Exploring the Object Model
When working with the server side object model, the typical approach involves starting out at a particular level in the object hierarchy and navigating through the hierarchy to reach the object of interest. A number of tools are available that you can use to familiarize yourself with the object hierarchy and examine properties of various objects in the hierarchy. To begin with, Visual Studio’s Object Browser is a handy tool that you can use from within Visual Studio to examine the Microsoft.SharePoint.dll assembly.
Next in the list is Visual Studio’s Server Explorer. Using Server Explorer, you can Add a SharePoint Connection to your site collection and start exploring the contents of the same using a friendly user interface as illustrated in Figure 7.1.
Figure 7.1. Visual Studio 2010 Server Explorer
Note that Server Explorer actually displays fewer lists than your DisplayAllLists console application displays. This is because Server Explorer does not display hidden lists.
Apart from the Server Explorer and the Object Browser, another tool (not part of Visual Studio) is popular in the SharePoint developer community. It’s called SharePoint Manager 2010 and is available for free download on CodePlex at http://spm.codeplex.com/. SharePoint Manager starts off at a much higher level (farm level configuration) and provides more detail compared to Visual Studio’s Server Explorer (see Figure 7.2). Further, you get the option of modifying certain properties as well when using SharePoint Manager.
Figure 7.2. Exploring the Object Model using SharePoint Manager 2010
CodePlex is Microsoft’s open source project hosting website. You can also share your solutions with the developer community on codeplex or join other developers and contribute in various open source projects. For more information on codeplex, starting a new project, or joining an existing one, refer to http://www.codeplex.com/site/help.