| Yet there is another form of data that is highly structured like relational databases. For more than two decades, companies have invested in databases and products such as SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Informix, and Sybase. Payroll, personnel, finance, and all sorts of business data is stored in a highly structured format. A huge number of skill sets are developed around these products, and billions of lines of code are written to build applications around these products as well. Or how about directories and object-oriented databases, which represent yet another type and category of data structure? NOTE It would be ideal to have a universal type of data storage that could store any type of unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data such as email, documents, voice, and movies, along with other structured types of data, which could all be searched and retrieved in a similar manner. As long as there is a demand for this, I am sure technology will have an answer for it.
Throughout this chapter I will show real-life scenarios and solutions built around SQL Server, using VB components and ASP pages, and I also will show how you can easily build Web Parts and use them through the SharePoint interface (dashboards). Most likely, each organization has many different data structures, and the question is how we can use existing structured data and directory-based data with SharePoint Server, which is mainly intended for unstructured and semi-structured types of data. How can we use our existing skill sets to develop solutions around SQL Server and Active Directory, and then be able to integrate those solutions in the dashboards of the SharePoint Server? If you have any type of relational database or Active Directory in your organization such as ASP, VB, COM, ADO, or ADSI, and are interested in developing solutions and Web Parts for the SharePoint Server, you should continue reading the rest of this chapter. Also, I will introduce two Web Parts. One is an Employee Locator Web Part, which is presented in three versions; in each version we try to make it more robust and explain different paths that you can take for the design and development of Web Parts. The second Web Part is an Active Directory Lookup Web Part. These two Web Parts show how you can use your data that is stored in the relational databases and Active Directory, and represent it as useful Web Parts in the SharePoint interface. The whole idea of this chapter is to use your current skills with ASP, VB components, ADSI, SQL server, or other relational databases to develop Web Parts, or just plug your existing code into Web Parts. |
