SharePoint (CMIS Connection Type)

This article is about the current version of Grooper. Note that some content may still need to be updated.
2025	2023	2.72

SharePoint is a CMIS Connection Type that connects Grooper to Microsoft SharePoint, providing access to content stored in "document libraries" and "picture libraries" for import and export operations.

Connectivity is compatible with both online and on-premises SharePoint deployments via the SharePoint REST API.

About

Microsoft SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office.  It is primarily a document management and storage platform, but it is highly configurable and its implementation varies from company to company.  Grooper utilizes what SharePoint calls "Document Libraries" to import and export documents with property mappings.  When you create a Document Library in SharePoint, not only do you have access to standard document properties like "Created By" or "Content Stream Length", but you can add custom ones as well.  This allows Grooper to map fields from a data model onto documents within a Document Library.

⚠	Supported versions include SharePoint 2013 or higher.  However, for SharePoint 2013, connections must be made to the root site.  Connecting directly to a subsite is not supported.

⚠

BE AWARE! When querying a SharePoint repository, the IN_FOLDER predicate is not supported. You must use the IN_TREE predicate to search for documents in Document Library's folder structure. Also, be aware the IN_TREE search is recursive where IN_FOLDER is not. This means any subfolders will be queried as well as the targeted folder.

How To: Set Up a SharePoint Connection

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Expand your Projects Folder and right-click the Project (or Folder) where you want to add the CMIS Connection Type
2. Select "Add", followed by "CMIS Connection..."
3. Within the Add window, name your CMIS Connection.
   • For this example, we've named ours 'SharePoint', after its Connection Type.
4. Click Execute to create.
5. Within your newly created CMIS Connection, expand the dropdown menu on the Connection Settings tab.
6. Select the SharePoint option.
7. Enter the Base URL which will connect Grooper to your SharePoint site.
8. Select your Authentication Method.
   • If your URL is secure, then OAuth may be the only Authentication Method available. In order to use OAuth, you will need to save, log in via Authentication sub-property, then save once more.
   • If using an unsecure URL, then you will select from the following Authentication Methods:
     • Anonymous Authentication
     • Auto Authentication
     • Basic Authentication
     • NTLM Authentication
9. If necessary, turn the Subsites property from False to True.
   • This will enable Grooper to access any subsites that your SharePoint connection has.
10. Click the List Repositories button to display all available, connected Repositories.
11. From the list, select the Repository you wish to import.
12. Click the Import Repositories button.
13. Ensure you have selected the desired Repository and click Execute.
14. Once successfully imported, the Repository will appear in the Node Tree as a child Object of your CMIS Connection'.
    • In addition, the Import Status on the CMIS Connection will turn from False to True.

How To: Set Up a Document Library in SharePoint

As mentioned earlier, Grooper connects to Document Libraries in SharePoint to map fields in a data model to properties of a Document Library.  First, we need to make a Document Library and set up its properties.

Click here for an interactive walkthrough

1. Go to your SharePoint site.  Using the left navigation column, click on "Site Contents"
2. From here, click on the "New" button next to the plus icon, and within the option window hat appears, select "Blank Library".  It will prompt you for a name and optional description.
3. You've created an empty document library.  You can see a few of the default properties, Name, Modified, and Modified By.  At the end of this line, you will see "Add Column" next to a plus sign.  Click this to add new properties.
4. This will give you a variety of types for your data elements.  For example, "Text" would correlate to a simple string variable.
5. This brings up a new menu to name the column (or property), give it a description, alter the type (which will correspond to a similar type in Grooper), and assign a default value if desired.
6. The added property will appear as a new column.

Known Issues & Limitations

SharePoint CMISQL Query Limitations

The SharePoint connection binding does not support the IN_FOLDER predicate.

• You must use the IN_TREE predicate instead when selecting a folder location to query.
• Be aware the IN_TREE search is recursive where IN_FOLDER is not. This means any subfolders will be queried as well as the targeted folder.

The SharePoint connection binding has a hard limitation when it comes to querying larger repositories, with many thousands of folders and files.

• There is currently a threshold limit of 5000 rows.
• This means if a query has to scan more than 5000 items to return an item, SharePoint will return the following error:
  • "Internal Server Error (500): The attempted operation is prohibited because it exceeds the list view threshold."

See Also

For more information to use your CMIS Connection once its created, see the following articles:

• CMIS Export
• CMIS Import