I am trying to make a kind of 'faceted search' in ASP.NET and am looking for good ways to filter data. That's why I have the following question:
Is it possible to use FAST search on a SQL database using Microsoft Search Server 2010 without using SharePoint? (in other words: can a SQL DB be a content source for the search?) I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this anywhere.
I have found this on the MS website:
The following connectors come out of the box in Search Server 2010
Express and SharePoint Server 2010:
SharePoint sites
Windows file shares
Exchange public folders
Lotus Notes
Web sites
IFilters for additional repositories
Structured content in databases
Federation object model
I would like to be sure that it 'can' work before I start messing around with it.
You will need to install SharePoint Foundation (free version), as well as install the cumulative updates/service packs to install and configure the Secure Store Service. From there, you can use Business Connectivity Services to model your database and present it to Search Server Express. FAST Search is another product altogether and would require additional software installation and configuration.
Related
If I have a requirement of displaying the a content on all the pages inside a header, Whats the best way to do that in an SharePoint 2013?
I am working on a master page that will be using the design manager and there is possibility of using the same master page in the SharePoint online too. The reason why I want to know what is the best way, when I use this same master page in SharePoint online I would like avoid redoing that entire coding for getting a dynamic data from the web service.
Several ways that I have been planning is below
- User control method
- Web part method, but requires server side coding which I doubt can used in online version
This is a complete dynamic data that will be retrieved by a web service and no internal SharePoint data be used.
Thanks for reading
Deepak
If its possible to consume web-service using jQuery/Ajax call you can go with that
Or else if you want to use c#, might need to go with provider hosted app feature (sharepoint 2013)
You can create a Visual Web Part for SharePoint 2013 Online.
Your web part will be contained in a Sandbox Solution which you will develop locally. Once development is complete you will upload the Solution Package created by Visual Studio to SharePoint Online.
https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/80164/create-visual-webpart-for-sharepoint-online
http://sharepoint-community.net/profiles/blogs/sharepoint-online-2013-web-part-deployment
I am learning Microsoft FAST search for solving our search problem. I am getting resources for FAST Search for Sharepoint(FS4SP) instead of FAST Enterprise search Platform(FASTESP/FSIS/FSIA). I am more interested in FAST ESP as I don’t want any sharepoint dependency, but all the documentation I observed seems to be related to the Sharepoint integrated version. Is FS4SP provide same features as FASTESP/FSIS/FSIA?
The main problems that I want to solve using this search solutions are:
1.Search public and private(needs user authentication) data. For private data search, user should authenticate and see only autorized contents.
2.Search Web and non-web data. We have some desktop(client-server) applications and we want to make app/user data searchable.
3.Solution should be integarted all web, desktop and mobile applications. So that user should be able to perform search from web, desktop and mobile applications.
Can FS4SP solve all of above problems?
Both FAST ESP and FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 can solve your requirements. If you are starting a new project FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 is the only option you can purchase. I would suggest going for SharePoint 2013 which includes the FAST Search components by default.
FAST ESP had most of its documentation as PDF documents that shipped with the product. With the SharePoint versions, most of it is found online.
I would like to start developing a simple Workflow application in Sharepoint. What files should I download?
SharePoint Server 2007 SDK?
SharePoint Server?
SQL Server?
Visual Studio?
other?
Are they all required for workflow development?
I do not have SharePoint anywhere, please include its components in your answer.
If you don't have SharePoint installed, the free WSS 3.0 version is available for download from Microsoft. Follow these steps to install in a single server environment. It will install a basic version of SQL Server. Note this is suitable for prototyping only, not a production deployment, due to restrictions in the basic install.
Then use SharePoint Designer to create the workflows, free from Microsoft. There is no need for any other software. This allows you to configure workflow against a particular list in your SharePoint site with a wizard-like interface. See this topic on Office Online for more information.
If you need to develop a reusable workflow that can be deployed to many different sites or a production SharePoint instance then this is a much larger time investment. Start by reading one of the many other questions on this site for "getting started with SharePoint" that will give resources to how the product works. Be warned: there's a reasonable learning curve. Once you have a solid understanding, you could follow it up with a book such as Professional SharePoint 2007 Workflow Programming (first search result).
Another "warning" on designer...
The workflows you create there are allways fixed to a single list, and you cannot deploy them to a production server. So the "reusable" part from the above answer even includes a "portable" component.
Also those workflows are very static, since they only contain some speciffic actions that you can perform. (So no custom code etc).
I'm using the search web service on a Search Server 2008 Express install in a web application.
I have created the content source and scope and can successfully query the web service if I specify the fields I wish to return.
What I cannot find out is what fields are available to me, if I modify the query to "SELECT * ..." then I get an error that my query is malformed.
Can anyone tell me what fields are available by default for a web based search source?
Thanks,
Nick
There are some good tools available to help you debug this, here are some suggestion:
My SearchCoder will help you right SQL Correctly
The Search Service tool helps you with the Web Services
There are some .NET helpers on MSDN here Helper Classes for the SharePoint Server 2007 Search Query Web Service Built Using the Microsoft .NET Framework
And the Search Community Toolkit on CodePlex. They should all get you moving.
There's Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and then there is Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS). MOSS considerably more expensive than WSS (which ships as part of Microsoft Server licensing).
My question is: what does MOSS do that makes it worth the extra cost?
..and does Microsoft Search Server not compete with the Business Data Cache (BDC)?
Edit: The feature comparision page is helpful in illustrating the numerous features that MOSS has and WSS does not. By the looks of it, most of MOSS's feature set is Enterprise oriented.
How would you describe the differences (or additional benefits) of MOSS over WSS in a couple of sentences? In essence, what are the "big ticket" items in MOSS (and not in WSS)?
Don't assume that WSS is free in all deployment scenarios. We got a nice wake up call when we deployed WSS in a client-facing extranet configuration. One "main site" w/ a bunch of segregated, client sub-sites. Turns out we needed to buy an "intranet license" (can't remember the exact name) for the OS. This is different from the SharePoint internet connector - it actually lets you use Win 2003 w/ an unlimited number of internet users. Not hugely expensive, but it was a couple thousand dollars we weren't expecting on paying...
About WSS vs MOSS:
WSS in not a portal, it's only a collaborative plateform (there are no publishing features in WSS)
MOSS allows you to use user profils, not WSS
Search functionalities are cheap in WSS compare to MOSS (but you can extend them using Search Server Express)
Many others: Infopath, BDC, Additional WebParts, Additional site and list templates
About Search Server and BDC: They do not compete.
Search Server is the MOSS search engine striped out. So you have only search functionalities (you can index SharePoint, WebSite, FileSystem).
The BDC (Business Data Catalog) allows you to view an external business data source, such as a SQL database (not necessarily SQL Server, it can be Oracle, MySQL....) or webservices. You'll be able to view data in your portal, and integrate this data to any of your list.
The BDC also allows you to index this content source if you have SharePoint Enterprise Edition.
Whether it's worth the extra cost really depends on how many of the added features MOSS brings to the table that you're actually going to use.
The following comparison page by Microsoft will definitely help to answer your question.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Edition Comparison
There is a lot built in to WSS but MOSS has a ton of extra stuff as referenced in the other answer.
On the second part of your question.. Search server and Business Data Connector are quite different.. Search server is about finding things... BDC is about merging datasources to be able to use them easily in sharepoint or in connected excel sheets etc.. The focus is on what is being delivered-- search results or data.
I would say if you just need a few collaboration sites for a few internal groups, then wss is just fine. It is when you start using SharePoint for enterprise level applications and as a primary platform for development that you should consider MOSS.