Introducing the Major Components


The lists and libraries for a particular site definition are defined in two places: ONET.XML and the LISTS folder. ONET.XML provides the hooks for lists, whereas the content within the LISTS folder provides the list definition. Because we have already explored ONET.XML in Chapter 2, we will focus our attention on the LISTS folder. The LISTS folder is shown in Figure 3.1. Each subfolder defines the functionality of a particular list type. ANNOUNCE defines announcements, DOCLIB defines document libraries, and WEBTEMP defines custom site templates. SharePoint's list definitions are more fully described in Table 3.1.

Figure 3.1. LISTS folder for the STS site definition.


Table 3.1. LISTS Folder Descriptions

Folder

Description

AGENDA

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of agenda items.

ANNOUNCE

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of announcement items.

CONTACTS

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of people contact items.

CUSTLIST

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a custom list of items.

DATASRCS

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines data sources for the web.

DECISION

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of decision items.

DISCUSS

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of discussion board items.

DOCLIB

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the document library.

EVENTS

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of events items.

FAVORITE

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of link items.

GRIDLIST

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a custom list of items in a datasheet view.

IMGLIB

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the picture library.

ISSUE

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of issue items that can be prioritized and tracked.

LISTTEMP

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the List Template Gallery.

MEETINGS

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of meetings attached to this workspace.

OBJECTIV

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of meeting objectives.

PEOPLE

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of meeting workspace users.

TASKS

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of task items.

TEXTBOX

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a "text box" list of custom text items.

THGBRING

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of things to bring.

VOTING

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines a list of survey items.

WEBTEMP

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the Site Template Gallery.

WKSPGLIB

Defined within the MPS site definition. This defines a list of meeting workspace pages.

WPLIB

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the Web Part Gallery.

XMLFORM

Defined within the STS site definition. This defines the form library.


The commonality between lists and libraries is that each definition has one SCHEMA.XML file and many other supporting files. SCHEMA.XML defines the initial views, forms, toolbar, and special fields. The other files support the SharePoint web user interface and dialogs that appear in Microsoft Office applications. The DOCLIB folder files, which include SCHEMA.XML, are shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2. DOCLIB folder for the STS site definition.


In the case of a document library, these other files drive the web user interface. The ASPX files listed in Figure 3.2 are copied to the virtual Forms folder shown in Figure 3.3. These ASPX files provide the SharePoint web user interface for the document library. The templated.doc file was copied to the Forms folder through the Document-Templates section of ONET.XML.

Figure 3.3. Document library virtual Forms folder.


One of the publicized drawbacks of site definition templates when compared to custom templates is that lists and libraries cannot be prepopulated with content. However, that is not completely true. As you can see in Figure 3.3, the Forms folder was prepopulated with several files. The process that copied those files to the Forms folder can be amended to copy additional files to any location within the document library. The drawback is that all these files appear hidden within all views of the document library except the Explorer view.

The only files we have yet to discuss are EDITDLG.HTM and FILEDLG.HTM. Microsoft Office applications use these files to assist in the file saving process when the repository is a document library. FILEDLG.HTM rendered through Microsoft Word is shown in Figure 3.4. EDITDLG.HTM rendered through Microsoft Word is shown in Figure 3.5.

Figure 3.4. Document library FILEDLG.HTM.


EDITDLG.HTM is displayed only when there are library fields (columns) that must be filled out. Thus, we need to create a required column in our document library for Figure 3.5 to render.

Figure 3.5. Document library EDITDLG.HTM.


FILEDLG.HTM and EDITDLG.HTM are not directly browsable as the ASPX pages were. Because they were designed to be accessed exclusively from Microsoft Office, SharePoint obfuscates access to them. EDITDLG.HTM is accessible through /MySite/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll?location=MyDocLib/MyDoc.doc&dialogview=SaveForm, while FILEDLG.HTM is accessible through /MySite/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll?location=MyDocLib&dialogview=FileSave. It should be noted that the FILEDLG.HTM in the Layouts folderwhich is a different file from the one in our list definitionis rendered when no location parameter is specified. This is shown in Figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6. FILEDLG.HTM from the Layouts folder.





SharePoint 2003 Advanced Concepts. Site Definitions, Custom Templates, and Global Customizations
SharePoint 2003 Advanced Concepts: Site Definitions, Custom Templates, and Global Customizations
ISBN: 0321336615
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 64

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