Datasheet

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Part I: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007
Audiences can provide you with a quick way to target content. For example, you could create a Finance
Audience using an Active Directory Finance Group. Any information you want to target specifically at
this group of staff can simply be aimed at that audience when created. Once again, in the real world,
systems administrators and site administrators may be the only people who have the required
permissions to create audiences.
Excel Services
Microsoft Excel has perhaps seen the greatest change but a change that is purely server - based. Microsoft
Excel Server is now available with MOSS 2007. This server is not available with WSS version 3. Excel
Server permits you to interact in a controlled way with Excel workbooks and spreadsheets within a web
browser. While neither quite the same nor as full featured as using Excel 2007, the Excel Server and
SharePoint provide a great way to make information available throughout an organization, even if all users
do not have Excel 2007 on their desktops. Excel Server can also be used to provide access to key
performance indicators via the browser. This allows you to create visual, graphics - based indicators that can
supply at - a - glance access to valuable management information.
Information can also be provided in the form of pivot tables or standard workbooks that can be filtered
by other users to provide more relevant information to other colleagues. Access to this information, just
like everything else in SharePoint, can of course be restricted.
If data is held within a large corporate database or even a Microsoft Access 2007 data connection, it can
be stored with SharePoint and exposed using Excel Services. This provides you with immediate
up - to - date access to corporate data, again in a controlled and secure fashion.
Forms Server
MOSS 2007 contains an additional component to allow you to use electronic forms created using
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007. InfoPath 2007 allows you to create electronic forms on the desktop and
transfer the forms to SharePoint, where they can be viewed and completed within the web browser
using Forms Server. This is a great tool for basic forms that almost anyone using Office 2007 and
SharePoint can create. However, for more complex forms (for example, forms that communicate with
large corporate databases), you will require the programming skills of developers and permissions to
store and execute the forms within SharePoint.
Business Data Catalog
The Business Data Catalog (BDC) provides MOSS with the capability to communicate with a large
variety of back - end corporate database systems. In many organizations, data is held in a variety of places
and the BDC provides a way to access different systems and present the information via a single
interface, MOSS 2007. Working with the BDC can range from a simple connection to a database to return
data to complex mappings to retrieve data from large systems like Oracle and SQL Server. Once you go
beyond the basics of simple data access, you will generally need the services of a programmer. However,
tools are available that make the process a little simpler, and these will be discussed in Chapter 11 .
However, it s more likely that you will make use of preconfigured BDC Web Parts rather than creating
your own, as specific permissions may be required on multiple corporate systems in order to access the
required data structures.
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