Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Technologies

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2

Windows SharePoint Services V3.0

2.1 A Necessary Platform

As mentioned in Chapter 1, WSS 2.0 provided the foundation upon which

SPS 2003 was built. It essentially took the file share paradigm to a new level

and empowered users by allowing them to collaborate and share documents,

tasks, events and more. It was both an enabling technology and a team col-

laboration solution. Indeed, WSS 2.0 could be installed purely for its team

collaboration solution and there would be no need to venture anywhere near

SPS 2003.

The enabling technology was leveraged by SPS 2003 to deliver a portal

solution that worked but was not perfect, as there were some incompatibili-

ties between what WSS 2.0 provided and how SPS 2003 used it. As an exam-

ple of what we mean by not perfect, consider the fact that the security model

in a pure team site was not the same as that in a portal area even though they

both used the same underlying site model that WSS 2.0 delivered. What is

this enabling technology? We are basically referring to the Web site frame-

work and flexible storage model that empowered end-users to create and

manage team sites. Content stored in the sites, in terms of document libraries

and lists, was primarily accessed via a browser and rendered using Web Part

pages essentially ASP.NET pages with zones that housed Web Parts. Web

Parts themselves are based on ASP.NET form controls, and they typically dis-

play some content that is stored in a library or list. Web services and a server-

based API also allowed other forms of access to the site content, such as from

Office 2003 and the Windows Explorer.

SharePoint, therefore, should be viewed as two parts—a platform and

the solutions built upon this platform. This was the case with WSS 2.0 and

SPS 2003, but, to meet the requirements of the expanded solution areas in

SharePoint 2007, a much richer platform with extended services was

required. And this is where WSS 3.0 comes into the picture. As we will dis-

cover, it delivers core services that permeate throughout the six solution

areas we talked of earlier. Additionally, WSS 3.0 on its own provides the

12 2.1 A Necessary Platform

collaboration solution and, unlike before, there are no incompatibilities

with the core services and the solutions that are ultimately implemented

using them.

The first W in WSS stands for Windows, since it is actually part of the

Windows Server 2003 operating system and included in your licence. Ini-

tially, WSS was only available as a Web download, but it will become a part

of the base kit and be available for installing through the Configure Your

Server/Manage Server wizards. Therefore it is not intended to be solely used

by SharePoint 2007, and you can expect other Microsoft and third-party

applications to fully exploit the core platform services. The components in

the WSS 3.0 platform, such as the Web site framework, security model, list,

and document storage—plus its support for ASP.NET 2.0 and Windows

Workflow Foundation—make it much easier for developers to build, deploy,

and integrate rich applications rather than rolling their own framework from

scratch. SharePoint 2007, with its six application areas, is a great example of

this. Imagine how complex it would have been to build these applications

without a common set of core services and framework?

WSS 3.0 therefore has a lot to live up to, and we believe it has taken this

responsibility fully on board and delivered a very compelling platform. Fig-

ure 2.1 shows the platform services and collaboration solution that come

with a default WSS 3.0 installation. Note the platform and operating system

services. In this chapter we will touch on all but workflow.

It’s interesting to look at some of the services WSS 3.0 provides and see

how different solutions use these services. Take versioning, for example. This

Figure 2.1

WSS 3.0 platform

services.