Summary

Custom properties are useful when integrating third-party applications. Although much custom code must be implemented, when in place, one or many custom properties can be used. We've touched on many internal facets pertaining to the inner workings of SharePoint. Although we have focused specifically on document libraries, these same techniques can be used in other Lists as well. This example was chosen for this book because it forces exposure to many different features inside SharePoint. Let's take a quick recap of what we've covered.

• A custom property is a property that doesn't ship with SharePoint that fulfills a business need.

• As a rule of thumb, never customize code Microsoft gives us; instead, make a copy and edit the copy.

• A new site definition should always be created for any custom site modifications, for supportability but also for organization and sanity.

• FLDEDIT.ASPX, FLDNEW.ASPX, and LISTEDIT.ASPX are used for creating and maintaining a custom property. Granted, we specifically looked at a document library, but don't forget that these same pages are used in other lists as well.

• We've seen JavaScript, user controls, ASP.NET, web services, and Data Access Blocks, which we already assumed you had experience with, and it's good to know that SharePoint uses those things that developers already know.

• In this chapter and a few places throughout this book, we've discussed CustomJSUrl. This single attribute can be a valuable toolit makes the integration of a custom property into Word possible.

• We've created a web service that will run in the SharePoint environment. There are a handful of web services you should take the time to explore, but writing your own can also come in handy.