register now and save the entry in your calendar.
9th March 2005. 8am Pacific Time (US and Canada).
This is GMT-8 which means 4pm UK time for example, and middle of the night in Sydney (sorry Angus - we must arrange one for your timezone !).
Presenters will be Mark Harrison of Microsoft and Tony Sloggett of Artemis.
And for those in the UK dont forget the UK Launch Event on Feb 15.
Simple 'install web part'
From Stefano Demiliani and Angus Logan ...
... a pointer to a top tip - how to add simple "Install Web Part" menu to right click on a CAB file
... a pointer to a top tip - how to add simple "Install Web Part" menu to right click on a CAB file
MCMS Search Controls
Jan and Patrick's DevDays Presentations
SPS Configurator Tool
The SPS Configurator Tool tool will help you build customer SharePoint Portal Server demos very quickly ... all you need is a base image of SPS2003 :
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Microsoft healthcare solutions | Care Management Reference Implementation
The Care Management Reference Implementation for Microsoft Office 2003 is intended for developers and IT implementers, this download of sample code, templates, and guidance demonstrates one possibility for implementing a solution to extend care management programs to more members using the Microsoft Office System. The content provided with the reference implementation illustrates how to use Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 XML-forms to streamline task management and to utilize Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to implement a unified process and documentation approach.
Yesterday - IOKO and I hosted a number of UK Health Authorities for an Architectural Design Seminar to define the requirements for a next generation collaboration and portal solution for the UK healthcare industry. We have now kicked off a community to drive and deliver the requirements indentified and to provide a vehicle for organisations to assist each other and share learnings. For more information email:Simon.Hudson@ioko.com.
More about Microsoft healthcare solutions.
Medium Business Solution for Collaboration Services
The Medium Business Solution for Collaboration Services provides guidance on using Windows SharePoint Services sites to implement company intranet and extranet Web portal sites. The solution series is intended for medium-sized businesses with 50 to 250 users.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
SharePoint 2003 Resource Center
New home for Lamont Harrington's SharePoint 2003 Resource Center.
Microsoft acquires Sybari Software
Microsoft have announced today that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Sybari Software.
Sybari are a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam. Microsoft will use this acquisition to further provide its enterprise customers with new solutions to help protect them from malicious software.
Sybari provides Antigen - an antivirus solution for SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services.
Sybari are a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam. Microsoft will use this acquisition to further provide its enterprise customers with new solutions to help protect them from malicious software.
Sybari provides Antigen - an antivirus solution for SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services.
MCMS home page - whats new?
MCMS.Rapid is now on the 
Monday, February 07, 2005
Word 2003: XML SDK
Update to the Microsoft Office Word 2003 Software Development Kit ... it provides information and assistance for making the best use of the expanded XML features and support available in Microsoft Office Word 2003.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Bill Gates Keynote : Microsoft Office System Developer Conference
Transcript of Keynote from Microsoft Office System Developer Conference 4/Feb/05 by Bill Gates.
excerpt : "my favorite Office thing nowadays is the way SharePoint is being used for collaboration. And we certainly have lots and lots of great examples of how we've taken those templates, customized them, using them here at Microsoft and in lots and lots of customers. To me that's probably one of the most underutilized, explosive assets in the Office offering, and the next version will bring that to light in an even stronger way. "
excerpt : "my favorite Office thing nowadays is the way SharePoint is being used for collaboration. And we certainly have lots and lots of great examples of how we've taken those templates, customized them, using them here at Microsoft and in lots and lots of customers. To me that's probably one of the most underutilized, explosive assets in the Office offering, and the next version will bring that to light in an even stronger way. "
XBOX 360
Enterprise Library Bloggers
Im starting to work my way through the Enterprise Library and finding the blogs from the development team a very useful resource to get up to speed ... checkout:
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Ask Jeeves buying Bloglines
Ask Jeeves is integrating Bloglines into their search system ... scoop.