ADD|Update|Delete Item SharePoint Web Services

In one of my previous article I discussed how we can retrieve data in a SharePoint List Using its Web Services. In this post I’m going to discuss how we can update a SharePoint list using Web Services. Please refer my previous article on "SharePoint List Web Service GetListItems" to learn how to add Web References to your project. Then you can use the following sample codes to Update SharePoint lists.

Updating Existing Items

In the following code I have update the "Tasks" list, there I have update the title of two items which has the ID 7 and 10.

    public void updateListItemsWS()
    {
        WS_Lists.Lists myservice = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        myservice.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        myservice.Url = "http://mermoss:5050/testsara/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx";
        try
        {
            System.Xml.XmlDocument xmlDoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
            System.Xml.XmlElement elBatch = xmlDoc.CreateElement("Batch");

            elBatch.SetAttribute("OnError", "Continue");
            elBatch.SetAttribute("ListVersion", "1");

            string strBatch = "<Method ID='1' Cmd='Update'>" +
                  "<Field Name='ID'>7</Field>" +
                  "<Field Name='Title'>Sara1</Field></Method>" +
                  "<Method ID='2' Cmd='Update'><Field Name='ID' >10</Field>" +
                  "<Field Name='Title'>Sara2</Field></Method>";

            elBatch.InnerXml = strBatch;
            myservice.UpdateListItems("Tasks", elBatch);

        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Response.Write(ex.Message);
        }
    }

Delete Items

To delete item, use following phrase in the above code, this will delete the item which has ID of 10.

string strBatch = "<Method ID='1' Cmd='Delete'>" +
"<Field Name='ID'>10</Field></Method>";

Add New Item

To add item, use following phrase in the above code,

string strBatch = "<Method ID='1' Cmd='New'>" +
"<Field Name='ID'>New</Field>"+
"<Field Name='Title'>TestTitle1</Field>"+
"</Method>";

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SharePoint List Web Service GetListItems

In this post, I’ going to discuss how we can retrieve data from a SharePoint List using its Web Services. First to know about SharePoint Web Services please refer this. We can user List Web Service which provides methods for working with SharePoint Lists, Content Types, List Items, and Files to read a List. Here we are going to use GetListItems method.

To use the above method we should know the GUIDs of the target list and view. Please follow my article on SharePoint List GUIDs to see how we can get them.

This is how you can Add Web Reference; I’ll get created Web Site Project in Visual studio to illustrate. Actually it is simple, first click on Add Web Reference and give the URL to the Web Service.

This is a sample code to read SharePoint list,

    public void getListData()
    {
        WS_Lists.Lists myservice = new WS_Lists.Lists();
        myservice.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
        myservice.Url = "http://merdev-moss:5050/testsara/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx";
        try
        {
            /* Assign values to pass the GetListItems method*/
            string listName = "{5C65CB1A-2E1B-488A-AC07-B115CD0FC647}";
            string viewName = "{75E689B4-5773-43CB-8324-58E42E1EB885}";
            string rowLimit = "100";

            // Instantiate an XmlDocument object
            System.Xml.XmlDocument xmlDoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();
            System.Xml.XmlElement query = xmlDoc.CreateElement("Query");
            System.Xml.XmlElement viewFields = xmlDoc.CreateElement("ViewFields");
            System.Xml.XmlElement queryOptions = xmlDoc.CreateElement("QueryOptions");

            /*Use CAML query*/
            query.InnerXml = "<Where><Gt><FieldRef Name=\"ID\" />" +
            "<Value Type=\"Counter\">0</Value></Gt></Where>";
            viewFields.InnerXml = "<FieldRef Name=\"Title\" />";
            queryOptions.InnerXml = "";

            System.Xml.XmlNode nodes = myservice.GetListItems(listName, viewName, query, viewFields, rowLimit, null, null);

            foreach (System.Xml.XmlNode node in nodes)
            {
                if (node.Name == "rs:data")
                {
                    for (int i = 0; i < node.ChildNodes.Count; i++)
                    {
                        if (node.ChildNodes[i].Name == "z:row")
                        {
                            Response.Write(node.ChildNodes[i].Attributes["ows_Title"].Value + "</br>");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Response.Write(ex.Message);
        }
    }

In the above code I have use CAML queries to get the result. It will return all the result because I’m searching for Items which has ID greater than 0. It is always true. If you want to know how to write CAML quires easily please refer my article on CAML & SPQuery in SharePoint.

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SharePoint List GUIDs, How to Find?

In this post I’m going to discuss about an easiest way to find GUID of a SharePoint list and a View. If you are using the MOSS 2007 there is straight forward way to get the List GUID, these are the steps.

1. Access the list via your browser.

2. Go to Settings --> List Settings and right-click on the "Information management policy settings" links and choose Copy Shortcut.

3. Paste the URL and you can see the GUID surrounded with "{" and "}".

If you are using WSS 3.0 follow these steps, you can use this method to find the View GUID in MOSS 2007

1. Access the list via your browser and select the View you want to find the GUID.

2. Select "Modify this View" and copy the URL.

3 You will get a URL like this,

http://mysite:5050/testsara/_layouts/ViewEdit.aspx?List=%7B5C65CB1A%2D2E1B%2D488A%2DAC07%2DB115CD0FC647%7D&View=%7B75E689B4%2D5773%2D43CB%2D8324%2D58E42E1EB885%7D&Source=http%253A%252F%252Fmysite%253A5050%252Ftestsara%252FLists%252FTasks%252FAllItems%252Easpx

There you can find,

List=%7B5C65CB1A%2D2E1B%2D488A%2DAC07%2DB115CD0FC647%7D
View=%7B75E689B4%2D5773%2D43CB%2D8324%2D58E42E1EB885%7D

Replace "%7B" with "{"
Replace all "%2D" with "-"
Replace "%7D" with "}"

You are now left with the GUIDs, in the above example;

List ID is {5C65CB1A-2E1B-488A-AC07-B115CD0FC647}
View ID is {75E689B4-5773-43CB-8324-58E42E1EB885}

You can use SharePoint Tips Utility Pack if you need to get the GUID of List columns. There in menu bar, select "List Management --> Change Field Settings" and load your site.

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Add Item To List With LookUp Column Programmatically

In my previous posts on "Working With SharePoint List" I have discussed how we can Read, Add and Update SharePoint List. If you have to add new Item to a list which has lookup column, you have to follow a different procedure.

If you look at the following figure, you can easily understand what I'm going to do. I'm going to add a new record to List_B, which has a lookup column from List_A's Title Field.

This is a sample code to get the above task done,

        
    public void addToLookUp()
    {
        /* open the web */
        SPSite site = new SPSite("http://merdev-moss:5050/testsara");
        SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();

        string targetList = "List_B";
        string sourceList = "List_A";
        string sourceListField = "Title";

        /* we are going to add new row to List_B,
        * It (List_B) has a lookup column called "A_Column",
        * It (A_Column) get data from Title field of List_A.
        * (List_A has value called "test2" in Title field)
        */

        SPListItemCollection listItems = web.Lists[targetList].Items;
        SPListItem item = listItems.Add();
        item["Title"] = "New Title";
        int ID = get_ID(web, sourceList, sourceListField, "test2");
        if (ID != 0)
            item["A_Column"] = ID;
        item.Update();
    }

    public static int get_ID(SPWeb web, string list, string field, string itemname)
    {
        int id = 0;
        SPList sharedDocumentList = web.ServerRelativeUrl.Equals("/") ? web.GetList(web.ServerRelativeUrl + list) : web.GetList(web.ServerRelativeUrl + "/" + list);
        SPListItemCollection listItems = sharedDocumentList.Items;
        foreach (SPListItem item in listItems)
        {
            if (item[field].ToString() == itemname.ToString())
                id = item.ID;
            break;
        }
        return (id);
    }

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Create SharePoint List View Programmatically

In this post I’m going to describe how you can programmatically add a view to SharePoint list or Document Library. You can get this work done by using SPViewCollection.Add Method (Microsoft.SharePoint), here is a sample code,

        public void createListView()
        {
            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://merdev-moss:5050/testsara");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            SPList list = web.Lists["Tasks"];

            SPViewCollection allviews = list.Views;
            string viewName = "Test View";

            System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection viewFields = new System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection();
            viewFields.Add("Title");
            viewFields.Add("Priority");

            string myquery = "<Where><Gt><FieldRef Name='ID' /><Value Type='Counter'>0</Value></Gt></Where>";
            allviews.Add(viewName, viewFields, myquery, 100, true, false);
        }

Above code creates a view in the collection with the specified name "Test View" and added view fields. Query string will return all items, because always ID is greater than 0. Row limit is 100 and the view displays items page by page. Last Boolean mean it is not the default view.

Please refer my article on CAML & SPQuery in SharePoint to find out easy way to write CAML quires used in above code.

Add View Using Existing View

You also can create new List View with the help of existing one, this sample code will create new View which has another field using above created View.

        public void _createListView()
        {
            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://merdev-moss:5050/testsara");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            SPList list = web.Lists["Tasks"];

            SPViewCollection allviews = list.Views;
            string viewName = "New Test View";

            System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection viewFields = list.Views["Test View"].ViewFields.ToStringCollection();
            viewFields.Add("Status");

            string myquery = "<Where><Gt><FieldRef Name='ID' /><Value Type='Counter'>0</Value></Gt></Where>";
            allviews.Add(viewName, viewFields, myquery, 100, true, false);
        }

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Add Lookup Column to SharePoint List Programmatically

In one of my previous article I discussed how to create a SharePoint list programmatically in C#. There I didn’t discuss how we can add lookup field for our newly created list. Let’s see how, this is a sample code.

        public void createList()
        {
            // choose your site
            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://merdev-moss:5050");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            SPListCollection lists = web.Lists;

            // create new Generic list called "My List"
            lists.Add("My List", "My list Description", SPListTemplateType.GenericList);

            SPList newList = web.Lists["My List"];

            // create Text type new column called "My Column"
            newList.Fields.Add("My Column", SPFieldType.Text, true);

            /*create lookup type new column called "Lookup Column"
            * Here I am going to get the information from the "Title"
            * column of a list called "User Roles"
            */
            SPList targetList = web.Lists["User Roles"];

            newList.Fields.AddLookup("Lookup Column", targetList.ID, false);
            SPFieldLookup lkp = (SPFieldLookup)newList.Fields["Lookup Column"];
            lkp.LookupField = targetList.Fields["Title"].InternalName;
            lkp.Update();

            // make new column visible in default view
            SPView view = newList.DefaultView;
            view.ViewFields.Add("My Column");
            view.ViewFields.Add("Lookup Column");
            view.Update();
        }

In the above code I have created Generic list and lookup column. You can use whatever list type and field type according to your requirement. To learn more about SharePoint lists, follow "SharePoint List C# Part 1".

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Remove Event Receiver in Sharepoint List

In this post I’m going to describe how you can remove an Event Receivers from SharePoint List programmatically. This will be very useful if you have deployed and active custom features, because if you create a custom feature for a custom list, that feature will be added to all the custom lists. Then if you want to create list dynamically and don’t want to add those features you can use this code to remove unwanted events.

public void  removeEvents()
{
 // choose your site
 string strUrl = "http://mysite:5050/";
 using (SPSite site = new SPSite(strUrl))
 {
  using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
  {
   SPListCollection lists = web.Lists;
   SPList list = web.Lists["My List"];
      
   SPEventReceiverDefinitionCollection erdc = list.EventReceivers;
   List <SPEventReceiverDefinition> eventsToDelete = new List <SPEventReceiverDefinition>();
      
   foreach (SPEventReceiverDefinition erd in erdc)
   {
    if (erd != null)
    {
     try
     {
      eventsToDelete.Add(erd);
     }
     catch (Exception e)
     {
      Console.Write(e.ToString());
     }
    }
   }
   foreach (SPEventReceiverDefinition er in eventsToDelete)
   {
    //if(er.Type == SPEventReceiverType.ItemAdded)
    er.Delete();
   }  
  }
 }
}

Before delete the Event Receiver, if you want you can check the type and delete. In the above code I have commented that part. So if you use the above code as it is, it will remove all the Event Receivers.

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Create SharePoint list programmatically C#

In this article I’m going to discuss how we can create a SharePoint list programmatically in c# and how we can add columns to the created list. Actually this is very simple task; this is a sample code.

        public void createList()
        {
            // choose your site
            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://merdev-moss:5050");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
            SPListCollection lists = web.Lists;

            // create new Generic list called "My List"
            lists.Add("My List", "My list Description", SPListTemplateType.GenericList);

            SPList list = web.Lists["My List"];

            // create Text type new column called "My Column" 
            list.Fields.Add("My Column", SPFieldType.Text, true);

            // make new column visible in default view
            SPView view = list.DefaultView;
            view.ViewFields.Add("My Column");
            view.Update();
        }

In the above code I have created Generic list and normal Text column. You can use whatever list type and field type according to your requirement. To learn more about SharePoint lists, follow "SharePoint List C# Part 1".

If you want to add lookup columns please refer "Add Lookup Column to SharePoint List programmatically".

To learn how to create List View, refer "Create SharePoint List View Programmatically".

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Hide Columns in SharePoint Part 2

Note : Before going to use this method you have to make sure all the columns are added to the list.Otherwise you have to remove the added custom form the SharePoint Designer (described in the post) and add it again after adding new column. It is better to use this way if you want hide and change control modes of fields. Also keep in mind to add at least one list item before use this method.

You can try SharePoint Tips Utility Pack if you are not sure whether you need to add columns in future or not.

In the first part of this post I discussed how to hide a column in SharePoint list. By using "Content Types" you cannot hide column in single form. Here I’m going to discuss how you can hide a column only in one (Edit, Display or New) mode using Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007.

As an example I’m going to use the "Tasks" list and there I’ll remove "Due Date" column in Edit Mode.

First open your site using Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007 as in Figure 1 (File --> Open Site…, in Site Name field give URL to your site without “default.aspx”. e.g. http://mysite:5050/testsite).

Then double click the displaying window and mark the "layout" hidden as in figure 2.

Then click once on area 1(Figure 3) and insert your custom list form. There select "Tasks" and "Edit item form", because we are going to change the edit form of task list (Figure 4).

Then select the row you want to hide and comment the HTML code (Figure 5).

Further if you want to display the raw in edit mode and you don’t want to allow editing it, you can change the Control mode property (Figure 6).

There keep in mind you can change control mode, if the column is not default one. That mean, to change the control mode using SharePoint Designer, you have to create your own column using "Settings –> Create Column".

Now save all and see, you will see the "Due Date" column is hidden and you cannot edit "Test Col" column (Figure 7).

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Hide Columns in SharePoint Part 1

In SharePoint lists, sometimes we have to use hidden columns for our programming purposes. In this tutorial I’m going to discuss, how you can hide a column in SharePoint.

First let’s see how to hide a column in any list view. Here you should have permission to see some menus, if you cannot see them; you have to contact your administrator.

Open your list and go to List Settings (Figure 01).

At the bottom of the page select your view, which you want to hide a column (Figure 02). I'm going to select "All Items" view.

Then unmark all columns you want to hide in that view and click OK (Figure 03).

Now you can see, unmarked columns are not shown in "All Items” view.

Note : By selecting manage content type item in list settings, you can hide a column in New, Edit and Display forms. To do that go to the content type item and select the field you want to remove from your forms. Then choose “This column is hidden (will not appear in forms)”.

To hide a column in New, Edit or Display mode using Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007 please refer second part of this post.

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Delete item from SharePoint List

In my previous post SharePoint List C# Part 1 I discussed how we can add items to SharePoint list. We also have to delete items from a list.

Following C# code can be used in your custom webpart or feature to delete item from SharePoint list. Here I am going to find the items to delete using CAML query.

public void  DeleteListItem()
{
 // choose your site
 string strUrl = "http://mysite:5050/";
 using (SPSite site = new SPSite(strUrl))
 {
  using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
  {
   SPList list = web.Lists["List_A"];
   SPListItemCollection itemCollection;
 
   SPQuery oQuery = new SPQuery();
   oQuery.Query = "<where><eq><fieldref Name='Title' /><value Type='Text'>ABC</Value></Eq></Where>"; 
   itemCollection = list.GetItems(oQuery);
 
   List<splistitem> valuesToDelete = new List<splistitem>();
 
   foreach (SPListItem item in itemCollection)
   {
    valuesToDelete.Add(item);
   }
   web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
   foreach (SPListItem itm in valuesToDelete)
   {
    itm.Delete();
   }
   list.Update();
   web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = false; 
  }
 }
}

In the above example I have use a CAML query to delete items in the Task list which title equal to ABC. As above you have to maintain separate list to stote items that you are goint to delete, otherwise it will not work.

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CAML & SPQuery in SharePoint

Using Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML)  queries with SPQuery and SPSiteDataQuery is a faster and more efficient way of retrieving items based on known criteria compare with for each on the SPListItemsCollection and checking for the criteria.

In this tutorial I’m going to discuss how you can write CAML queries for retrieving items in SharePoint List.

Operators

These are some common operators you can use with CAML queries.

1. Eq--Equals
2. Neq--Not equal
3. Gt--Greater than
4. Geq--Greater than or equal
5. Lt--Lower than
6. Leq--Lower than
7. IsNull--Is null
8. BeginsWith--Begins with
9. Contains--Contains

Get All Items

This is discussed in SharePoint List C# Part 1. There you can write the query as follows. There you can get all the items in the list.

myquery.Query = "";

Single Criteria

Using following query you can get all the tasks where “ID” is equal to 5.

<Where>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='ID' />
<Value Type='Counter'>5</Value>
</Eq>
</Where>

You can get Value Types for different common type of columns using following list

e.g. Use Value Type "Text" for column type "Single line of text".

1. Single line of text--Text
2. Multiple lines of text--Note
3. Choice (menu to choose from)--Choice
4. Number (1, 1.0, 100)--Number
5. Date and Time--DateTime
6. Lookup (information already on this site)--Lookup/LookupMulti
7. Yes/No (check box)--Boolean
8. Person or Group--User

Using AND

This will give you the items where ID = 5 and Title =  "ABC".

<Where><And>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='ID' />
<Value Type='Counter'>5</Value>
</Eq>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='Title' />
<Value Type='Text'>ABC</Value>
</Eq>
</And></Where>

OR

This will give you the items where ID = 5 or Title =  "ABC"

<Where><OR>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='ID' />
<Value Type='Counter'>5</Value>
</Eq>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='Title' />
<Value Type='Text'>ABC</Value>
</Eq>
</OR></Where>

It is different if you want to use more than one "AND" or "OR" operator. As a example if you want to get items where ID = 5 and Title = "ABC" and created by "John", then you can write this.

<Where>
<And>
<And>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='ID' />
<Value Type='Counter'>5</Value>
</Eq>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='Title' />
<Value Type='Text'>ABC</Value>
</Eq>
</And>
<Eq>
<FieldRef Name='Author' />
<Value Type='User'>John</Value>
</Eq>
</And>
</Where>

To get the correct FieldRef Name write accurate queries you can use U2U CAML Query Builder.

Remember though you rename a column the FieldRef Name will hold same value.

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SharePoint List C# Part 2

In my previous post SharePoint List C# Part 1, I wrote how to retrieve data from SharePoint list. In this post also I'm going to show you how to retrieve data from SharePoint list which has look up fields. You can use this code in your custom webpart ot feature.

        
  public void getData()
        {
            // choose the site
            SPSite site = new SPSite("http://mysite:5050/");
            SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();

            // choose the list "Task Categories"
            SPList list = web.Lists["Task Categories"];
            SPListItemCollection itemCollection;

            // pass query to get status
            SPQuery oQuery = new SPQuery();
            // get all items
            oQuery.Query = "";
            itemCollection = list.GetItems(oQuery);

            foreach (SPListItem item in itemCollection)
            {
                if (item != null)
                {
                    // get data in "Sub Category(s)" lookup column
                    if (item["Sub Category(s)"] != null)
                    {
                        SPFieldLookupValueCollection subItemColl = ((SPFieldLookupValueCollection)item["Sub Category(s)"]);
                        foreach (var subitem in subItemColl)
                        {
                            // do something
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

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SharePoint List C# Part 1

Here I'm going to show you how you can use the SharePoint object model to read sharepoint list using C#.

To do this in your custom webpart or feature first you have to add the reference to Microsoft.Sharepoint.dll (Then in your code use "using Microsoft.Sharepoint;"). And also if you are going to run the program, you have to be in the server.

Read SharePoint List

public void getData()
{
    // choose your site
    string strUrl = "http://mysite:5050/";
    using (SPSite site = new SPSite(strUrl))
    {
        using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
        {
            // choose the list
            SPList list = web.Lists["insert your list Name"];

            SPQuery myquery = new SPQuery();
            myquery.Query = "insert your query here";

            // if you dosent insert query (myquery.Query ="") you will get all items

            SPListItemCollection items = list.GetItems(myquery);

            foreach (SPListItem item in items)
            {
                // check the item for null
                if (item != null)
                {
                    // do something
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding Item

string strUrl = "http://mysite:5050/";
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite(strUrl))
            {
                using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
                {
                    SPListItemCollection listItems = web.Lists["List_Name"].Items;
                    SPListItem item = listItems.Add();
                    item["Title"] = "New Item Title";

                    item.Update();
                }
            }

You can use U2U CAML Query Builder to write queries you want.

If you want to get information from lookup field, please refer SharePoint List C# Part 2, for delete items please refer Delete items from SharePoint list.

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