SharePoint Dragons

Wow, we tried to do something similar for SharePoint features, which only partially succeeded. But this sounds like the real deal:

The CAML.NET IntelliSense extensions for Visual Studio 2010 is simply a must-have for SharePoint developers. It can help you tame that sometimes finicky, but ever-so-essential CAML language we all know and love.

You probably already know how to add the out-of-the-box SharePoint schemas to Visual Studio so you get IntelliSense when editing your CAML files.

This is a good first step, but CAML.NET Intellisense takes it even further by adding the following enhancements:

• Extends the default schema files with detailed annotations imported directly from the SharePoint SDK documentation.
• Adds a custom WPF IntelliSense Presenter to the Visual Studio environment for a greatly enhanced developer experience.
• Automatically detects and downloads schema updates so you are always working with the most current information available.
• Links directly to the online SDK documentation for the currently visible element, so you can “drill down” into the documentation with a single click.

Let’s face it – even with an up to date set of bookmarks, who wants to go searching all over the place for that missing tidbit that tells you just what that obscure attribute is for when you’re right in the middle of building the CAML for your spiffy new feature?

http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/15055544-fda0-42db-a603-6dc32ed26fde/

Hmm, a visual tool for building SharePoint command tools. We’re not convinced, but we’re giving it a test spin:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/steve_chen/archive/2011/10/20/3460400.aspx

Using SharePoint Manager 2010 you can browse every site on a local farm and take a look at every property. It is an easy to use and handy tool.

You can download SharePoint Manager 2010 here: http://spm.codeplex.com/

You can use the SharePoint Log Investigation Tool (SPLIT) to search SharePoint 2010 logs using a correlation ID. The SharePoint logging has been extended with a new correlation ID that is unique for each request or operation. It is easy using this  correlation ID to track down any unexpected errors because you can search for the correlation ID in the trace logs. This unique ID is also maintained between servers for instance when making a call to a service application. With SPLIT you can use this correlation ID to search logs using a Windows interface or a Web-based interface.

You can download SPLIT here: http://split.codeplex.com/

The Community Kit for SharePoint: Development Tools Edition (CKSDev) extends the Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint project system with advanced templates and tools. This is a really handy tool because using these extensions you will be able to find relevant information from your SharePoint environment in Visual Studio. Useful features are added to Visual Studio to provide help while developing  or deploying SharePoint components.

You will be able to install the components via the Visual Studio Gallery from within the Extension Manager. Or you can download them via the links below.

Downloads:

• CKSDev for SharePoint Server 2010: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/ee876627-962c-4c35-a4a6-a4d89bfb61dc 
• CKSDev for SharePoint Foundation 2010: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/a346880f-2d29-47a6-84a2-f2d568dd6997