SharePoint Interview question/answers
Q. What are WebParts?
Ans. Web Parts are self-contained packages of user interface that can be dropped onto a SharePoint Web Part page to provide discrete set of functionality to the users. They can simply be described as re-usable Code units.
Q. What are Features?
Ans. Features represent a set of functionality (code) that can be activated and de-activated at various levels in SharePoint. Using Features, you can do everything from adding a link to the Site Settings page to creating a complete fully functioning Project suite that can be added to any SharePoint site. Developers can scope feature to the following level -
. Web
. Site
. WebApplication
. Farm
Q. What are Solutions?
Ans. Solutions are the container packages for Features. Solution basically, is a cabinet (.cab) file with extension .wsp which contains various components needed to be deployed(features, webparts, custom forms etc) along with files that describe some important metadata about those Components. Once a Solution is installed on a server in the farm, you can deploy it to any webapplication from your Solution Management.
Q. What is a .ddf file and what does it have to do with SharePoint Solution creation?
Ans. A .ddf file is a data directive file which describes the files need to be deployed and their destination (in SharePoint). .ddf is used when building the SharePoint solution. This file is a parameter to makecab.exe which outputs the wsp file.
Q. What is the difference between a site and a web in SharePoint?
Ans. A site in sharePoint is a site collection. It is an object of SPsite class in sharepoint. A Web however, is simply a blank site within that site collection. Web is a Part of SPweb class, thus represents a site within a site collection.
Q. What is CAML?
Ans. CAML stands for Collaborative Application Markup Language and is an XML-based language that is used in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to define sites and lists for E.g. fields, views, or forms etc. Developers mostly use CAML to write Queries to retrieve data from Lists\libraries.
Q. What is Custom action?
Ans. Represents a link, toolbar button, menu item, or any control that can be added to a toolbar or menu that appears in the UI. For e.g. "New Folder" button in your document library is a custom action or "View All Site Content" in your Site Settings is a custom action.
Q. What are Master pages in SharePoint?
Ans. These are the pages that provide a consistent layout and appearance (look and feel) for SharePoint sites. A master Page consist of a Site logo, Top navigation, left navigation(some cases) and a footer. In SharePoint Master Pages are stored in _catalogs folder or Master Page Gallery from UI.
Q. What are Layout Pages in SharePoint?
Ans. A Layout page defines the Layouts(structure including Webpart zones) of a content page in SharePoint. Layout pages are not same as Master Page. A Layout Page is contained inside the content area surrounded by mater Page.
Q. What is a SharePoint Theme?
Ans. A Theme is a group of files (CSS, images) that allow you to define the appearance (look and feel) of content pages in SharePoint. A Theme defines the design of various components for e.g. Content Page background-color,button color,webpart title color etc to give a different look and feel to your site.
Q. What is a web part zone?
Ans. Web part zones are what your web parts reside in. Each webpart zone can contain number of webparts and can be positioned in a specific way to create a webpart Layout Page.
Q. What is Business Data Catalog or BDC ?
Ans. It is a shared service that enables Office SharePoint Server 2007 to display business data from various back-end servers into a SharePoint page. Business Data Catalog or BDC provides built-in support for displaying data with various webparts and list\list columns that can help in easy creation of dashboards with data from your SQL, web services, SAP, Siebel, or any other line-of-business (LOB) applications.
Q What is a Site definition?
Ans. A Site definition is a collection of Files such as ONET.XML which defines the Site template for e.g. Team Sites used to create a Site in SharePoit. All the out-of-box site Templates like Blog,Wiki,Team Site etc can be found in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\
Q What is a Site Template?
Ans. Any Site along with the content can be saved as a template. If a site is saved as a Template it is stored in Site templates folder as a .stp file. This template is then re-used to create a new site which will have the pre-saved settings.
Q. What are content types?
Ans. A content type is a flexible and reusable template of type list item or document 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 Requirement document with a columns such LOE,Version,Approver,Date Created,Date Revised etc and this can be re-used in various document libraries.
Q. what is Central administration?
Ans. This is a site used by admins to mange and configure settings for SharePoint web applications or the whole farm.
Q. What are event receivers or event Handlers in SharePoint?
Ans. Event Receivers or Event handlers are created to handle the basic actions or events against an item,list\library, a web or a site. There are two kinds of events in sharepoint.
Synchronous Events: Like Itemadding (not added yet), Uploading (document not uploaded yet) etc.
Asynchronous Events: ItemAdded (after item is added), Uploaded(after a document is uploaded)
Events receivers can be written to override an event for e.g. ItemAdded event to change the name of an Item once it is added.
Q. What is stsadm?
Ans. It is a Command-line tool used for administration of Office SharePoint 2007 (or MOSS 2007) servers and sites. Basic operations like adding a solution or installing activating and feature is usually done by stsadm.
Q. What permissions are required to perform stsadm operations?
Ans. You need to be a member of WSS_ADMIN_WPG group to perform deployments for sharepoint server. Also, you need to be added into administrators group on a computer on which SharePoint Server or WSS 3.0 is installed. In addition to this you definitely need access to the required sharepoint databases so that you should not get errors while deploying sharepoint solutions.
Q. Where is it located?
Ans. You will normally, find it under C:\Program Files\Common Files\ shared\web server extensions\12\bin.
Q What is a DWP?
Ans. Its a webpart file extension.
Q What is the GAC?
Ans. Global Assembly Cache folder (or assembly) stores the strongly typed signed assemblies for webparts or other sharepoint components(which require full trust) for services to share them.
Q. What are Application Pages, Site Pages and Content Pages?
Ans.
Application Pages - An application page is deployed once per Web server and cannot be customized on a site-by-site basis. They stay in 12 hive folder structure, mostly under layouts folder.
Site Pages - These are pages that make up the site interface and are specific to one site or site collection.They mostly get stored in the content database of the site collection.
Content Pages - Site Page which contains webpart or other custom components. This Page is stored in database. They mostly get stored in the content database of the site collection.
Q.What are the Permission levels in SharePoint?
Ans. Permission levels in SharePoint are -
* Limited Access - They can view Application Pages, Browse User Information, Use Remote Interfaces, Use Client Integration Features etc.
* Reader - Limited Access permissions plus: View Items, Open Items, View Versions, Create Alerts, Use Self-Service Site Creation, View Pages.
* Contributor - Read permissions plus: Add Items, Edit Items, Delete Items, Delete Versions, Browse Directories, Edit Personal User Information, Manage Personal Views, Add/Remove Personal Web Parts, Update Personal Web Parts.
* Design - Contribute permissions plus: Manage Lists, Override Check Out, Approve Items, Add and Customize Pages, Apply Themes and Borders, Apply Style Sheets.
* Administrator - Has full control of the Web site.
* Full Control - All permissions.
Q. What are Site Columns?
Ans. Site columns are pre-defined data columns(along with default values) which are re-used in various content types. A Content type is usually a collection of site columns. For e.g. you can create a site column "Category" with a choice datatype along with the pre-defined values "It","Hr". This column then can be added to any content type in your list or library.
Q. What does each individual Site collection offers?
Ans. An Individual Site collection offers following :
For the Users:
Dedicated Recycle bins
Dedicated usage Reports
Distributed administration (site collection administrators)
Dedicated search scopes, keywords, and best-bets
Custom feature deployments
Dedicated language translation maintenance
Dedicated galleries for web parts, master pages, content types, site columns, site templates, and list templates
Dedicated shared libraries, such as site collection images and site collection styles
Dedicated real estate (Self Containment)
For the IT Administrators:
Site quota templates
Distributed administration
Site locking
Database maintenance options
Backup / Restore abilities
Content Deployments
InfoPath forms services global template targeting
Q. When would you use a Different Site Collection for you new site?.
Ans. We would prefer to make our new site in a seprate site collection for the following are the reasons:
1. Site quotas is one of the reasons. The issue is the recycle bin is based on site collections and the quota for a site collection. If everyone shares a site collection, then they share the recycle bins storage size.
2. Delegated Security and distributed administration is the next big thing. For eg, you have a IT department that doesn't know who should be able to see what content, besides how it should be organized. This is the job of the content owners and users. SharePoint site collections offers IT the ability to create a site collection for a project, team, department, document, or whatever the needs are, then assign an owner and hand it off to them.
3. In addition to these two if you need to separate the content between databases because of space issue.
Ans. Web Parts are self-contained packages of user interface that can be dropped onto a SharePoint Web Part page to provide discrete set of functionality to the users. They can simply be described as re-usable Code units.
Q. What are Features?
Ans. Features represent a set of functionality (code) that can be activated and de-activated at various levels in SharePoint. Using Features, you can do everything from adding a link to the Site Settings page to creating a complete fully functioning Project suite that can be added to any SharePoint site. Developers can scope feature to the following level -
. Web
. Site
. WebApplication
. Farm
Q. What are Solutions?
Ans. Solutions are the container packages for Features. Solution basically, is a cabinet (.cab) file with extension .wsp which contains various components needed to be deployed(features, webparts, custom forms etc) along with files that describe some important metadata about those Components. Once a Solution is installed on a server in the farm, you can deploy it to any webapplication from your Solution Management.
Q. What is a .ddf file and what does it have to do with SharePoint Solution creation?
Ans. A .ddf file is a data directive file which describes the files need to be deployed and their destination (in SharePoint). .ddf is used when building the SharePoint solution. This file is a parameter to makecab.exe which outputs the wsp file.
Q. What is the difference between a site and a web in SharePoint?
Ans. A site in sharePoint is a site collection. It is an object of SPsite class in sharepoint. A Web however, is simply a blank site within that site collection. Web is a Part of SPweb class, thus represents a site within a site collection.
Q. What is CAML?
Ans. CAML stands for Collaborative Application Markup Language and is an XML-based language that is used in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to define sites and lists for E.g. fields, views, or forms etc. Developers mostly use CAML to write Queries to retrieve data from Lists\libraries.
Q. What is Custom action?
Ans. Represents a link, toolbar button, menu item, or any control that can be added to a toolbar or menu that appears in the UI. For e.g. "New Folder" button in your document library is a custom action or "View All Site Content" in your Site Settings is a custom action.
Q. What are Master pages in SharePoint?
Ans. These are the pages that provide a consistent layout and appearance (look and feel) for SharePoint sites. A master Page consist of a Site logo, Top navigation, left navigation(some cases) and a footer. In SharePoint Master Pages are stored in _catalogs folder or Master Page Gallery from UI.
Q. What are Layout Pages in SharePoint?
Ans. A Layout page defines the Layouts(structure including Webpart zones) of a content page in SharePoint. Layout pages are not same as Master Page. A Layout Page is contained inside the content area surrounded by mater Page.
Q. What is a SharePoint Theme?
Ans. A Theme is a group of files (CSS, images) that allow you to define the appearance (look and feel) of content pages in SharePoint. A Theme defines the design of various components for e.g. Content Page background-color,button color,webpart title color etc to give a different look and feel to your site.
Q. What is a web part zone?
Ans. Web part zones are what your web parts reside in. Each webpart zone can contain number of webparts and can be positioned in a specific way to create a webpart Layout Page.
Q. What is Business Data Catalog or BDC ?
Ans. It is a shared service that enables Office SharePoint Server 2007 to display business data from various back-end servers into a SharePoint page. Business Data Catalog or BDC provides built-in support for displaying data with various webparts and list\list columns that can help in easy creation of dashboards with data from your SQL, web services, SAP, Siebel, or any other line-of-business (LOB) applications.
Q What is a Site definition?
Ans. A Site definition is a collection of Files such as ONET.XML which defines the Site template for e.g. Team Sites used to create a Site in SharePoit. All the out-of-box site Templates like Blog,Wiki,Team Site etc can be found in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\
Q What is a Site Template?
Ans. Any Site along with the content can be saved as a template. If a site is saved as a Template it is stored in Site templates folder as a .stp file. This template is then re-used to create a new site which will have the pre-saved settings.
Q. What are content types?
Ans. A content type is a flexible and reusable template of type list item or document 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 Requirement document with a columns such LOE,Version,Approver,Date Created,Date Revised etc and this can be re-used in various document libraries.
Q. what is Central administration?
Ans. This is a site used by admins to mange and configure settings for SharePoint web applications or the whole farm.
Q. What are event receivers or event Handlers in SharePoint?
Ans. Event Receivers or Event handlers are created to handle the basic actions or events against an item,list\library, a web or a site. There are two kinds of events in sharepoint.
Synchronous Events: Like Itemadding (not added yet), Uploading (document not uploaded yet) etc.
Asynchronous Events: ItemAdded (after item is added), Uploaded(after a document is uploaded)
Events receivers can be written to override an event for e.g. ItemAdded event to change the name of an Item once it is added.
Q. What is stsadm?
Ans. It is a Command-line tool used for administration of Office SharePoint 2007 (or MOSS 2007) servers and sites. Basic operations like adding a solution or installing activating and feature is usually done by stsadm.
Q. What permissions are required to perform stsadm operations?
Ans. You need to be a member of WSS_ADMIN_WPG group to perform deployments for sharepoint server. Also, you need to be added into administrators group on a computer on which SharePoint Server or WSS 3.0 is installed. In addition to this you definitely need access to the required sharepoint databases so that you should not get errors while deploying sharepoint solutions.
Q. Where is it located?
Ans. You will normally, find it under C:\Program Files\Common Files\ shared\web server extensions\12\bin.
Q What is a DWP?
Ans. Its a webpart file extension.
Q What is the GAC?
Ans. Global Assembly Cache folder (or assembly) stores the strongly typed signed assemblies for webparts or other sharepoint components(which require full trust) for services to share them.
Q. What are Application Pages, Site Pages and Content Pages?
Ans.
Application Pages - An application page is deployed once per Web server and cannot be customized on a site-by-site basis. They stay in 12 hive folder structure, mostly under layouts folder.
Site Pages - These are pages that make up the site interface and are specific to one site or site collection.They mostly get stored in the content database of the site collection.
Content Pages - Site Page which contains webpart or other custom components. This Page is stored in database. They mostly get stored in the content database of the site collection.
Q.What are the Permission levels in SharePoint?
Ans. Permission levels in SharePoint are -
* Limited Access - They can view Application Pages, Browse User Information, Use Remote Interfaces, Use Client Integration Features etc.
* Reader - Limited Access permissions plus: View Items, Open Items, View Versions, Create Alerts, Use Self-Service Site Creation, View Pages.
* Contributor - Read permissions plus: Add Items, Edit Items, Delete Items, Delete Versions, Browse Directories, Edit Personal User Information, Manage Personal Views, Add/Remove Personal Web Parts, Update Personal Web Parts.
* Design - Contribute permissions plus: Manage Lists, Override Check Out, Approve Items, Add and Customize Pages, Apply Themes and Borders, Apply Style Sheets.
* Administrator - Has full control of the Web site.
* Full Control - All permissions.
Q. What are Site Columns?
Ans. Site columns are pre-defined data columns(along with default values) which are re-used in various content types. A Content type is usually a collection of site columns. For e.g. you can create a site column "Category" with a choice datatype along with the pre-defined values "It","Hr". This column then can be added to any content type in your list or library.
Q. What does each individual Site collection offers?
Ans. An Individual Site collection offers following :
For the Users:
Dedicated Recycle bins
Dedicated usage Reports
Distributed administration (site collection administrators)
Dedicated search scopes, keywords, and best-bets
Custom feature deployments
Dedicated language translation maintenance
Dedicated galleries for web parts, master pages, content types, site columns, site templates, and list templates
Dedicated shared libraries, such as site collection images and site collection styles
Dedicated real estate (Self Containment)
For the IT Administrators:
Site quota templates
Distributed administration
Site locking
Database maintenance options
Backup / Restore abilities
Content Deployments
InfoPath forms services global template targeting
Q. When would you use a Different Site Collection for you new site?.
Ans. We would prefer to make our new site in a seprate site collection for the following are the reasons:
1. Site quotas is one of the reasons. The issue is the recycle bin is based on site collections and the quota for a site collection. If everyone shares a site collection, then they share the recycle bins storage size.
2. Delegated Security and distributed administration is the next big thing. For eg, you have a IT department that doesn't know who should be able to see what content, besides how it should be organized. This is the job of the content owners and users. SharePoint site collections offers IT the ability to create a site collection for a project, team, department, document, or whatever the needs are, then assign an owner and hand it off to them.
3. In addition to these two if you need to separate the content between databases because of space issue.
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