Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services

The Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Software Development Kit (SDK) provides information about the languages, protocols, and technologies that you can use to customize a Web site in Windows SharePoint Services. This SDK is part of the larger Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies 2003 Software Development Kit.

This part of the Windows SharePoint Services SDK contains the following sections:

• Concepts and Architecture
• Programming Tasks
• Reference
• Security Practices
• Appendix

You can use the Windows SharePoint Services object model in code running on the server to access and work with list or Web site data and templates, to customize Web Part views of list data, or to manage a top-level site or a subsite. The object model is fully integrated with Microsoft ASP.NET so that you can work, for example, within the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment (IDE) to develop custom Web applications or to customize Web Parts for use in relation to a Windows SharePoint Services deployment. The object model provides extensive access to list data, list views, administration, and almost all other aspects of a SharePoint site. For more information on the object model, see Namespaces in the Windows SharePoint Services Object Model. For information on Web Parts, see Web Part Pages and the Web Part Infrastructure.

The Windows SharePoint Services Web Service provides interfaces for communicating with the server running Windows SharePoint Services from a remote computer to work with list and site data. Through these interfaces, you can use SOAP messaging to update list data, or you can create a Windows Application in the Visual Studio .NET IDE that uses Web service methods to interact with a site. In addition to providing general access to lists and Web sites, the services provide, for example, access to Meeting Workspace sites in events lists or to Document Workspace sites.

This SDK also provides information about Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML), which can be used within SOAP messaging and also within C#, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, or scripting languages to create, for example, queries or views on list data. CAML is also used in templates and in site definitions on the front-end Web server or servers. See Introduction to Templates and Definitions for information on the kinds of customization that are possible.

The SDK also documents protocols and various client-site APIs that can be used in the context of Windows SharePoint Services.