What is CSOM in SharePoint?

 

CSOM (Client-Side Object Model) is a set of APIs that allow developers to programmatically access and manage Microsoft SharePoint content and data from a client application. CSOM is available for .NET, Silverlight, and JavaScript platforms, and it can be used to build custom solutions for SharePoint on-premises and online.

With CSOM, you can access and manipulate SharePoint objects such as lists, libraries, web sites, and users, as well as execute common actions such as adding, updating, and deleting data. You can also use CSOM to access and query data from external sources, and to integrate SharePoint with other systems and applications.

To use CSOM in your application, you will need to include the appropriate assemblies or libraries, and then reference the namespaces and classes that you want to use. You can find detailed documentation and examples of how to use CSOM on the Microsoft developer website.

Here are some additional details about CSOM:

• CSOM is designed to be lightweight and efficient, with a small footprint and minimal overhead. It is intended for use in client-side scenarios where the server-side API (such as the Server Object Model or the REST API) is not available or not appropriate.

• CSOM can be used to build custom solutions for SharePoint that run on the client side, such as desktop or mobile applications, or web pages that are hosted outside of SharePoint. It can also be used to build server-side solutions that invoke SharePoint functionality from a back-end process or service.

• CSOM is available for three different platforms: .NET, Silverlight, and JavaScript. Each platform has its own set of assemblies or libraries that you can reference in your application, and a corresponding set of namespaces and classes that you can use to access SharePoint objects and functionality.

• To use CSOM in your application, you will need to authenticate the user and obtain a client context object, which represents the connection to the SharePoint site. You can then use the client context object to execute commands and queries against the SharePoint object model, and to retrieve and update data.

• CSOM is designed to be flexible and extensible, with a rich object model that allows you to access and manipulate a wide range of SharePoint objects and data. You can use CSOM to perform common tasks such as creating and deleting sites, lists, and libraries; adding, updating, and deleting list items and documents; and managing users and permissions.

• CSOM supports both synchronous and asynchronous programming models, so you can choose the approach that best fits your needs. You can use the synchronous model to execute commands and queries in a blocking manner, or the asynchronous model to execute them in a non-blocking manner.

• CSOM supports a variety of languages and development tools, including C#, Visual Basic, and JavaScript. You can use any of these languages to build custom solutions for SharePoint, and you can use a variety of tools such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, or web browsers to develop and debug your applications.

• CSOM is compatible with both SharePoint on-premises and SharePoint Online. You can use the same API to access and manage SharePoint data and content across both deployment models, and you can use the same authentication and authorization mechanisms to secure your applications.

Here is a simple example of how you can use CSOM in a .NET application to retrieve and display the title of the current SharePoint site:

This code uses the "ClientContext" class to connect to a SharePoint site and authenticate the user. It then retrieves the current "Site" object and loads its "Title" property. Finally, it executes the query and displays the title of the site.

Here is another example of how you can use CSOM to retrieve and display a list of items from a SharePoint list:

This code uses the "Web" property of the "ClientContext" object to retrieve a reference to the current web site, and the "Lists" property to retrieve a "List" object by its title. It then creates a query using the "CamlQuery" class to retrieve all items in the list, and loads the items collection. Finally, it executes the query and iterates through the items, displaying the value of the Title field for each item.