Cool – company spam – but its interesting anyway.

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A new blog has arrived! http://eforms.blogs.com

Christophe Dumonet

General Manager

Unique World Software

Via Mart Muller's 

Yesterday, Coveo published a press release introducing Coveo Enterprise Search for Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Technologies.

Customers recognized and requested the enhancements that CES can offer for the SPT user, including:

• Intelligent summarization and concept extraction technologies, both of which help users optimize their search experience.
• A “View as HTML” feature that provides cached HTML versions with highlighted query terms for Microsoft Office documents, Adobe PDFs and other non-HTML documents.
• Improved relevance with query capabilities based on powerful syntax that supports spelling suggestion, stemming, exact phrase and Boolean operators.
• Configurable search preferences that allow users to tailor the search experience to their liking.
• Advanced handling of metadata and XML data to provide more accurate search results.
• Plug-in-style integration with SPT so that users are presented with the familiar look and feel of the SPT environment.
• Robust search technology that leverages existing SPT security to control access to sensitive company data.

I wonder how this will be of more value then extending the Sharepoint Search such as Matthew is doing right now with his SPS Advanced Search Tools (SAST), which is currently in beta. In a small organisation where I work in (about 50 employees), the (Sharepoint) search catalogs contain about 50.000 documents right now. In this case we would pay a $15.000 price when using Coveo search, while the SPS Search is included in the licence... do I miss something here?

Great article… wonder if it’s true :) 

Via JOPX

Rumors on CMS and SPS merging on CRN: The company is moving toward converging SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) and Content Management Server (CMS) functionality into a single "server system," due in 2006, CRN has learned. ...

Cool – some guys are investigating frameworks for working with MS CRM – check it out on GotDotNet: Workspaces

Working with MSCRM isn’t mega hard, but it isn’t very simple either – hopefully this will help!

Via Patrick Tisseghem's

Almost missed this one :-). Theresource kit is a must for anyone going for IBF.

The Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework 1.5 Resource Kit includes tools, documentation, and sample solutions. The Resource Kit is a useful aid for new or experienced Information Bridge Framework solution developers.

• MOIBF1.5_Reskit_SampleSolution.exe Resource Kit Sample Solution. Includes a sample solution that demonstrates features included in Information Bridge Framework 1.5.
• MOIBF1.5_Reskit_SolutionDevGuide.exe Resource Kit Solution Development Guide. Provides conceptual and procedural documentation that describes how to build a solution based on the sample solution.
• MOIBF1.5_Reskit_MDPublisher.exe Resource Kit Metadata Publishing Tool. Includes a tool used to publish or update production metadata from the command line and instruction document.
• MOIBF1.5_Reskit_Templates.exe Resource Kit template files. Includes three template files (two XML files and an HTML file) used to create solutions.
• MOIBF1.5_ResKit_Tools_GroupPolicy.exe Resource Kit Group Policy template. Includes a Group Polices .adm file and an instruction document that explains the properties within it.
• MOIBF1.0_ResKit_Tools_VisioMDExplorer1.0.exe Resource Kit Visio Metadata Explorer tool. Includes a Microsoft Visio® add-in tool that enables you to view Information Bridge metadata, and an instruction document that explains how to use it.
• MOIBF1.0_ResKit_Tools_WSE20Adapter1.0.exe Resource Kit WSE 2.0 Adapter. Includes an adapter for incorporating Web Services Enhancements (WSE) security models and installation instructions.

Via Darren Neimke 

The other day I posted about a free .NET library for creating zip files on the fly:

     http://weblogs.asp.net/dneimke/archive/2005/02/23/378781.aspx

Here's a little method that I wrote which wraps the functionality of the ICSharpCode library to easily package one or more files into a zip file.

 

private static void WriteZipFile( string[] filesToZip, string writeToFilePath ) {

 try {

   if ( EnsureDirectory(writeToFilePath) ) {

     Crc32 crc = new Crc32();

     ZipOutputStream s = new ZipOutputStream(File.Create(writeToFilePath));

     s.SetLevel(9); // 0 - store only to 9 - means best compression

     for( int i=0; i<filesToZip.Length; i++ ) {

       // Must use a relative path here so that files show up in the Windows Zip File Viewer

       // .. hence the use of Path.GetFileName(...)

       ZipEntry entry = new ZipEntry(Path.GetFileName(filesToZip[i]));

       entry.DateTime = DateTime.Now;

       // Read in the 

       using(FileStream fs = File.OpenRead(filesToZip[i])) {

         byte[] buffer = new byte[fs.Length];

         fs.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

         // set Size and the crc, because the information

         // about the size and crc should be stored in the header

         // if it is not set it is automatically written in the footer.

         // (in this case size == crc == -1 in the header)

         // Some ZIP programs have problems with zip files that don't store

         // the size and crc in the header.

         entry.Size = fs.Length;

         fs.Close();

         crc.Reset();

         crc.Update(buffer);

         entry.Crc  = crc.Value;

         s.PutNextEntry(entry);

         s.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

       }

     }

     s.Finish();

     s.Close();

   }

 } 

 catch( Exception ex ) {

   HttpContext.Current.Trace.Warn( ex.ToString() ) ;

 }

}

Via GotDotNet: Samples 

Switch out templates for a posting ( by creating a new posting then copying data - it expires the old posting )

 

Check it out here

Email me if there is :) 

Bring it on!

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Via Matt Cosier 

I think it is about time I let you guys know about what I am currently working on, and how it can solve some of your current Sharepoint Portal Server advanced search problems/issues.

Introducing my SPS Advanced Search Tools. (SAST)
I have been working on a toolkit to provide the web part developer the ability to run advanced boolean searches against the underlying MSSearch engine that is integrated with Sharepoint Portal Server 2003.  I have written a managed assembly that provides the developer with a means of converting a standard google-style search string into an MSSQLFT WHERE clause that can be plugged directly into the MSSearch engine query packet to produce the needed results.

Features include:

• Full boolean condition support between terms (AND, OR)
• Term negation (Boolean NOT) by placing a negative symbol before a term
• Logically grouped boolean terms by using ( and ) to form complex queries
• Phrased and unphrased search terms which work with both the above mentioned features
• Special term extraction (Special terms are those such as site: language: location:)
• Full site-scoping across the portal by using the site: special term with the site name appended
• Support for Stemming (Inflection transformation performed on terms, which matches a word in its similar/plural forms eg: dog, dogs)

Once the resultant WHERE clause is produced, it can be piped into the MSSearch engine for processing.  I am also working on a web part that wraps the functionality of the SAST, and provides a simple search interface and the ability to set the search scope options graphically.  Everything is powered by an XML configuration file that ships as a class resource, the web part renders results in the same fashion as the OTB search.

How will this help me/my organisation?
By providing you with a simple search web part that will plug into your portal and begin using right away, just as though it was OTB with no code nessecary.
If you require a different user interface, developers can simply inherit from the web part and render their own search view!  As simple as that!

Can I get a copy of the source code?
At the moment I am keeping the source code under locks until I am satisfied with the quality of the code and have settled on a Beta source-tree.  I need to have conversations internally before I make this an open project, as there are plans for this to be published to the Microsoft Web Part Gallary as an easy add-in.

Keep in mind that the project is still extremely immature and I need to have it tested internally before releasing it out into the wild.  I plan on having a release before or at the end of my Application SIG Roadshow.

Please make sure you email me with your feedback and queries if you are interested in what you have read here!
t-matcos@microsoft.com

Cool – IT HIT’s WAE 2.0 is released.

And the guys @ IT HIT are cool as well!

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Hi Angus,

We have just released the final version of Web Author Enhancement v2.0

Please fill free to contact me any time.

Regards,

Vladimir

Cool – Greg is joining Readify.

They employ a ton of MS MVPs & a bunch of smart guys – I wonder if they just go through the MVP list on mvp.support.microsoft.com and shoot out a “Come work for us” email…

Via Greg Low’s Blog 

Having just sent the paperwork off, it's time to make it official. I've taken a Principal Consultant role with Readify.

The role will involve setting up a SQL Server practice for them, initially based around the Yukon/SQL Server 2005 product release and readiness training. I think it will be a refreshing change for me and I look forward to working with their clients as they seem to have attracted a very high-quality clientele.

Over recent years, I've been so impressed with the quality of staff they have been hiring that if I was going to work for anyone other than myself, it would have had to have been Readify or directly for Microsoft.

Via Robert McLaws 

Rob, Scott, and team have FINALLY released CommunityServer 1.0. Great job, guys! As Jayson Knight mentioned, I'm wrapping up a .Text -> CS conversion wizard. Should be finished soon, I'm having to deal with some limitations of the CS APIs.

Via Mart Muller's Sharepoint Weblog

..which can be downloaded at Teamcenter Community.

http://www.ugs.ch/evis5/pub/ps/cs/wss/default.aspx

Poll
Used the Microsoft RateThisPage web part as a base to create a Poll web part.

RateThisPage
I have become cumbersome to Microsoft´s feature to take care about servernames and protocolls. I had for the same page about 6 different ratings. So I decompiled the Microsoft RateThisPage web part and added a config variable to remove this behavior.

QuickTime
The QuickTime Web Part brings QuickTime Movies to your Sharepoint site. You can specify the QuickTime Movie to be displayed with an URL.

The TccRoleSyncer Admin Tool
Synchronize you role definition from a sharepoint site to another site including it's sub structure.

The Active Directory User Information Web Part
The AD User Information web part shows information stored in the active directory about the actual user. It lets the user also change his login password.

The Connected Page Viewer Web Part
You know the Page Viewer web part thats installed by default. This web part works analogue. May it have a lot of more functionality. You can set some attributes to the IFrame and you can use web part connections to show pages.

Site Navigation
The site navigation is used to show the site structure of your Sharepoint site. It's shown below. Use it to navigate to your demo page of interest.

Importable WebParts
This page shows some web parts you can import on a site without installing any component on the server side.

Breadcrumbs
One problem a lot of Sharepoint users have, is to navigate in the site hierarchy of a sharepoint server. A lot of users are thinking the Home link have to be the root site of the server. They don't want to go to the root site by clicking several times the Up link. The Breadcrumbs Web Part helps.

TccFeeder
The TccFeeder client application synchronizes events, contacts and tasks from different Sharepoint servers and from different sites to the users desktop.

Event Rollup
The Event Rollup Web Part rolls up events from all subsites into one single table. This way you have an overview off all events. You can manage events from all subsites in one single web part. You can link all event lists into outlook. The best use case for this web part is ressource planning.

Ressource Plan
The Ressource Plan Web Part shows events assigned to users or groups in a table view. This way you can easely manage your ressources and always have an overview about theire work load.

Google Search
The Google Search Web Part brings the entire Google search power to your Sharepoint site. You can specify search options. As an example you can configure the web part to search your own site!

Google Translator
The Google Translator Web Part brings the entire Google translation power to your Sharepoint site. You can translate text between different languages!

Flash Movie
The Flash Movie Web Part brings Shockwave Flash to your Sharepoint site. You can specify the Flash Movie to be displayed with an URL.

Welcome
The Welcome Web Part welcomes your users with a lot of configuration options!

World Time
The Wolrd Time Web Part lets you choose time zones to display. You can highly configure, how the zones are displayd on the page. You can see on the right side an example of a configuration.

What's New (by Jan Tielens Lead-it, modifications by Konrad Brunner)
The What's New Web Part shows all new items from a site in one single web part area. Add some new items into the events or announcement list to see how the new items appear.
I addedd a site structure walk down functionality and done the web part ignoring hidden lists and document library folders.

The User Alert Web Part (by Jan Tielens, Lead-it)
The User Alert web part allows administrators to manage the alerts from a site. Add, remove and change alerts from any user.

Sounds Cool

Via  Arno Nel

Thanks to Jan and the team at U2U. Im quite excited to test this out.

 

Jan writes:

“So, what is it? The tool has only one goal: expose information in Sharepoint as RSS Feeds. Nothing new you  may think, there are several other solutions for this, so what’s the buzz? I think our approach is unique in quite a few domains:

• Aggregation of items stored in multiple lists on multiple sites
  You can create an RSS feed that contains information coming from more than one lists (or document libraries), that are potentially on different sites.
• Customizable layout of RSS items
  For each list that you aggregate in an RSS Feed you can specify how the items in the RSS feed should look like. You can do that by using some sort of formulas, referring to fields coming from the Sharepoint lists.
• Non-intrusive installation
  The installation of the RSS Feeds tool doesn’t change a thing about your Sharepoint installation, the IT-Pro guys will be happy! The tool is completely separated from the Sharepoint sites and doesn’t require you to add metadata or web parts to Sharepoint.
• Sharepoint Authorization
  Are you afraid of exposing sensitive data? Well you don’t have to, our tool uses the Sharepoint security model, so if a user doesn’t have access to the Sharepoint list he or she can’t retrieve information from the RSS feed. Anonymous access to RSS feeds is also supported (if your Sharepoint site is available for anonymous users of course).
• GUI Administration
  The administration of the tool (creating feeds, item layouts, …) is completely done by using a nice graphical user interface.”

Read more here

Kinda cool – bring on the cheap searching!!!

Thank you for downloading the free version of Coveo Enterprise Search!

I am contacting you today to let you know that Coveo is excited to announce the temporary introduction of a 50,000 document license for Coveo Enterprise Search. 

For the month of February, we are offering a reduced price of $4999 (plus support) for this 50,000 document license.  For our larger customers, we are also offering a 100,000 document license at a reduced cost of $9999 (plus support).  This is an amazing deal, and the perfect opportunity to upgrade your license and increase the size of your index.  This promotion is set to expire at the end of the month.

Please let me know if this would be of interest, and I would be happy to provide a quote. 

Many thanks,

Check out the pictures of Joel, Mei Ying & Stefan!

Via Mei Ying's Tech Blog 

Packt Publishing has launched a free online edition of the MCMS Book, Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server.

About the site...
This site is designed to give you free information about MCMS, and about the book "Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server" by Packt Publishing. This website will allow you to view content from the book. The site allows you to read through summaries of each chapter from the book (see below), and read through two full chapters (Chapter 6 and 18).

Click here to visit.