The integration into SharePoint Server 2010 drives many of the programmability changes for PerformancePoint Services. The following list describes these changes:

• First class objects (FCOs) are stored as content types in a SharePoint list or document library. (FCOs are dashboards, scorecards, reports, filters, KPIs, indicators, and data sources.) Data sources are stored in document libraries and all other FCOs are stored in lists. An FCO definition is stored as serialized XML in the content type item.

  Note:
  Dashboards that are stored in the list as FCOs represent dashboard pages. Deployed dashboards are stored in a different document library.

• FCO definitions are not extensible; that is, you cannot add properties or methods to an object. To create a custom object that can be managed from within PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer, you create a native PerformancePoint Services object and then define custom values for its properties. Only objects of type ReportView, Filter, and DataSource can be extended, and only custom tabular data sources are supported.

• ReportView, Filter, and DataSource objects inherit new properties for extensibility support:

  • The RendererClassName property references the class that defines a custom report renderer or a custom filter control. (This property does not apply to custom data sources.)

  • The SubTypeId property defines the unique identifier for the object. PerformancePoint Services uses SubTypeId to determine if an object is custom.

• Filter objects are FCOs. They are added to dashboards by reference, and they can be reused in multiple dashboards. In the previous version, filters are child objects that are defined within dashboard objects.

• Dashboard Designer cannot be extended. However, new functionality enables Dashboard Designer to display and interact with custom objects and to open custom editors. For more information, see Editors for Custom Objects. The key benefits of this change are support for thin editors and easier deployment of extensions that are developed by multiple third parties.

  Note:
  Dashboard Designer extensions created for PerformancePoint Monitoring Server are not supported in PerformancePoint Services.

• The PerformancePoint Web services are changed. The following list contains the most significant changes:

  • The RenderingService Web service supports JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) only. It no longer supports SOAP with XML.

  • The names and locations of the Web service files and underlying classes are changed. The PmService Web service is renamed to PPSAuthoringService, its default URL is http[s]://[site]/_vti_bin/pps/PPSAuthoringService.asmx, and its underlying class is BIMonitoringAuthoringService. The RenderingService Web service is renamed to PPSRenderingService and its underlying class is BIMonitoringRenderingService.

  • The unique store location of an FCO is represented by a location in the repository instead of a GUID.

• PerformancePoint Services provides a service application proxy and an SPDataStore object that custom SharePoint applications should call instead of calling PerformancePoint Web services. For more information, see Development Scenarios with PerformancePoint Services.

• SharePoint list security is used to authorize users' permissions to access a dashboard item or data source.

• PerformancePoint Web Parts (scorecards, reports, and filters) use Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 connection interfaces. This enables PerformancePoint Web Parts to send or receive values from other Web Parts that use compatible connection interfaces.

• The SDK includes a sample that contains examples of supported extensions. The sample contains a repository-helper layer that simplifies the common tasks—Create, Get, and Update—that custom editors perform against the repository. For more information, see Overview of the PerformancePoint Services SDK Sample.

• The Preview Web site has been removed. Instead of using this site, dashboard authors can deploy dashboards directly to SharePoint Server 2010 to design and test in private mode before making the dashboard available to other users.

Concepts