Top 33 Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) Interview Questions You Must Prepare 19.Mar.2024

Steps to implement workflows in MOSS:

  • Add workflow to a document library, routing document to different people for approval.
  • Document author starts the workflow and creates document approval tasks, and assigns these tasks to various participants/people.
  • Author sends an email to various participants with task instructions and a link to the document in question.
  • As participants complete their actions one after the other, they can view the status of the document.
  • The workflow ends when all participants have completed their tasks regarding the document.
  • Author of the workflow is notified via an email after the workflow has ended. 

RunWithElevatedPrivileges executes code as the System account. This basically then me that the code that you supply as a delegate to the method, has full permissions to modify SharePoint objects in question.

The SPWebApplication class consists of various methods and properties to perform various manipulations on web applications. i.e. Perform backups, add content databases, add site collections, set alert settings, change the web.config file etc. The class simply represents the IIS load balanced web application that is installed on the server farm.

In Moss, a method activity is one that performs an action, e.g.: creating/updating a task. However, an event activity is a cascading one which runs in response to an action which has occurred.

Ways to initiate a workflow:

Once a workflow has been linked to a document, one can start the workflow by selecting the workflow that you want from the list of workflows available for the document or item. If needed, one may have to fill a form with the information that is needed by the workflow. Based on how the workflow was configured, it might be possible to customize it and start it.

There are basically 3 ways, Manually, When new list item is added, and When a new list item is updated.

Types of sharepoint sites:

  • Wiki : This is usually where everyone is allowed to add/change content for a common knowledgebase.
  • Blog : This type of site is for posting specialized articles or information for everyone to read.
  • Publishing site : This site is used to approving particular content before it’s published to everyone.
  • Document library : A site mainly used for document management purposes.
  • Download site : This type of site helps in monitoring the count of downloads and track them.
  • List or Forum : The idea is to have specific people post a topic and then allow others to comment on the posts.
  • Survey : Usually a site that’s accessed by everyone for conducting a survey.
  • Dashboard : The idea of a dashboard is for business executives to gain information and perform reporting tasks.

The SPWebApplication class consists of various methods and properties to perform various manipulations on web applications. i.e. Perform backups, add content databases, add site collections, set alert settings, change the web.config file etc. The class simply represents the IIS load balanced web application that is installed on the server farm.

The WebPartManager sealed class manages everything in context of a WebPart page, i.e. WebParts controls, events, functionality in WebPartZones etc. It is also known as the central class of the WebPart control set.

Synchronous event are the ones in which the caller needs to pause to wait for a response. The fact that it waits for a response me that the call is a “blocking” call to the event handler. This gives the thread that encountered the event an opportunity avoid executing code that the event identifies undo the effects of code that the event identifies.

Asynchronous event is one in which the caller continues without pausing for a response. This allows concurrency between both the caller and the method being called.

Data Protection Manager provides the ability to backup an entire sharepoint farm including the SQL Server databases, metadata, farm configuration files and indexes for federated search. Bakups can be automated to occur upto 4 times an hour based on the need. DPM starts by backing up a baseline copy of the sharepoint environment.

It then there onwards performs full backups on regular basis using the sharepoint VSS writer and underlying component VSS writers to identify blocks or fragments of the farm and content databases which have changed. It is designed for sharepoint administrators and provides them with wizards and workflows to help protect the data. It represents data to be protected in the same context as the user accesses it.

Steps to implement workflows in MOSS:

  • Add workflow to a document library, routing document to different people for approval
  • Document author starts the workflow and creates document approval tasks, and assigns these tasks to various participants/people.
  • Author sends an email to various participants with task instructions and a link to the document in question.
  • As participants complete their actions one after the other, they can view the status of the document.
  • The workflow ends when all participants have completed their tasks regarding the document.
  • Author of the workflow is notified via an email after the workflow has ended.

A .ddf file: Data Directive File. It contains the metadata like the source files and their destination locations. The .ddf file is passed as a parameter to the MAKECAB utility to orchestrate construction of the SharePoint solution file.

One can create custom application pages to add GUI components in Sharepoint. Unlike site pages, an application page is deployed only once per Webserver. Application pages cannot be customized based on sites, and are based on virtual _layouts directory. Application pages are all compiled together into a single dll and are also used across all sites within a server farm. They are preferred to site pages because of their performance benefits over them and they also support inline code.

Six pillars of MOSS2007:

  • Collaboration : SharePoint allows for collaboration by integrating workspaces, tasks, forums, surveys, blogs, RSS feeds and Wikis.
  • Portal : SharePoint is a portal framework built using multiple portlets known as web parts. It offers Master pages which can be used for maintaining consistency across the portal. The portal offers a single sign on access or information along with various search capabilities. The portal also has seamless integration with Visual studio, which can be used to build custom web parts to be used in SharePoint portal.
  • Enterprise search : MOSS includes ACL-aware search across both local and remote data stores with features that enable specialized search for people and expertise. It offers Business data store integration which helps in indexing the databases for searches.
  • Web & Enterprise Content Management : MOSS offers document management capabilities including versioning capabilities, check in/out, document locking, rich metadata, workflows, policies, role-based access controls on different levels i.e. library, folder, document levels.
  • Forms driven Business Process : MOSS offers XML based InfoPath forms which are available on a variety of platforms including mobile devices.
  • Business Intelligence : Websites in MOSS offers a rich dashboard on macro level. The B.I. capabilities offered include server-based Excel Services and Excel Web Services API's, line of business application and data repository integration, and more sophisticated abilities to monitor key performance indicators.

AllowUnsafeUpdates allows updates on a GET request. It basically allows code to bypass security validation while making changes to Sharepoint objects which are not executed within a HTTP POST request.

Components of workflow architecture:

One can create workflows using Visual Studio2010 workflow designer. Every single workflow is compiled into its own dll. One needs to create a Workflow definition (XML based) to use it in a farm. The xml consists of the following information:

  • Name, GUID and description of the workflow
  • Location of any custom forms being used by this workflow
  • Correct class within the assembly that is to be called.

Each server farm contains an association table for workflow, which links various workflows to the content type, list or document it applies to. It also includes information regarding how the workflow is initiated i.e.by users or automatically along with the tasks associated with that workflow.

MOSS stands for Microsoft Office Share Point Server. MOSS is a portal based platform for complete management of documents & web services. It is a platform for creation of customized web based applications & portals like blogs, wiki etc. MOSS provides security features and can be configured to return separate content based on the fact that the user has logged on using internet, intranet or extranet.

Page layout defines the look and feel of a Web page. Content for the page is stored in fields on the page. When you view or edit a page, the content is displayed in the field controls.

The types of fields on a page are determined by the content type for the page. Each content type contains columns. When you create a content type, you add column templates to the content type for each field. Column templates determine the default field control that is associated with the columns as well as the kind of content the field can contain, such as a single line of text, a hyperlink, or a picture.

Workflows are implementation of business processes allowing people to collaborate on documents through various project tasks assigned to individuals. They enhance productivity and organization of work in an organization. This enables people to only concentrate on tasks given to them. It’s basically a planned series of tasks assigned to individuals to achieve an outcome.

Workflows included in MOSS:

  • Approval.
  • Collect Feedback.
  • Collect signatures.
  • Disposition approval.
  • Three-state.
  • Group approval.
  • Trlation management.
  • Overall MOSS workflows target at higher productivity keeping collaboration and business processes in mind.

CAML:- Collaborative Application Markup Language.It is an XML based language and provides data constructs used to build up the SharePoint fields and is also used for table definition. CAML is used to build or customize SharePoint based sites and construct a CAML query in a WebPart to retrieve values from a SharePoint List.

ClassResources are defined in the SharePoint solution file. It is a helpful directory to use in order to deploy custom images. In ASP.NET 2.0, objects (images) are referenced by embedding them as resources within an assembly. ClassResources allows us to eliminate recompiles to change small interface adjustments or alterations to external JavaScript files. Just saving the files can work.

SPSite:

  • The SPSite object represents a collection of sites, i.e. Site Collection, a top level site and all its sub sites.
  • It is used to get a sub site of a Site Collection.
  • It is represented within an SPSiteCollection object that consists of the collection of all site collections in the Web application.
  • It contains the various subsites and the information regarding them.

SPWeb:

  • The SPWeb object represents an instance of a SharePoint Web, and the SPWeb object contains things like the actual content.
  • It represents a SharePoint Foundation website.
  • SPWeb object automatically adds the new SPWeb object to an internal list.
  • It contains things like the actual content.

Sharepoint Websites exist in a hierarchy. At the top of the hierarchy is a Top-Level website. There can then be multiple sub sites under this top-level website and sub sites under sub sites. The entire structure is then called a site collection.

Administrators can decide who can create sub sites under the top level website. One can see the list of sites and sub sites below the top level site by using the Sites and Workspaces web page. The list shows only one level at a time.

A collection of sites along with the top level site is known as a single site collection in Sharepoint. While creating a new Web Application, one has to follow creating a site collection to specify the content of the web application. A web application can thus even contain thousands of site collections. The web application is needed to host those site collections. Web application is the logical & physical partition/container within IIS to create portals.

WebPart properties are just like ASP.NET control properties, they are used to specify the characteristics of a webpart and by specifying the attributes with the desired values by a user. Some of the attributes are WebDescription, WebDisplayName, Category, Personalizable, and WebBrowsable.

Create a reference to the SharePoint Lists.asmx web service by appending “/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx” to the end of a site name. One can use this url to add a service reference in Visual studio there onwards. This will query the WSDL for the Lists.asmx service.

Next step is to configure the security to be able to call the service methods. You can do this by altering the bindingConfiguration to indicate the trport uses NTLM authentication, which is the default.

We can then iterate through all the lists.

Example:

ServiceReference1.ListsSoapClient proxy = new ServiceReference1.ListsSoapClient();
proxy.ClientCredentials.Windows.ClientCredential = new NetworkCredential();
XmlNode node = proxy.GetListCollection();
XPathNavigator nav = node.CreateNavigator();
XPathNodeIterator iter = nav.SelectDescendants("List", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/", false);
while (iter.MoveNext())
{
     string title = iter.Current.GetAttribute("Title", string.Empty);
     string id = iter.Current.GetAttribute("ID", string.Empty);
     Messagebox.Show ("title:" + title + “ and id:” + id);
}

writer.Flush();

Impersonation is the concept of providing functionality in the context of a different identity, for example letting a user access the system with anonymous access. You would use impersonation in order to access resources on behalf of the user with a different account, that normally, that would provide just the very basic rights to access the system.

Master pages provide a base look and feel and standard behaviors that are needed for all of the pages in your site. The content page combines with the layout of the master page to form the complete output. Microsoft SharePoint Foundation is built on top of Microsoft ASP.NET, therefore, it supports master pages for defining elements that are common to all pages.

Advantages of Master Pages:

  • People can save their time and resources by making design changes in one place they will be reflected in all pages that use the master page. The User interface can be reused.
  • More consistent pages and a better end-user experience

Types of page layout columns: 

  • Scheduling Start Date : Displays the date and time when the page is visible on a site.
  • Scheduling End Date : It contains the date and time in which the page is no longer visible on a site.
  • Contact : Contains the name of the person or group who created the page.
  • Contact E-mail Address: Page Content : Contains the name of the page layout associated with each instance of a page. contains the e-mail address of the person who created the page.
  • Contact Name : Contains the name of the person who created the page.
  • Contact Picture : contains the picture of the person you can contact about the page.
  • Page Content : Contains the name of the page layout associated with each instance of a page.

Architecture of MOSS:

  • Office Sharepoint Server : This layer manages excel services, infopath forms services, project server, enterprise search, policy, single sign on, business data catalogs.
  • Asp.Net Forms : This layer lies beneath Office Sharepoint Server layer. It is the layer responsible for Asp.Net based sites.
  • Windows Sharepoint Services : This is a collection of windows services which is used by sharepoint to connect to the database and can be used for development purposes.
  • Development tools : On the left is the collection of various development paradigms that can be used to perform development and create various webparts, or read and get information from WSS using Visual studio.

Sharepoint based websites can be configured to be password protected to restrict access to users. Only registered users can then access it and an invitation to those users is sent via email. Moreover, they also support roles, enabling administrators to restrict certain members based on their roles to certain permissions.

When adding a new user, one may store their email address and request sharepoint to send an email to the user to enable them to access the sharepoint based website. Shrepoint itself provide with web pages to administer users, user groups, roles and permissions to ensure security and ease of user management on sharepoint based websites.

Impersonation is the concept of providing functionality in the context of a different identity, for example letting a user access the system with anonymous access. You would use impersonation in order to access resources on behalf of the user with a different account, that normally, that would provide just the very basic rights to access the system.

Comparison of UserControl and WebPart :

Advantages of UserControl:

  • Developers are already familiar with user controls which reduce the learning curve.
  • UserControls can be used with other ASP.NET applications. Hence reusable.
  •  Developing user controls using Visual studio is much faster than building it through code as in the case of WebParts.

Disadvantages of UserControl:

  • There is a performance overhead as usercontrol use a shim as a wrapper to work with Sharepoint.
  • Deployment is a bit messy.

Advantages of WebPart:

  • Everything is available and customizable, i.e. toolbar, behavior, content etc.
  • Better performance as there is no shim wrapper.
  • Provide a structured deployment mechanism.

Disadvantages of WebPart:

  • Developers are unfamiliar so learning curve is steeper.
  • They are strictly for Sharepoint and won’t work with other ASP.NET applications. Thus not reusable.