I became interested in Community Server (and before that, .Text and nGallery) because with the source available model (back then, as open source) I could do things on my site that I found personally satisfying, whether the features had any value or not. One such DBVT.COM tradition has been my iTunes Library which I started putting online with CS 1.1, or maybe 1.0, I forget. Each Community Server update required a rewrite of the app, and believe it or not, following every CS upgrade and before the rewrite I would get emails asking me where it went. Well I've been missing it, too, so this past Wednesday I told myself I was going to rewrite it for CS2007, darn it! Two late-night geek sessions and a Saturday morning and we're back, baby.
It was a great opportunity to re-architect the iTunes library app as a true CS2007 add-on, with its own Chameleon controls and data provider. As you can see, the ol' iTunes app is starting to look like a legitimate Community Server add-on.
What was most interesting to me in the process was seeing how much cleaner the app's design is for CS2007 over previous versions. Comparing the CS 2.1 ItemDataBound method with its Chameleon counterpart in CS2007 tells the tale.
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Next Dimension
There are other interesting behind-the-scenes aspects to the iTunes library, like employing paging with original Chameleon list controls and using custom thread queries, but maybe I'll be able to touch on those in future posts.
Oh, as for the contents of my ITunes Library, I didn't realize I listened to so much Christmas music. No wonder I'm such a funster.