Posted below are notes from the March 27, 2008 RochSPUG meeting. The presenter was Paul Stork from Mindsharp, and he discussed both Business Data Catalog and WSS/MOSS SP1.

· BDC discussion

o Use SP as the focal point for finding information without having to redo existing applications

o End user manipulates data, as opposed to dba's

o Write an xml app def file - takes db of a third party app and reverse engineers it

o Take normalized data tables, write an xml file that pulls them ack and resets them as entities with methods.

o It staff writes the xml file that maps out entities and appropriate methods

o Business users use the web parts to get to their data

o BDC is an MOSS enterprise only feature

o Is bdc meant for read only access?

· Yes and no

· Divide data base storage from business process

· Bdc is db storage - to read it directly bypasses all the business rules

· Can write bcd against xml services - now not bypassing business rules - now can read write.

· Most bdc apps are about reporting rather than reading and writing

o BDC Meta Man from Lightening Tools (www.bdcmetaman.com)

· Developer edition is free, professional version has a cost

· Demo - support most mainstream databases such as SQL server, MySQL, DB2,

· Use bdc meta man to get you 90% of the way to the app def file. Then can tweak the rest by hand

· SP1 Discussion

o Read the 20 page readme before attempting the install!

o Backup your system and make sure it is a good one. The only way to back out of sp1 is delete and reinstall the whole thing

o At the completion of the upgrade - backup your system again - the upgrade chanes the schema of the db, so backups previous to sp1 are not restoreable

o Check installation type

o Delete unfinished upgrade jobs

o Scan for orphaned objects

o Review and document customization

o Defrag sql indexes

o Double Check that the update account has the appropriate security

o Use an installer account to perform the upgrade - not the administrator account

o Then do install of sp1

o Size of content db will drive the amount of time the upgrade will take.

o How can you tell if you're running sp1?

· Central admin - servers in farm - 12.0.0.6219 (search for Penny Coventry's blog)

o Any new servers that come online must now be sp1.

· Slipstreaming

· Create your own install media that includes sp1 (procedure exists for this)

o Upgrade process

· Stop the w3wp service

· Detach content db's (optional)

· Install wss sp1

· Don't run configuration wizard

· Install moss sp1 on ca server

· Start configuration wizard on ca server

· Install moss sp1 on other servers

· Complete configuration wizard on ca server

· Binaries have to be on all servers, but config has to be on ca server first

· All this is documented in the 20 page readme file

Please note: These notes were taken based upon the verbal presentation and discussion at the 3/27/08 meeting. 100% accuracy cannot be guarenteed. These notes are for reference only. They are NOT intended to replace official Microsoft documentation.