Interview questions

What does AllowUnsafeUpdates do ?
If your code modifies Windows SharePoint Services data in some way, you may need to allow unsafe updates on the Web site, without requiring a security validation. You can do by setting the AllowUnsafeUpdates property. C#:


using(SPSite mySite = new SPSite("yourserver"))
{ using(SPWeb myWeb = mySite.OpenWeb())
{
myWeb.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
SPList interviewList = myWeb.Lists["listtoinsert"];
SPListItem newItem = interviewList.Items.Add();
newItem["interview"] = "interview";
newItem.Update();
}
}


- What does RunWithElevatedPrivileges do?
Assume that you have a Web Part in which you want to display information obtained through the Windows SharePoint Services object model, such as the name of the current site collection owner, usage statistics, or auditing information. These are examples of calls into the object model that require site-administration privileges. Your Web Part experiences an access-denied error if it attempts to obtain this information when the current user is not a site administrator. The request is initiated by a nonprivileged user. you can still successfully make these calls into the object model by calling the RunWithElevatedPrivileges method provided by the SPSecurity class. C#:


SPSite siteColl = SPContext.Current.Site;
SPWeb site = SPContext.Current.Web;
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
{
using (SPSite ElevatedsiteColl = new SPSite(siteColl.ID))
{
using (SPWeb ElevatedSite = ElevatedsiteColl.OpenWeb(site.ID))
{
string SiteCollectionOwner = ElevatedsiteColl.Owner.Name;
string Visits = ElevatedsiteColl.Usage.Visits.ToString();
string RootAuditEntries = ElevatedSite.RootFolder.Audit.GetEntries().Count.ToString();
}
}
});


- What is a SharePoint Feature? What files are used to define a feature?
A SharePoint Feature is a functional component that can be activated and deactivate at various scopes throughout a SharePoint instances.
Scopes include

* Farm
* WebApplication
* Site (site collection)
* Web (site)

Features have their own receiver architecture, which allow you to trap events such as when a feature is

* installing
* uninstalling
* activated
* deactivated

The element types that can be defined by a feature include

* menu commands
* link commands
* page templates
* page instances
* list definitions
* list instances
* event handlers
* workflows

The two files that are used to define a feature are

* feature.xml
* manifest file(elements.xml)

The feature XML file defines the actual feature and will make SharePoint aware of the installed feature. The manifest file contains details about the feature such as functionality.
Common stsadm commands associated with feature are

* stsadm -o installfeature
* stsadm -o uninstallfeature
* stsadm -o activatefeature
* stsadm -o deactivatefeature


- What are content types ?
A content type is a flexible and reusable WSS type definition that defines the columns and behavior for an item in a list or a document in a document library.
For example,
-you can create a content type for a customer presentation document with a unique set of columns, an event handler, and its own document template.
-You can create a second content type for a customer proposal document with a different set of columns, a workflow, and a different document template.
Then you can attach both the contenttypes to a document library, which allows you to capture metadata based on the contenttype selected during creation of the document.

Content type can be created by the following

* from the rootweb of a site collection, go to Site Action > Site Settings > Galleries > Site content types
* using a feature



5. Workflow can be applied to what all elements of SharePoint ?
While workflow associations are often created directly on lists and document libraries, a workflow association can also be created on a content type that exists within the Content Type Gallery for the current site or content types defined within a list.
In short, it can be applied ...

* At the level of a list (or document library)
* At the level of a content type defined at site scope
* At the level of a site ( Sharepoint 2010 )


- What are the ways to initiate the workflow ?

* Automatic (on item added or item deleted)
* Manual (standard WSS UI interface)
* Manual (Custom UI Interface)
* Programatically through custom code


7. What are the types of input forms that can be created for a workflow ?
You can create four different types of input forms including an association form, an initiation form, a modification form, and a task edit form. Note that these forms are optional when you create a workflow template.


8. What are ways to create input forms for workflow ?
Two different approaches can be used to develop custom input forms for a WSS workflow template.

* You can create your forms by using custom application pages, which are standard .aspx pages deployed to run out of the _layouts directory. ( disadv: lot of code required when compared to Infopath approach)
* using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 (disadv: picks up a dependenct on MOSS, i.e. it cannot run in a standalone WSS environment)


9. What is the difference between method activity and event activity in WF ?
A method activity is one that performs an action, such as creating or updating a task. An event activity is one that runs in response to an action occurring.


10. What does SPWeb.EnsureUser method do?
Checks whether the specified login name belongs to a valid user of the Web site, and if the login name does not already exist, adds it to the Web site. e.g SPUser usr = myWeb.EnsureUser("mmangaldas");