Integrating SharePoint

2010/2013 and Visual

Studio LightSwitch

Rob Windsor

rwindsor@portalsolutions.net

@robwindsor

About Me

• Senior SharePoint Architect with Portal Solutions

• Technical Contributor to the Pluralsight On-Demand Library

• Microsoft MVP, MCPD, MCT

• Founder and Past-President of the North Toronto .NET UG

• Co-author of Prof. Visual Basic 2012 and .NET 4.5 (Wrox)

What is Visual Studio LightSwitch?

• Learn more at the LightSwitch Developer Center

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lightswitch/default.aspx

The easiest way to create

modern business applications

for the enterprise

Motivation for LightSwitch

• LightSwitch is a development tool that

Is designed to be used by business users

In the same way they are using Excel and Access today

Is designed to be used by developers

Apps can be transitioned to devs if they grow beyond the workgroup

Has built-in “plumbing” to handle common application requirements

Uses the latest Microsoft technologies

HTML5, JavaScript, Silverlight, Entity Framework, WCF, SQL Server

Uses well-known architectural patters

Builds scalable applications

Is extensible

Supports Wizard driven deployment

LightSwitch Simplifies Development

• Data

Multiple sources / kinds (including SharePoint)

Entity model

• Screens

No markup solution

Extensible controls

Extensible layouts

• Rules and validation

Write once, execute everywhere

LightSwitch 2011

LightSwitch 2012

OData OData

LightSwitch 2012 HTML Client Preview 2

OData OData

HTML5/JavaScript

The LightSwitch Development Experience

DEMO Introduction to Visual Studio

LightSwitch

Entities

• Can be local (SQL Server Express) or attached (SQL

Server, SQL Azure, SharePoint, WCF RIA service)

• Can create relationships within and across data sources

• Custom business types

Provide validation and formatting

• Calculated properties

Write code to generate value

• Can validate at the entity or property level

Screens

• Variety of built in screens

New, search, details, editable grid, list and details

• Can use auto-generated screens for adding/editing or

create your own

• Developers can modify screens at design-time and runtime

• Always based on queries

• Generated screens do not expose XAML

You can use Silverlight controls you create yourself

You can add UI elements packaged as extensions

Queries

• LightSwitch creates queries automatically

Select * query is a collection, eg. CustomerCollection

Select where query is a detail, eg. CustomerDetail

• You can edit existing queries

Filter, sort, add parameters

• You can create new queries

• You can base queries on other queries

The LightSwitch Development Experience

DEMO Entities, Screens, Queries,

and Code

Access Control

• Authentication

LightSwitch supports Windows and Forms authentication

• Authorization

Check if the user is allowed to do something

Define permissions and check them in code at entity

and property level

Permissions are granted through administration screens

Access Control

• Permissions are defined by the developer

• The application’s administrator(s) define(s) users and roles

• Permissions are assigned to roles

• Users are assigned to roles

• A user’s effective permissions are the combined

permissions assigned to their roles

Deployment Options

• 2-tier desktop application

Application runs entirely on user’s computer

• 3-tier desktop application

User interface runs on user’s computer

Middle-tier components run on Internet Information

Services (IIS) or Windows Azure

• 3-tier web application

User interface is browser based

Middle-tier components run on IIS or Windows Azure

DEMO Access control and

deployment

Thank You

• Big thanks to the organizers, sponsors and you for making

this event possible

• Please fill out your evaluation

• Please keep in touch

rwindsor@portalsolutions.net

@robwindsor

msmvps.com/blogs/windsor