3
Using BCS Solutions in Office 2010
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER
- Understand client-side components
- Understand ClickOnce deployment
- Understand List Synchronization
- Learn to use BCS with Office 2010
One of the most powerful aspects of Business Connectivity Services is the ability to use data from External Systems in Office clients. The complementary architecture of the client-side Business Data Connectivity (BDC) components makes BCS solutions much more capable than typical Office add-ins. Additionally, the out-of-the-box features provide enough capability that a custom solution is often not required.
This chapter provides an in-depth look at BCS from the client perspective. The client-side BDC components are examined in detail, along with the many ways that data can be presented in various Office clients. Along the way you’ll also learn the details of how client-side functionality is packaged and deployed. After completing the chapter you’ll have a strong understanding of how to make use of BCS in Office 2010.
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS DATA CONNECTIVITY
Chapters 1 and 2 both discussed Business Data Connectivity and defined it as a grouping of the infrastructure, runtime, and administrative components. On the client side, BDC consists of the BDC Client runtime and the metadata cache. As discussed in Chapter 1, these components are installed by default with the Professional Plus version of Office 2010 so no separate client installation is required.
Understanding the BDC Client Runtime ...
