View SharePoint 2010 list in JSON format - json

Question

I am preparing to using Timeglider to create a timeline. One requirement is the data has to be in JSON format. One requirement for me is it needs to be client side as I do not have access to the servers or central admin.
When I try to do http://webname/_vti_bin/ListData.svc/listname I get an error for access permissions however when I issue it http://webname/subsite/_vti_bin/ListData.svc/listname I have no problem pulling data.
My situation is the list is on the TLD. I tried to follow this post How to retrieve a json object from a sharepoint list but it relates to SP 2007.

Answer 1

To implement pure JSON support in SharePoint 2007, 2010 and so on have a look at this project, http://camelotjson.codeplex.com/. It requires the commercial product Camelot .NET Connector to be installed on the server.
If you don't like to go commercial you can resort to the sp.js library, here is a small example I wrote, enjoy!
// Object to handle some list magic
var ListMagic = function () {
/* Private variables */
var that = this;
var clientContext = SP.ClientContext.get_current();
var web = clientContext.get_web();
var lists = web.get_lists();
/**
* Method to iterate all lists
*/
that.getLists = function () {
clientContext.load(lists);
clientContext.executeQueryAsync(execute, getFailed);
function execute() {
var listEnumerator = lists.getEnumerator();
while (listEnumerator.moveNext()) {
var l = listEnumerator.get_current();
// TODO! Replace console.log with actual routine
console.log(l.get_title());
}
}
function getFailed() {
// TODO! Implement fail management
console.log('Failed.');
}
};
/**
* Method to iterate all fields of a list
*/
that.getFields = function (listName) {
// Load list by listName, if not stated try to load the current list
var loadedList = typeof listName === 'undefined' ? lists.getById(SP.ListOperation.Selection.getSelectedList()) : that.lists.getByTitle(listName);
var fieldCollection = loadedList.get_fields();
clientContext.load(fieldCollection);
clientContext.executeQueryAsync(execute, getFailed);
function execute() {
var fields = fieldCollection.getEnumerator();
while (fields.moveNext()) {
var oField = fields.get_current();
// TODO! Replace console.log with actual routine
var listInfo = 'Field Title: ' + oField.get_title() + ', Field Name: ' + oField.get_internalName();
console.log(listInfo);
}
}
function getFailed() {
// TODO! Implement fail management
console.log('Failed.');
}
};
/**
* Method to get a specific listitem
*/
that.getListItem = function (itemId) {
var loadedList = lists.getById(SP.ListOperation.Selection.getSelectedList());
var spListItem = loadedList.getItemById(itemId);
clientContext.load(spListItem);
clientContext.executeQueryAsync(execute, getFailed);
function execute() {
// TODO! Replace console.log with actual routine
//spListItem.get_fieldValues()
console.log(spListItem.get_fieldValues()["Title"]);
}
function getFailed() {
// TODO! Implement fail management
console.log('Failed.');
}
};
/**
* Method to fake an init (optional)
*/
that.init = function () {
// Run any init functionality here
// I.e
that.getFields("Tasks");
};
return that;
};
// In case of no jquery use window.onload instead
$(document).ready(function () {
ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(function () {
var sp = new ListMagic();
sp.init();
}, 'sp.js');
});

Answer 2

Personally, I make HttpHandlers. I install them in the SharePoint isapi folder and the GAC and I can call them just like you might the owssvr.dll. http://servername/_vti_bin/myhttphandelr.dll
Pass it querystring variables or call it from jquery ajax. You can use the httpcontext and make a spcontext from it and have access to all sorts of information from the current location in SharePoint. Then you can javascriptserialize the objects and pass them as JSON. Looking for some code... Hang on... I can't put all the code but this should get you close. I use this to add a submenu to the context menu to allow a user to delete or rename a file if they uploaded it to a library and it is version 1.0 and to collect a file from a library and create a eml file with the selected file(s) as an attachment(s). We don't give our users delete privileges normally. Point being, you can now create a class with just the information you need from SharePoint and pass it as JSON. The only downfall I have with this, is iisreset is required if you make any changes to the dll.
I task schedule a iisreset every night at midnight anyway to keep it fresh and free from memory bloat. I come in the next day and my changes are there. The cool thing is, the spcontext has information about the current location in SharePoint from where it is called. So, http://servername/_vti_bin/myhttphandelr.dll vs http://servername/subsite/library/_vti_bin/myhttphandelr.dll
I might add. Don't try to serialize SharePoint objects. One they are huge, complex objects. Two, I don't think they are marked serializable. Just make you own class and populate it with the values you need from the SharePoint objects.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComTypes;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
using ADODB;
using interop.cdosys;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
namespace owssvr2
{
public class OWSsvr2 : IHttpHandler, System.Web.SessionState.IRequiresSessionState
{
private string cmd;
ctx ctx = new ctx();
private string currentuser;
private SPContext SPcontext;
private HttpContext cntx;
public bool IsReusable
{
get { return false; }
}
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
SPcontext = SPContext.GetContext(context); <-- Gets spcontext from the httpcontext
cntx = context;
ctx = GetData(context.Request); <-- I parse some information from the request to use in my app
cmd = ctx.Cmd;
ctx.User = context.User.Identity.Name;
currentuser = context.User.Identity.Name;
switch (cmd)
{
case "Delete":
Delete();
context.Response.Redirect(ctx.NextUsing);
break;
case "HasRights":
HasRights();
JavaScriptSerializer javaScriptSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
string serEmployee = javaScriptSerializer.Serialize(ctx);
context.Response.Write(serEmployee);
context.Response.ContentType = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
break;
case "Rename":
Rename(context);
//context.Response.Redirect(context.Request["NextUsing"]);
break;
case "SendSingleFile":
try
{
context.Response.Clear();
context.Response.ClearHeaders();
context.Response.BufferOutput = true;
ADODB.Stream stream = SendSingleFile(context.Request["URL"]);
stream.Type = StreamTypeEnum.adTypeBinary;
stream.Position = 0;
context.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
context.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=Email.eml");
IStream iStream = (IStream)stream;
byte[] byteArray = new byte[stream.Size];
IntPtr ptrCharsRead = IntPtr.Zero;
iStream.Read(byteArray, stream.Size, ptrCharsRead);
context.Response.BinaryWrite(byteArray);
context.Response.End();
}
catch(Exception ex) {context.Response.Write(ex.Message.ToString()); }
break;
case "SendMultiFile":
try
{
//SendMultiFile(context.Request["IDs"]);
context.Response.Clear();
context.Response.ClearHeaders();
context.Response.BufferOutput = true;
ADODB.Stream stream = SendMultiFile(context.Request["IDs"]);
stream.Type = StreamTypeEnum.adTypeBinary;
stream.Position = 0;
context.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
context.Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;filename=Email.eml");
IStream iStream = (IStream)stream;
byte[] byteArray = new byte[stream.Size];
IntPtr ptrCharsRead = IntPtr.Zero;
iStream.Read(byteArray, stream.Size, ptrCharsRead);
context.Response.BinaryWrite(byteArray);
context.Response.End();
}
catch(Exception ex) {context.Response.Write("There was an error getting the files. </br>" + ex.Message.ToString()); }
break;
case "FileInfo":
JavaScriptSerializer javaScriptSerializer1 = new JavaScriptSerializer();
string serEmployee1 = javaScriptSerializer1.Serialize(FileInfo(context));
context.Response.Write(serEmployee1);
context.Response.ContentType = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
break;
case "UsersInGroups":
UsersInGroups ug = new UsersInGroups(context, context.Request["job"],context.Request["groups"]);
break;
}
}