Transcript Access to Azure

Access to Azure
EXTENDING OFFICE 365 INTO THE CLOUD
George Young
Dawson Butte Software
[email protected]
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Access Web Apps
A new app type for SharePoint and a(nother) foray onto the web for Access
Access is just the “designer”
UI is HTML forms
Data is in SQL Server
HTML hosted in SharePoint
SQL database is hosted in Windows Azure (Azure SQL Database)
There is no client code!
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Access Web App Pros and Cons
Pros
Standardized User Interface
One-click Deployment
SQL Server (Azure SQL Database) Backend
Authentication handled by SharePoint
Cons
Limited User Interface Options
No VBA (just macros)
Requires SharePoint or Office 365 for Business
No inherent Report functionality
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Extending into the Cloud
Azure SQL Database means that the data is now available from anywhere
UI can be anything that can access a SQL Server database
The application can live outside of SharePoint
SharePoint / Office 365 / Active Directory authentication can be used, if desired
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Extending Examples
SQL Server Management Studio
Excel Charts
Active Directory Authenticated ASP.NET MVC Application
Windows 8 Phone App (Web API)
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SQL Server Management Studio
We can view our Web App data in Azure SQL Database in SSMS
If you haven’t already specified access From Any Location in your Web App:
Click FILE to open the “Back Stage”
Click the Manage button in the Connections section
Indicate From Any Location
Click the Manage button again and select View Connection Information
Copy that information somewhere handy (and secure, if production)
Open SSMS to a new connection and enter the credentials
Make sure to enter the database name on the Options tab
NOTE: Schema is managed in the Access designer, not in SSMS (unlike “normal” SQL Server)
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Excel Reports
We can view visualizations of the data in Excel
Create a new ODBC Connection
Click the Data tab, select From Other Data Sources > From Data Connection Wizard
Select Other/Advanced, then select SQL Server Native Client 11.0
Enter the credentials
Uncheck Connect to a Specific Table
In the Select Table, check Enable selection of multiple tables
Import your data to the desired format (Table, PivotTable Report, etc)
Design your report
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Extending Access using Visual Studio
Two examples:
ASP.NET web app (MVC)
Windows 8 Phone App consuming an ASP.NET Web API interface to database
ASP.NET web apps can live on any IIS server
Visual Studio 2013 Professional or Express Web/Phone (free)
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Quick Aside: What is MVC?
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Active-Directory Authenticated
MVC Application
Now, web applications that may be accessed anywhere (not just in SharePoint)
We can allow
Open (unauthenticated) access
Individual user access (stand-alone or federated)
Cloud Active Directory (SharePoint/Office 365) authentication
 Azure Active Directory can be used to augment SharePoint/Office 365 Active Directory)
On-Premise Active Directory
We’ll build an ASP.NET MVC web application using cloud Active Directory
Select Web > ASP.NET Web Application
Specify MVC
Specify Organizational Authentication and enter your domain credentials
Generate site as for App for SharePoint
The web app is on the public internet, but access requires Active Directory authentication
ACCESS DAY – OCTOBER 2014 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Windows Phone 8 App
We can also interact with our Access Web App database in mobile device apps
Two components:
Back end data interface: ASP.NET WebAPI
Front-end user interface: Windows Phone 8 (Databound App)
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Windows Phone 8 App Backend:
ASP.NET Web API
Almost identical to MVC web application
Development:
New Project > Web > ASP.NET Web Application
Select Web API
Change Authentication to No Authentication
Generate Model as for App for SharePoint
Remove “virtual” keyword from generated classes
Add > New Scaffolded Item > Web API 2 Controller with actions
Run
Publish to Azure: Right click on project name > Publish
ACCESS DAY – OCTOBER 2014 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Windows Phone 8 App Frontend:
Databound App
Windows Phone 8 Databound App
Broadest reach
Lots of churn in Universal Apps right now
Development:
New Project > Store Apps > Windows Phone Apps > Databound App (Windows Phone Silverlight)
Add Model class
Edit ItemViewModel.cs and MainViewModel.cs
Edit MainPage.xaml and DetailsPage.xaml
Run
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Summary
Access 2013/365 opens new scenarios for Access developers to extend their applications to:
SharePoint and Office 365
Public and authenticated web sites
Mobile device applications
Access/Office/SharePoint developers might consider acquiring basic Visual Studio / MVC skills
(or partnering with someone having them) to offer these new scenarios to their customers.
Developers and their clients may benefit from “thinking outside of the box”.
The “classic” Access client forms application can still be at the center of this new web-based
extensible set of applications.
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Resources
Please see the following web site for:
A list of resources for learning more about the applications covered in this talk
The sample Northwind Orders database used in these demos
A copy of this PowerPoint presentation
http://www.dawsonbutte.com/accesstoazure/
For additional questions or comments, please email me at: [email protected]
Thank you for attending!
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO
Q&A
SHAREPOINT SATURDAY DENVER 2015 – JANUARY 2015 - DENVER, CO