Effective Web Part Design for Business Applications

Web Parts are sets of properties that wrap around Web-based content. In the context of SharePoint Portal Server, Web Parts provide the Web-based view of content stored in the workspace in addition to any other content you choose to display. You can export and import Web Parts from SharePoint Portal Server to and from different data sources such as a computer running Microsoft Exchange 2000 or a computer with a Microsoft SQL Server^™ 2000 digital dashboard. For more information about exporting Web Parts to different data sources, see Chapter 23, Deploying Digital Dashboards to Multiple Stores.

When you save a Web Part as XML, Office Developer describes the Web Part in XML format. This stores Web Parts and digital dashboards independent of the schema-capable data source. The XML format is a universal format for representing Web Parts and digital dashboards. It enables the transfer of definitions between different storage platforms. By using this format, you can store definitions in the file system or exchange them among applications. For more information about saving Web Parts in XML format, see Chapter 21, Creating Custom Web Parts with Office XP Developer.

Because Web Parts adhere to a common standard, you can store them in libraries, and later draw from those libraries to assemble a variety of digital dashboards for your organization. The goal of a digital dashboard is to summarize, synthesize, and reduce the information users see all the time. An effective Web Part should display information in a manner appropriate to a digital dashboard.

An important first step in designing an effective Web Part is to determine what subsets of application data users require in their daily operations. Additionally, the designer should find out if there are any subsets of data that relate to one another. This allows you to design Web Parts that communicate with each other within a digital dashboard application composed of separate components. For example, a Web Part that displays customer names from Siebel could link to a Web Part that displays customer purchase orders from SAP, so that clicking a customer name in the Siebel Web Part displays the purchase orders in the SAP Web Part. Customizable Web Parts, in which the user can sort, filter, and add or remove columns of data, further enhances the user's experience.