SharePoint and Microsoft Sync Framework

One very, very important proof-of-concept exercise for SharePoint is showing how it can display documents in an existing file share without ‘forcing’ the entrenched user base to move their documents into SharePoint. This need for proof is not to suggest that we should “never” move documents into SharePoint—rather, we should have an option to “rollback” from such complete devotion just in case something goes wrong with the way we implement SharePoint.

We should be able to copy documents into SharePoint using, say, the Microsoft Sync Framework (or another custom solution) as an interim step before considering the option of completely committing all of our documents to exclusive SharePoint storage.

The following documents suggest that this strategy is worth the research:

• “An easy way to bulk copy SharePoint document libraries”—before we get “too technical” this article from a Microsoft employee explains how Windows Explorer can connect to SharePoint and allows us to drag and drop files to/from SharePoint.
• “SyncToy 1.0 Released and you can use it with SharePoint”—currently we have SyncToy 2.0—which is based on the Microsoft Sync Framework. I will experiment with SyncToy and SharePoint. It should take a few minutes to know whether this works or not…
• “Using the Microsoft Sync Framework with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007”—even though this is only a forum post it still looks promising. It also reminds us that there is no SharePoint sync “provider” in the Microsoft Sync Framework (so what is Microsoft SyncToy using?)…
• “SharePoint—Move or Copy SharePoint Document Library Files Programmatically”—this is a hard-core code sample that does not use the MS Sync Framework to cop/move SharePoint files.
• “Copying documents between libraries with metadata—including version history”—this article reminds us that SharePoint can store more than just documents. There is whole system of “taxonomy” and versioning that should be addressed as well. But this comes for us much later down the road. As of now, most of us just have documents.
• “Migrate sites, lists and libraries between SharePoint servers with views, versions, user-info, web parts, permissions and metadata.” This article introduces the stsadm command-line tool in the context of document management operations procedures.
• “Study Finds SharePoint Primarily Used for File Sharing”—this article suggests that SharePoint has more “potential” beyond simple file sharing. But this truth does not imply that we should not be using SharePoint for file sharing—and that this file-sharing functionality should not be a top priority.
• “Synchronize two SharePoint document workspaces”—the code sample here shows how to sync between two SharePoint servers—but it also suggests how it should be possible to use the file system as well…
• “Publishing and Synchronizing Excel 2007 Tables to SharePoint Lists”—this official Microsoft document reveals the way an Excel file (in the file system) can sync with a SharePoint List without writing any code. Very cool! I will experiment with this… (It does require a custom Excel Add-in from Microsoft).
• “How to Link SharePoint Server 2007 Lists with Microsoft Access 2007”—just like the Excel example this official Microsoft article explains how Access data (in the file system) can be related to SharePoint data. No custom code or Add-ins needed here.
• “Visual Studio workflow: Copy a document from one SharePoint document library to another”—shows how to store a procedure (Workflow) in SharePoint to copy files.
• “Developer Introduction to Workflows for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007”—this article goes in the other extreme for developers and addresses situations that require coding. These custom procedures can be rendered as “Workflows” and stored in SharePoint (as custom solutions for people who do not write code).
• “Integrating External Content Repository with SharePoint Server 2007”—this is a code sample from an independent Microsoft technology consultant, John Gilham. His article, “Integrating External Document Repositories with SharePoint Server 2007,” seems to have a bit of salesmanship in it—but might be worth further investigation.

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