An updated SDK for SharePoint Server 2007 delivers two important improvements: A tool to help connect the Business Data Catalog (BDC) to internal applications and databases, and updated but still incomplete documentation for developers. The new BDC tool could make one of SharePoint Server's most important developer features more practical to use, although it has limitations.

The BDC allows SharePoint to present data from back-end systems, such as databases and Web services, through a number of prebuilt Web Parts. Configuring the BDC requires developers to create metadata, a complex combination of XML and the SQL query language, to describe the source database or Web service. However, the initial BDC release provided no tools for developers to create metadata.

The Aug. 2007 release of the SharePoint SDK remedies this by including a new tool, formally known by the absurdly long name of Microsoft Business Data Catalog Definition Editor for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MBDCDEMOSS). The tool provides a graphical tree view and property pages that enable a developer to write metadata without directly writing XML. However, the tool is not integrated with Visual Studio and lacks some seemingly obvious features. For example, while nearly every other database tool from Microsoft presents a list of available servers and databases to connect to, this tool requires the developer to enter the connection string manually.

Finally, although the updated SDK contains more sample code, the Aug. 2007 SDK still has empty or incomplete entries and carries the same disclaimer as the original, noting that it contains "most of the highest-priority documentation" and advising developers to "periodically check for SDK updates and technical articles on MSDN." It is unclear when developers can expect complete technical documentation for SharePoint Server, which shipped in Nov. 2006. Until complete documentation appears, systems integrators and solution providers who have puzzled out the product on their own enjoy a considerable competitive advantage.

The SharePoint Server SDK download is at www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6d94e307-67d9-41ac-b2d6-0074d6286fa9.

A blog entry summarizing the BDC definition editor is at blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/08/22/announcing-the-microsoft-business-data-catalog-definition-editor-for-microsoft-office-sharepoint-server-2007.aspx.

The BDC is described in "Catalog Links SharePoint Server to Business Data" on page 15 of the May 2007 Update.