Guest Author: Einar Otto Stangvik
Will Code for Nuts

So the last few posts have focused on some of my core javascript libraries. Nothing of the fancy stuff, just basic paper and glue type things. To make it all come together, I’ll bring back up something I mentioned on Twitter about a month ago, but haven’t spoken much of since: Two libraries of mine called SPDrag and DropBox.

SPDrag

The first of the two essentially makes standard SharePoint ui elements, such as files, list items and so forth, draggable. With a library building on jQuery, jQuery UI and my own Lambda framwork, it allows a developer to connect various of the SharePoint elements to his own widgets. An example of such a widget would be the Hierarchical Navigation replacement I’ve mentioned time and again (jQuery ajax powered, lazy-loaded SharePoint quick launch replacement). Another example is the DropBox.

The Lambda Framework, described here is a key player in making this work.

DropBox

One of the basic features missing in SharePoint 2007 has for me been the possibility of picking things up, taking them to another location, and dropping them into place. Be that files, folders, tasks or whatnot – I’ve wanted to pull them about. It’s no joke that file copy / move in default SharePoint is as fun as watching grass grow. Even with webdav, it’s nowhere near as pleasant as it should have been.

Enter the DropBox. Pick up a file. Pick up an item. Pick whatever you want, and put it in the DropBox. Then poke around the portal at your own whimsical liking; pull the item from the DropBox and place it in a compatible container. File copy made smooth, task assignment made friendly.

So am I going to release this now? No, I’m afraid not. I still have some work to do on both libraries, and I’ve yet to decide in which shape and form the release will take on. I’m obviously thinking OSS, but that’s futile unless someone actually wants to contribute ;-)

Anyhoo, here’s the screencast of several of the said libraries acting together. Please watch, and supply me with ideas if the concept appeals to you!

Guest Author: Einar Otto Stangvik
Will Code for Nuts

Einar is a SharePoint architect and avid developer based in Oslo, Norway. Once a deep diving C++ programmer, and previous Microsoft MVP for that, he’s now mostly turned to the world of .NET and web frontends, with primary focus on C#, WCF, Silverlight and JavaScript.