Using SharePoint Web Services to Explore Document Libraries

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Introduction

SharePoint is a recognized technology standard for company infrastructure organizations. It has wide functionality, and allows to store different information in one single place. However, sometimes this information needs to be accessed from an application. In this article, I will discuss the possibility to retrieve data from SharePoint using its WebServices. I will concentrate on the document libraries.

Background

SharePoint Server structures information by WebSites. Each WebSite has many Lists. Lists are used to store concrete data using ListItems: links to files, contacts, appointments, etc. ListItems have fields with necessary values. The user is able to customize these fields to store data. In the following section, I will show a general mechanism for retrieving data.

First of all, it is necessary to add a reference to SharePoint Services. They are accessible from the following URL: http://server-name/Site-Name/_vti_bin/service-name.asmx. For our purposes, we will use two of them: webs.asmx and lists.asmx.

Another important feature is that SharePoint Services are scope dependent, so if you want to retrieve a List from site S1, you should use the following WebSite: http://server-name/S1/_vti_bin/lists.asmx, and so on.

Retrieving WebSites

//
// Get Web Sites
//
private static void GetSites(string url, string login, string password)
{
    Webs service = new Webs();
    service.PreAuthenticate = true;
    service.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(login, password);
    service.Url = url + @"/_vti_bin/webs.asmx";

    XmlNode sites = null;

    try
    {
        sites = service.GetWebCollection();
    }
    catch
    {
        return;
    }

    foreach (System.Xml.XmlNode site in sites.ChildNodes)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(site.Attributes["Url"].Value);

        GetLists(site.Attributes["Url"].Value, login, password);
        GetSites(site.Attributes["Url"].Value, login, password);
    }
}

Retrieving a WebSite List

//
//Get Web Site Lists  
//
private static void GetLists(string url, string login, string password)
{
    //List WebService 
    Lists ls = new Lists();
    ls.PreAuthenticate = true;
    ls.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(login, password);
    ls.Url = url + @"/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";

    foreach (XmlNode list in ls.GetListCollection().ChildNodes)
    {
        //Check whether list is document library
        if (Convert.ToInt32(list.Attributes["ServerTemplate"].Value) != 0x65)
        {
            continue;
        }

        string title = list.Attributes["Title"].Value;
        string listUrl = list.Attributes["DefaultViewUrl"].Value.Replace(
                                         "/Forms/AllItems.aspx", string.Empty);

        char[] separator = new char[] { '/' };
        string listPath = url.Substring(0, url.LastIndexOf('/'));

        Console.WriteLine(listPath + listUrl + "/" + title);
        AddListsItems(url, title, login, password);
    }
}