Beginning SharePoint® Designer 2010

Chapter 6. Lists, Libraries, & Internal Content Types

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER

• How SharePoint stores and organizes your data

• How to create lists and document libraries

• How to use views to filter, sort and group the content of lists and libraries

• How to create content types to apply a well-defined structure to your data and documents

SHARING YOUR DOCUMENTS AND DATA

SharePoint stores its information in lists. A list is a like a database table with columns and rows. When you create a list in SharePoint, you have the option to create a list with predefined columns or a completely custom list. There are two main types of lists. The first is the generic list. The rows in a generic list are called items. The other type of list is the document library. The rows in a document library represent files.

The focus of a list item is its fields whereas the focus of an item in a document library is the file itself. Most list items can have attachments but they are optional. A document library on the other hand must have files in order to have items. The files in a document library can also have fields but they are considered properties or metadata for those files.

BUILT-IN LISTS AND LIBRARIES

Depending on the template or site definition used to create a SharePoint site, certain lists are automatically created. Additional lists can be created by anyone with sufficient permissions. The list types available depend mainly on the edition of SharePoint installed (SharePoint Foundation versus SharePoint ...