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Programming BCS Solutions in Office 2010
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?
- Learn to create Outlook Declarative Solutions
- Learn the BDC Client Runtime object model
- Learn to create custom Office Add-Ins
One of the most attractive attributes of a BCS solution is that it encompasses both client and server functionality. The ability to interact with External Data through Office applications as well as SharePoint sites is significant. Throughout the first half of the book, client-side functionality was presented primarily through no-code solutions. This chapter will examine more advanced client-side solutions, including Outlook declarative solutions, the BDC Client Runtime object model, and custom Office add-ins.
CREATING OUTLOOK DECLARATIVE SOLUTIONS
From the very beginning of the book, we’ve been using BCS to surface data from External Systems in Microsoft Outlook 2010 using the native Outlook Item Types: Contact, Task, Post, and Appointment. Surfacing data this way is central to BCS and requires no custom code, but Chapter 3 detailed several limitations with the folders, forms, and items created by simple no-code solutions. Developers looking for more control may initially be disappointed because BCS does not expose an API for working with Outlook solutions. However, BCS does support a declarative approach that enables the customization of Outlook solutions.
Outlook declarative solutions (also called intermediate declarative solutions) are add-ins that make use of the existing BCS components ...
