SharePoint Interview Questions 1

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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 serverextensions\12\TEMPLATE\

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.