Chapter 22: Working with Windows SharePoint Services

Overview

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (version 3) is a Web-based product from Microsoft that enables companies to create a central repository of many types of information that can be viewed and updated by authorized users. Windows SharePoint Services runs as a service on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or later and uses Microsoft SQL Server to store and manage the shared data.

Any company that needs a way to improve team collaboration should find Windows SharePoint Services very useful. With a Windows SharePoint Services Web site, you can

• Provide a central location for collaborating on documents created using Microsoft Office applications.

• Create separate workspaces for different teams.

• Assign users to different groups, allowing some to view only shared data, permitting others to modify and contribute shared data, and allowing a few to customize the design of their own or shared sites.

• Create forums such as blogs and wikis using built-in templates.

• Customize a shared site using off-the-shelf Web Parts included as part of the Windows SharePoint Services product. These Web Parts include

  • Announcements that can be posted by the team leaders

  • Contact lists

  • Content from another Web page or file embedded within the main page

  • Event and issue tracking and task assignment

  • Online discussion board

  • Links to other pages or Web sites

  • Team membership lists

  • Shared document sublibrary

  • Online survey

Web Parts are a particularly powerful feature in Windows SharePoint Services. If you are a member of a group that has design permission on the team site, you can customize the Web pages presented by Windows SharePoint Services by choosing the components you want, indicating where you want the component to appear on the page, and customizing the components by setting their properties. You can also apply one of dozens of themes to the team site to give it a customized look. These features are not unlike designing a form within Microsoft Access, but you perform your design work directly within your browser.

Microsoft Office Access 2007 extends the collaboration power of Windows SharePoint Services by adding features that allow the two programs to work in tandem. In this chapter you’ll learn how to

• Work within the Windows SharePoint Services user interface

• Export a table stored in Office Access 2007 to a Windows SharePoint Services list

• Import a list from Windows SharePoint Services into Access 2007 as a local table

• Link to existing SharePoint lists

• Create new lists in Windows SharePoint Services from within Access 2007

• Work with Windows SharePoint Services lists offline and later synchronize any changes

• Upload your Access 2007 database to a SharePoint site

• Publish your Access 2007 database in a document library on a SharePoint site

• Open SharePoint lists in Access 2007

• Open Access 2007 forms and reports inside a SharePoint site

Note 

The samples in this chapter are based on the Housing Reservations Windows SharePoint Services application, HousingSP.accdb, and the IssuesSample.accdb database that you can find on the companion CD. This particular Housing Reservations database is a scaleddown version of the full Housing.accdb sample you have been working with throughout this book. It is designed to be uploaded to a Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 Web site. In order to take full advantage of this database, you will need to have access to a Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 Web site to which you can connect. Also, all screen shots were taken using a Microsoft Office Live Web site, so the figures you see in this chapter might differ from what you see on your screen based on your Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 site. Many of the features of Windows SharePoint Services discussed in this chapter require version 3. Earlier versions might not offer all the features we discuss in this chapter. If you do not have access to a Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 site, you can sign up for one (with a free trial) at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/default.aspx.