Deleting a file from library using SharePoint ASMX web service

August 13, 2012 / Kannan / 2 Comments

The following is the code for deleting a particular file from a library using SharePoint ASMX web service.
The technique involves identifying the document ID using “GetListItems” of the file and then executing “UpdateListItems”

public string DeleteFileFromSharePoint(string siteUrl, string libraryName, string fileName, FileDeleteInput input)
    {
        Lists listService = new Lists(); //Web reference of http://<server>/sites/<site>/_vti_bin/lists.asmx
        listService.Url = "http://<server>/sites/<site>/_vti_bin/lists.asmx";
        listService.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
        string sourceUrl = fileName;
        string output = string.Empty;

        try
        {
            int fileId = GetFileIdFromList(siteUrl, libraryName, fileName, listService.Url);

            XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
            XmlElement Batch = doc.CreateElement("Batch");
            Batch.SetAttribute("OnError", "Continue");
            Batch.SetAttribute("ListVersion", "1");
            Batch.SetAttribute("ViewName", "");
            string strBatch = "<Method ID='1' Cmd='Delete'>";
            strBatch += "<Field Name='ID'>" + fileId + "</Field>";
            strBatch += "<Field Name='FileRef'>" + siteUrl + libraryName + "/" + fileName + "</Field>";
            strBatch += "</Method>";
            Batch.InnerXml = strBatch;

            XmlNode returnvalue = listService.UpdateListItems(libraryName, Batch);

            if (returnvalue.InnerXml.Contains("0x00000000"))
            {
                output = "Success: File Deleted";
            }
            else if (returnvalue.InnerXml.Contains("Invalid file name"))
            {
                output = "Failure: No such file exists";
            }
            else if (returnvalue.InnerXml.Contains("Access denied"))
            {
                output = "Failure: No such file exists";
            }
            else
            {
                output = "Failure: File couldn't be deleted";
            }
        }
        catch (SoapException ex)
        {
            throw ex;
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            throw ex;
        }
        return output;
    }

    protected int GetFileIdFromList(string siteUrl, string libraryName, string fileName, string serviceUrl)
    {
        int id = 0;

        Lists listService = new Lists(); //Web reference of http://<server>/sites/<site>/_vti_bin/lists.asmx
        listService.Url = serviceUrl;
        listService.UseDefaultCredentials = true;

        // Build the CAML Query
        System.Text.StringBuilder queryStringBuilder = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
        queryStringBuilder.Append("     <Query>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("         <Where>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("             <Eq>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("                  <FieldRef Name=\"FileLeafRef\" />");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("                  <Value Type=\"Text\">" + fileName + "</Value>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("             </Eq>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("        </Where>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    </Query>");

        XmlDocument query = new XmlDocument();
        query.LoadXml(queryStringBuilder.ToString());

        //Build the View Query 
        queryStringBuilder.Clear(); // Clear the string builder
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    <ViewFields>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    <FieldRef Name=\"ID\" /><FieldRef Name=\"Title\" /><FieldRef Name=\"Name\" />");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    </ViewFields>");

        XmlDocument viewFields = new XmlDocument();
        viewFields.LoadXml(queryStringBuilder.ToString());

        //Build the CAML Query Options
        queryStringBuilder.Clear(); // Clear the string builder
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    <QueryOptions>");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("         <Folder>" + libraryName + "/</Folder> />");
        queryStringBuilder.Append("    </QueryOptions>");

        XmlDocument queryOptions = new XmlDocument();
        queryOptions.LoadXml(queryStringBuilder.ToString());

        XmlNode listItems = listService.GetListItems(libraryName, null, query, viewFields, null, queryOptions, null);

        foreach (XmlNode outerNode in listItems.ChildNodes)
        {
            if (outerNode is XmlWhitespace)
                continue;
            else
            {
                if (outerNode.Name == "rs:data")
                {
                    foreach (XmlNode innerNode in outerNode.ChildNodes.OfType<XmlNode>())
                    {
                        if (innerNode is XmlWhitespace)
                            continue;
                        else
                        {
                            id = Int32.Parse(innerNode.Attributes["ows_ID"].Value.ToString());
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        return id;
    }

#SharePoint#SharePoint 2010