WebDAV in Rainbow
Abstract: How to implement WebDAV in the Rainbow Portal using Microsoft® SQL Server™ Digital Dashboard 3.0.
Jakob Hansen, hansen3000@hotmail.com, 3 January 2003
This paper describes how to use the WebDAV facility in Microsoft® SQL Server™ Digital Dashboard 3.0 in a Rainbow Iframe module. Using an iframe gives basically no control (for Rainbow) what happens inside the Iframe meaning that this is not a tight integration.
The main benefit of putting the WebDAV store in the Iframe module is gathering all information in a single portal - in this case Rainbow. Rainbow acts as placeholder (the Iframe) and provides a role/security system that controls access to files in the WebDAV store.
Techtalk: The WebDAV facility is implemented using tables and sprocs in SQL Server 2000. Also a special ISAPI file, named SQLDAV.dll is crafted. In the IIS a virtual directory name “DAVCatalog” is created and SQLDAV.dll is registered to handle all request for DAVCatalog. SQLDAV.dll understands the WebDAV protocol.
STEP 1 – Get SQL Server Digital Dashboard
Download “Microsoft® SQL Server™ Digital Dashboard 3.0” from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads (I downloaded the English Version). Note that it is free!
System Requirements:
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP
Microsoft Windows® 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server running Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 installed on the server or administration client.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000.
Install instructions
- Select "Save this Program to Disk" to copy the download to your machine for installation at a later time.
- Run sqldash.exe to extract documentation, setup files and resources to your hard drive. Viewing the included documentation requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Note: No software will be installed during the extraction process.
Quick test
Open the IE and type in: http://localhost/DAVCatalog. You should see the same picture as above.
STEP 2 – Download the Rainbow Iframe module
This module is not a core module and must be downloaded separately as a zip and added to the project (as described in the readme.txt file). Download from http://www.rainbowportal.net/Rainbow (go to download tab, section “add-ons”).
STEP 3 – Enter WebDAV settings
1) Log on as Admin and add the "Iframe" module to a tabpage.
2) Go to the tabpage and click the settings icon in the upper right corner of the module and enter the URL of the WebDAV store: http://yourdomain/DAVCatalog or http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/DAVCatalog.
3) Set height of the Iframe in pixels (I used 300)
DONE – Use it! ;o)
More information (Dig into DDRK!)
Digital Dashboard Resource Kit 3.0 (DDRK 3.0): This help file provides you with the information you need to do any modifications the WebDAV store. The DDRK is part of the Web Part Development Kit.
Download from http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/downloads
WebDAV in Explorer
Note that you can create a web folder pointing to your/any WebDAV store in the Windows Explorer:
1) On the File menu, click Open.
2) Type the Web address that you want to open as a Web folder. For example, http://localhost/DAVCatalog/Parts. Other examples include the Dashboards folder, or any folder that contains resource files.
3) Check Open as Web Folder, and then click OK.
4) You can also access Web folders through My Network Places on the desktop, or through a common Open dialog box. For more information, see Windows documentation.