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SharePoint interview questions [closed]

Let's have a list of some good interview questions for SharePoint developers. Please provide one question per entry, and if possible, the answers. Also, please feel free to suggest corrections if the provided answers are wrong. I will go first: Q: How does SharePoint store pages? A: How-to-locate-sharepoint-document-library-source-page-on-the-server?
sharepoint moss wss

edited Sep 30 '09 at 13:11

community wiki 4 revs, 3 users 100% ashwnacharya

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closed as not constructive by casperOne Nov 29 '11 at 2:43

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

27 Answers
Q. When running with SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges (web context) what credentials are being used? A. The App Pool Identity for the web application running SharePoint.
edited Jan 28 '09 at 14:44 answered Oct 15 '08 at 19:27 AdamBT 1,299 1 14 24

A: The identity of the current process. In a web context, this is the application pool identity. In a timer job, console application, etc. it will likely not be the app pool identity. Plan database permissions accordingly. dahlbyk Jan 26 '09 at 23:58 @dahlbyk - Thanks; I will clarify. I never considered it being used in any other context. AdamBT Jan 28 '09 at 14:42

Isn't this a bit too specific? I like more open-ended questions that allow candidates to speak a bit more, such as the original author's question: How does SharePoint store pages? Peter Walke Mar 11 '09 at 17:03 To me it is much better to understand that a developer knows that RWEP is an absolute last resort. In most cases simply passing the System Account token to the SPSite constructor will accomplish what you need without needlessly elevating your network credentials. webwires Mar 9 '11 at 15:38

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Q. When modifying a list item, what is the "main" difference between using SPListItem.Update() and SPListItem.SystemUpdate()? stackoverflow.com/questions/205893/sharepoint-interview-questions

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SPListItem.SystemUpdate()?

moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow

A. Using SystemUpdate() will not create a new version and will also retain timestamps.
answered Oct 15 '08 at 20:23 AdamBT 1,299 1 14 24 Also, it will List "System Account" as the Editor instead of the User Account, which has some other sideeffects if you work with the SPListItem["Editor"] field. Michael Stum Oct 16 '08 at 14:27 I did not know that. I thought it did more of a transparent update. AdamBT Oct 16 '08 at 15:08 Bonus if the applicant knows about the "Page has been modified" error when updating a list item from, say, a web part (because of the new version being created). bzlm Feb 19 '09 at 11:33

SystemUpdate: also alerts is not sent, and modified by is not changed to system account. Oh and versions are not preserved with the default method, you have to use the SystemUpdate(false) to do that (check UpdateInternal() method that SystemUpdate() calls) Anders Rask Oct 8 '09 at 6:59 SystemUpdate(true) will also retain the original Editor. vitule Dec 13 '10 at 18:07

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Q: When should you dispose SPWeb and SPSite objects? And even more important, when not? A: You should always dispose them if you created them yourself, but not otherwise. You should never dispose SPContext.Current.Web/Site and you should normally not dispose SPWeb if IsRootWeb is true. More tricky constructs are things along the line of SPList.ParentWeb. Bonus Points if the candidate knows Roger Lambs Blog Post.
answered Oct 16 '08 at 14:25 Michael Stum 66k 50 240 397

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Also dispose each web when iterating over SPWeb.Webs Rex M Mar 14 '09 at 4:12 Also dispose SPLimitedWebPartManager's SPWeb property (.web) Anders Rask Oct 8 '09 at 6:48

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Q: What is the difference between S y s t e m . W e b . U I . W e b C o n t r o l s . W e b P a r t s . W e b P a r t and M i c r o s o f t . S h a r e P o i n t . W e b P a r t P a g e s . W e b P a r t? A: M i c r o s o f t . S h a r e P o i n t . W e b P a r t P a g e s . W e b P a r t is provided in MOSS 2007 to provide backwards compatability with MOSS 2003 webparts. In MOSS 2007, it is recommended to use S y s t e m . W e b . U I . W e b C o n t r o l s . W e b P a r t s . W e b P a r t instead.
edited Sep 21 '11 at 17:10 answered Oct 15 '08 at 18:57 Kyle Trauberman 14.7k 10 41 76

A few more things that I would like to add: It is recommended to use ASP.NET webparts unless you need the following features: Connections between web parts a Web Part zone Cross page connections data caching infrastructure that allows caching to the content database Client-side connections ashwnacharya Oct 15 '08 at 19:00 Can you point to some documentation that says this? Rex M Mar 14 '09 at 4:13 pointsharepoint.com/2008/03/sharepoint-interview-questions.html Kyle Trauberman Mar 14 '09 at 4:34

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Q. If you have an ItemUpdated or ItemUpdating event receiver and it causes an update to the item, how do you prevent another ItemUpdated and ItemUpdating event from being fired during your update? A. Before performing your update, call DisableEventFiring(). After update, call EnableEventFiring().
answered Oct 15 '08 at 20:36 AdamBT 1,299 1 14 24 add comment

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moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow

sometimes I like to ask more open ended questions to get the prospect talking. If I want to find out technical depth Q: What bugs have you found in SharePoint? then Q: And what did you do to work around them?
answered Oct 16 '08 at 20:51

Nat 10.6k 2 23 51

Yeah outstanding question, anyone who knows MOSS, knows its held together with nuts and bolts, I guess another good interview question for MOSS is, do you have a strong stomach? JL. Oct 26 '09 at 11:16 Agreed, a very good question as it'll allow a candidate to speak from experience or not as the case may be Naeem Sarfraz May 18 '10 at 8:39

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this is a good question that in my experience is not suitable for a stressful situation such as an interview. People are less likely to remember these situations during an interview. vitule Dec 13 '10 at 18:09 Q: What did You do to workaround need for SharePoint? Arnis L. Mar 9 '11 at 16:05 The worst to debug was when SharePoint calculated UTC date offsets twice. So annoying. Nat Mar 9 '11 at 17:44

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Q. What is a site collection, why would you create a new site collection as opposed to a site? A. Bit of a long answer, but they should know about site collection administration, quotas, seperation of assets, security model etc. Dave Wollerman has a good article on some of the whys and wherefores.
answered Dec 5 '08 at 14:33 community wiki ahin4114

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Q: Describe the difference between a list and a library. A: Lists are collections of metadata or columns, that can have attached documents. Libraries are collections of documents (Excel, InfoPath, Word, etc.) plus optional metadata. Edited per ktrauberman's feedback.
edited Oct 15 '08 at 20:26 answered Oct 15 '08 at 19:59 Jason Z 4,830 8 30 56

You can attach documents to a list item in a standard list, rather than a library. The difference is that in a library, the file is the item, wheras in a list the file is just an extra "attachment". You can also have multiple attachments to a list item. Kyle Trauberman Oct 15 '08 at 20:09 I hate when I don't know the answer to my own question!! :) Jason Z Oct 15 '08 at 20:30 add comment

Q: What is the performance impact of R u n W i t h E l e v a t e d P r i v i l e g e s? A: R u n W i t h E l e v a t e d P r i v i l e g e s creates a new thread with the App Pool's credentials, blocking your current thread until it finishes. [via rexm]
edited Sep 2 '09 at 13:58 community wiki 2 revs Chris Ballance

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Q: (i) Describe the purpose of a content type and; (ii) give an example of where they might be used.

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moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow

A: (i) A content type groups a set of list columns together so that they can be reused in the same way across sites. (ii) They could be used as a set of metadata columns that need to be applied to every document in a site collection.
answered Oct 16 '08 at 14:18 Alex Angas 18.3k 19 79 138 add comment

Q: Explain how SharePoint render its content. A: Beyond scope here, but you can find some good information here: http://g-m-a-c.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-sharepoint-2007-renders-its-content.html The applicant should at least get around the SharePoint's template rendering mechanism, and what's in the 12/TEMPLATE/CONTROLTEMPLATES/ and what it's used for with emphasis on DefaultTemplates.ascx. This is absolutely essential knowledge if you wish to do any kind of SharePoint customization.
answered Oct 17 '08 at 22:49 mortenbpost 1,204 12 18 add comment

Q: Name at least two shared services available in MOSS 2007 A: Shared Services Providers in MOSS 2007 can provide the following shared services: User Profiles Audiences Personal Sites Search Excel Services Forms Services Business Data Catalog (Requires Enterprise Edition)
answered Nov 4 '08 at 19:39 community wiki Lars Fastrup

And soon, PerformancePoint dahlbyk Jan 27 '09 at 0:03 Nice - looking forward to trying it out Lars Fastrup Jan 28 '09 at 15:37 Hi Lars. I thought Forms Services was just a farm feature, but have read in mosstest.net/Blog/SharePoint/DocLib/ where MS InfoPath uses "the session state component of the SSP" (whatever that means). Thoughts? Kirk Liemohn Apr 1 '09 at 1:04 Hey Kirk, yes it is indeed confusing - I am also not 100% sure myself. But MS lists it as a SSP here technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262914.aspx. But it is administered from Central Admin -> Application Management rather than from the SSP admin site. Lars Fastrup Apr 1 '09 at 7:41 add comment

Q. What is the difference between MOSS & WSS A. MOSS uses the Shared Service Provider for search, profile import, etc... (see the answers posted by Lars Fastrup for a more complete list)
edited Mar 14 '09 at 4:05 community wiki 2 revs Jason

MOSS costs money, WSS is free with Windows Server. Nathan DeWitt Mar 4 '09 at 21:26 Can you edit your post with a link to the Lars Fastrum answers? (Or someone with editing privliges) Peter Walke Mar 11 '09 at 17:01

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Good ones. here are some really useful ones. http://megasolutions.net/qs/Sharepoint_Portal_Interview_Questions.aspx

stackoverflow.com/questions/205893/sharepoint-interview-questions

answered Jan 28 '10 at 4:25

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answered Jan 28 '10 at 4:25

moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow

community wiki Sarah Nasir

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Q: Why would you use a custom column? A: It allows you to re-use the column in multiple libraries. Particularly useful if you use a Choice type to restrict the user input to a predefined set of answers, and when that list of answers will likely change.
answered Oct 15 '08 at 19:48 Jason Z 4,830 8 30 56

Surely that is a 'site column' a custom column would actually restrict you from doing exactly what you have said here. Charlie Feb 17 '09 at 13:38 Yes, what type of "custom column" is meant here? A custom field? Or a site column? bzlm Feb 19 '09 at 11:34

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Q: How would you programmatically retrieve a list item? A: SPQuery and SPSiteDataQuery. Bonus points for knowledge of CrossListQueryCache, PortalSiteMapProvider. Negative points for use of foreach.
answered Sep 30 '09 at 13:15 community wiki Alex Angas

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Q: What are the built in ways to backup a SharePoint install? A: Through the central administration and the stsadm command Q: (more advanced) You've created and deployed a Web Part, when you deploy to the server you get a page saying your Web Part couldn't be loaded, click here to go to the Web Part maintenance page, etc. to disable the web part. What step(s) should you take to get a stack dump from your web part instead of that error page? A: Go to the web.config file for your website and find the CallStack Attribute in the SafeControls element and set the value to true.
answered Jan 27 '09 at 22:46 community wiki tekiegreg

"Please provide one question per entry" probably wasn't a joke. bzlm Feb 19 '09 at 11:37

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Q. What base classes do event receivers inherit from? A: 1. SPListEventReceiver, SPItemEventReciever, and SPWebEventReceiver inherit from the abstract base class SPEventReceiverBase. 2. SPWorkflowLibraryEventReceiver inherits from SPItemEventReceiver. 3. SPEmailEventReceiver inherits directly from System.Object. Also see a collection of SharePoint Questions on: http://qmoss.blogspot.com/
edited May 5 '09 at 11:09 community wiki 2 revs, 2 users 67% Manish

Or SPWebEventReceiver dahlbyk Jan 27 '09 at 0:04

Manish, stop advertising your blog in every answer. bzlm Feb 19 '09 at 11:38 What about SPFeatureReceiver which is used when you activate or de-activate your feature

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What about SPFeatureReceiver which is used when you activate or de-activate your feature runxc1 Bret Ferrier Apr 22 '10 at 20:28 add comment

moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow

Describe your experiences in applying custom branding to SharePoint 2007. What are some pitfalls to avoid? How do you deploy your custom branding to the farm?
answered Aug 17 '09 at 19:34 community wiki SqlRyan

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When/why should you/shouldn't you make direct changes or additions to the files in the 12 hive?
answered Aug 17 '09 at 19:35 community wiki SqlRyan

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Q. How would you create a Master/Detail page? A. Creating a Content type inheriting from Folder Content Type for the master, and another Content type inheriting from Item and using them both on a List
answered Mar 31 '09 at 19:54 community wiki Nicolas Irisarri

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Describe the Business Data Catalog (BDC), and provide at least one of a tangible application for it.
answered Aug 17 '09 at 19:35 community wiki SqlRyan

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Q: What is a way of elevating SharePoint privileges without using RunWithElevatedPrivileges? A: Pass the System Account User Token from the SPContext to the SPSite constructor. A majority of times a developer can accomplish what they need using this method without needlessly elevating network credentials.
answered Mar 9 '11 at 15:46 community wiki webwires

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I would rather ask some open ended questions like Tell me something which you consider as an error that Microsoft has made in SharePoint? Possible answers are... For lookup columns you need to know the lookup field GUID in advance and you cant easily provision a lookup field as a feature. MOSS does not have site level events such as an event for creating of lists. SharePoint designer is a crap and add unwanted stuff which increases the page size. Lack of user group based trimming control as only permission based trimming is available by deafult (of cause you can create a custom security trimmer that does this)
answered Aug 12 '11 at 21:21 community wiki Sriwantha Sri Aravinda

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Q. What are the data types which are supported as Lookup column in SharePoint. A. Only Single Line of Text and Calculated columns are supported as lookup columns. Also I have consolidated some more questions on: http://qmoss.blogspot.com/

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moss - SharePoint interview questions - Stack Overflow Also I have consolidated some more questions on: http://qmoss.blogspot.com/
answered Oct 27 '08 at 10:27 community wiki Manish

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Here is a site dedicated for Microsoft Sharepoint Interview Questions for Developers
answered Feb 3 '10 at 14:24 community wiki ksk

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Update urself - Check Out sharePoint 2010 Interview Questions http://mysharepointwork.blogspot.com/2010/01/sharepoint-2010-interview-questions_20.html

answered Jan 28 '10 at 2:56 community wiki attlee

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