Beginning SharePoint® Designer 2010

Chapter 13. Client-side Programming in JavaScript

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER

• Setting up a page to use the Client Object Model

• Reading data from SharePoint using CAML

• Creating, updating, and deleting list items

• Adding commands to the ribbon

THE CLIENT OBJECT MODEL

In the past, the primary way to integrate with SharePoint externally was to use one of the many ASMX web services it provides. Using these web services, you could read and update items and documents, manage sites, lists and libraries, and configure permissions from any external application. Unfortunately, these web services were not easy to use and only supported Windows Authentication. Additionally, any knowledge you had in extending SharePoint by writing server code using the built-in object model did not help much in trying to use the web services.

Over time, adding additional functionality to these web services has become more and more expensive in terms of complexity and effort. To resolve the problems of using the non-intuitive web services and yet extend the available functionality, SharePoint has introduced the Client Object Model.

The Client Object Model is a set of technology-specific libraries that function similarly to the way the built-in object model does. These libraries support accessing SharePoint using JavaScript, Silverlight, or .NET. Using the Client Object Model, you can automate many of the tasks that you would otherwise have to perform manually using the browser or SharePoint Designer.

Some of these ...