There are several ways to integrate Silverlight applications with SharePoint web sites. Visual Studio 2010 may be used to create SharePoint Solution Packages to automate the deployment of Silverlight applications. The Silverlight Web Part Visual Studio Extensions automate the creation and configuration of projects and assets used to deploy Silverlight applications. Using sample data with Expression Blend improves the Silverlight design experience.
Hands-On Labs
Using the Silverlight Web Part
Silverlight applications are commonly used to overcome sandboxed limitations and create RIA in SharePoint web sites. The Silverlight Web Part which comes with SharePoint 2010 makes deploying custom Silverlight applications to SharePoint pages easy to do and does not require writing any code. This lab will guide the reader through a series of exercises to deploy a Silverlight application to a SharePoint site and display it on a page.
Using the Content Editor Web Part
Silverlight applications are commonly used to overcome sandboxed limitations and create RIA in SharePoint web sites. The Content Editor Web Part which comes with SharePoint 2010 makes displaying Silverlight applications hosted on other web site on SharePoint pages easy to do and does not require writing any code except for a small amount of HTML. This lab will guide the reader through an exercise which uses the Content Editor Web Part to display a Silverlight application which is hosted on another web site on a SharePoint page.
Automating Silverlight Web Part Deployment
Visual Studio 2010 provides the ability to create SharePoint Solution Packages and automate the deployment of Silverlight applications to SharePoint site collections. By using a SharePoint Solution Package you can deploy a Silverlight application and a web page containing a Silverlight Web Part pre-configured to display the Silverlight application. Taking this approach allows you to easily roll out new Silverlight applications to SharePoint sites without the need to create a page, add a Silverlight Web Part to the page, and configure the Silverlight Web Part to display the Silverlight application. This cuts down on the amount of documentation and time needed to deploy Silverlight applications to SharePoint sites. This lab will guide the reader through an exercise which uses the Visual Studio 2010 to create a SharePoint Solution Package that deploys a Silverlight application and a web page that includes a pre-configured Silverlight Web Part to display the Silverlight application.
Using The Custom Silverlight WebPart
The Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Silverlight Web Parts Extension provides a SharePoint Project Item (SPI) called the Silverlight Custom Web Part that allows developers to create and deploy a new Silverlight application to a SharePoint sites. This lab will guide the reader through an exercise that uses the Silverlight Custom Web Part to create a Silverlight application, deploy it to a SharePoint site, and display it on a web page with the Silverlight Web Part.
Using Sample Data With Expression Blend
Expression Blend gives designers the ability to design Silverlight applications that display SharePoint data without having connectivity to a SharePoint Server. This functionality greatly reduces the amount of setup and configuration required to enable designers to work with sample data and fine tune Silverlight applications. This lab will guide the reader through an exercise that uses the SharePoint Client Object Model to generate sample data and use the sample data inside Expression Blend to create and design a Silverlight application.