Existing and new Microsoft Office Live subscribers who activate Microsoft Office Live adManager beta between February 20, 2007 and July 31, 2007 are eligible for a $50 Microsoft adCenter credit.   This promotion is open to customers who have not previously activated Microsoft Office Live adManager beta. Microsoft Office Live adManager beta is a feature in each of the Microsoft Office Live services.

The Microsoft Office Live team has created another set of sample code to show off how you can use Microsoft Office Live Web services to extend the functionality of an Office Live business application. This newest sample, called Microsoft Office Live Time Card, extends Microsoft Office Live Project Manager (available with any Microsoft Office Live Premium or Microsoft Office Live Essentials subscription).

The Microsoft Office Live Time Card sample code shows a way to track time by project task.  It uses Web services to look at a project you’ve already set up in Project Manager to populate a list of project tasks. 

We created this sample to provide an example of how you can model your own calls to the Windows SharePoint Services Web services hosted by Microsoft Office Live. These services give you quick and easy access to the lists in the various Microsoft Office Live business applications, such as the Project Tasks list used in this example.

Look at the end result

The best way to understand the functionality is to install it on an Office Live business application. The download is an executable file that has everything you need, including a sample page containing a Page Viewer Web Part configured so that you can quickly see the results of the code. Here’s all you need to do to check it out:

1.      To download the .exe file, go to the Microsoft Download Center.  

2.      Click the .exe file to install the Time Card files to the following location:

 C:\Microsoft Office Live Developer Resources\Time Card Sample

3.      Upload the files to a document library in a business application. For example, you can put the files in the Document Library of Document Manager.

4.      In the Document Library, click samplepage.

5.      In the TimeCard list creation dialog boxes, click OK.

This sample Web page opens with a Page Viewer Web Part configured to display our version of a time card. This time card allows the user to pick one project task and then Punch In to track the time he is currently spending on that task. The total time spent on each task is then stored, so that the next time he opens the time card the time tracked so far on any task appears in the Time spent on task field.

Web part configured as a time card

How it works

The tasktime and timecard JScript files provide the functions and methods needed to create and use our time card.

Build  and manage the dropdown list of tasks

The getTasks function in timecard.js uses a Web service call to collect the tasks in the Project Tasks list of Project Manager, to populate the Project Tasks field.

The Time Card Project Tasks

We’ve already done the work of putting JScript functions together to package up the SOAP requests you need to talk to Office Live Web services. You can use these same functions from the common Jscript file  (olsharedlibv1.js) to jump start your development work. 

TaskTimer is the function defined in tasktime.js. If the user switches the task in the time card, the switchTask method of the TaskTimer function is called.

Capturing the duration of a task

The startTimer and stopTimer functions triggered by the Punch In button cause the timer to start and stop for the current task.

Storing and retrieving the recorded time

When you installed this sample code, an Office Live list named TimeCard was created to store time record items. Each time that an amount of time is recorded for a particular task, an item is added to this list. This time record item is created when the user clicks Punch in and modified when the user clicks Punch out. The duration is then calculated by taking the difference between the created and modified time of the list item. Finally, the total duration for a task is calculated by summing the duration of all list items associated with a particular task.

We wouldn’t generally allow an end user to see this list, as it’s a back end item. The list created by this sample code can be viewed in Project Manager. On the actions bar, click the arrow next to More, and then click TimeCard.  The list is created and initialized by the createTimerList and initializeTimerList functions.

Your turn

This is just a quick example of the type of services you can add to your client’s Office Live Premium or Office Live Essentials subscription. The Web services provided by Windows SharePoint Services and the data stored in Office Live combine to provide functionality that can streamline your client’s day-to-day processes. The common JScript functions help you accomplish this with minimal effort.

To learn more about the Web services offered by Windows SharePoint Services, download the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SDK.

To learn more about which Windows SharePoint Services Web services are supported by Microsoft Office Live, read the Microsoft Office Live Developer’s Guide.

The Office Live Developer Platform team

We have started to upgrade our Beta customers to the latest version of Microsoft Office Live Basics. Some of the questions we have received during the upgrade process are:

  1.      Are we going to be billed for Microsoft Office Live Basics now that you are coming out of Beta?

No. Microsoft Office Live Basics is a free service. You will not be billed for your Microsoft Office Live Basics subscription.

  2.      Why am I asked to update my billing information during the upgrade process even though I am a Microsoft Office Live Basics customer?

Microsoft wants to help mitigate fraud and strives to ensure that the Web sites we provide for our small business customers are for valid purposes. Requiring a valid credit card during the upgrade is intended to decrease the likelihood of malicious users upgrading to the new service. Web site scams, such as "phishing" or spamming, often use fictitious Web sites to deceive consumers into disclosing credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information. By verifying the billing information is accurate Microsoft helps ensure that the Web sites we provide are safe for our customers.

  3.      What about Microsoft Office Live Collaboration and Microsoft Office Live Essentials Beta customers?

Microsoft Office Live Collaboration continue to remain in Beta in the new version – this means that existing Beta customers will not be charged for the use of the Microsoft Office Live Collaboration service until it comes out of Beta at a later date.

Microsoft Office Live Essentials Beta customers will be upgraded to Microsoft Office Live Premium, which is priced at 39.95/mo. However, our Beta customers are not automatically charged for the new service – customers do have to sign the new terms of use before they are charged for Microsoft Office Live Premium.

 Thanks

Arun Rajappa

Small Businesses who enter the Microsoft Office Live “I’m Going Places” Sweepstakes will have the chance to win the grand prize - 10 hours of private jet travel with up to six guests. Sweepstakes entrants will also be invited to return to the sweepstakes site daily for a chance to win a variety of daily instant-win prizes.

As an added bonus . . . all Office Live customers that register for the sweepstakes by March 7^th, 2007 will get five (5) incremental entries for an even better chance to win the Grand Prize.