SharePoint

Defines a connection to SharePoint.

Remarks

SharePoint provides a CMIS-compliant interface to Microsoft SharePoint, supporting both online (SharePoint 365) and on-premises deployments.

Authentication Modes

The 'Authentication Method' property determines how Grooper authenticates with SharePoint. Supported HTTP Authentication Method types include:

• SharePoint OAuth.
  Used for SharePoint Online (365).

  • Configure 'Client ID', 'Client Secret', and 'Tenant ID' to connect using an Azure AD application registration.
  • Supports modern authentication and is required for cloud-based SharePoint.

• NTLM Authentication
  Used for on-premises SharePoint servers.

  • Configure 'Username' and 'Password' to connect as a specific Windows user.
  • Supports integrated Windows authentication.

• Basic Authentication
  Supported for legacy on-premises SharePoint servers (not recommended for production).

  • Configure 'Username' and 'Password'.
  • May require enabling basic auth on the SharePoint server.

Only one authentication method can be active at a time.
The available options depend on whether the 'Base URL' points to SharePoint Online or an on-premises server.

Repository Structure

• Each SharePoint site or subsite is exposed as a logical repository.
• Document libraries and folders within a site are presented as a hierarchical folder structure.
• The 'Enable Subsites' property controls whether subsites beneath the base URL are included in the repository view.
  • If enabled, all subsites and their document libraries are accessible.
  • If disabled, only the root site and its libraries are available.
• The 'Enable Library Types' property controls whether custom content types in document libraries are exposed as CMIS types.

CMIS Type Exposure

• Folder Type:
  SharePoint folders are exposed as the cmis:folder type.
• Document Type:
  SharePoint documents are exposed as the cmis:document type.
• Document Library Custom Types:
  When the 'Enable Library Types' property is enabled, custom content types defined in SharePoint Document Libraries are exposed as additional CMIS types.
  These custom types appear as children of the standard cmis:document and cmis:folder types, allowing you to work with documents and folders that have custom metadata fields and structure defined in SharePoint.
  For example, a library with a custom "Invoice" content type will expose a corresponding CMIS type beneath cmis:document, with all associated custom fields available for query and mapping.
  These are not secondary types in the CMIS sense, but are primary types that extend the base document or folder type.
• No Secondary Types:
  This binding does not expose any CMIS secondary types.

Search Capabilities and Supported CMISQL Syntax

• Metadata Search:
  You can search on any standard or custom property exposed by the selected CMIS type using the WHERE clause in CMISQL. Supported predicates include =, <>, <, >, <=, >=, LIKE, IN, and IS NULL/IS NOT NULL (with some restrictions).
• Full-Text Search:
  Full-text search is supported using the CONTAINS() predicate in CMISQL. For SharePoint Online and most on-premises environments, this is translated to SharePoint's [Keyword Query Language (KQL)] for site-wide searches, and to CAML for document library queries (where supported).
  • KQL supports keyword, phrase, and wildcard searches, as well as logical operators (AND, OR, NOT).
  • CAML-based queries (used for document libraries) do not support the CONTAINS() predicate or full-text search.
• Scope Predicates:
  The IN_FOLDER() and IN_TREE() predicates are supported for site-wide (KQL) queries, but are not supported for document library (CAML) queries.
• LIKE Operator:
  The LIKE operator is supported for string properties, but only prefix and infix wildcards are supported. Suffix wildcards (e.g., %foo) and single-character wildcards (_) are not supported.
• IN Predicate:
  The IN predicate is supported for string and ID properties.
• Limitations:
  • Some advanced CMISQL features, such as JOINs and secondary types, are not supported.
  • Not all SharePoint fields are queryable; only those exposed as CMIS properties can be used in queries.
  • For document library queries, only metadata search is available; full-text search is not supported at the library level.
  • The NOT operator is not supported for groups of predicates in CAML queries.
• Examples:
  • SELECT * FROM cmis:document WHERE Title LIKE '%invoice%' AND CreatedBy = 'jsmith'
  • SELECT * FROM CustomType WHERE Amount > 1000 AND Status IN ('Open', 'Pending')
  • SELECT * FROM cmis:document WHERE CONTAINS('contract AND \"service agreement\"')

For more information, see the SharePoint Developer Documentation.

Properties

Name	Type		Description
General
Base URL	String	►	Specifies the URL of the SharePoint site which will be the root of the repository. For example, the URL for SharePoint Online is https://{tenantname}.sharepoint.com. Note that For SharePoint 2013, connections must be made to the root site - connecting directly to a subsite is not supported.
Authentication Method	HTTP Authentication Method	►	Specifies the method used to authenticate user credentials. ConverterAuth Method Converter Requiredtrue Can be one of the following types: Value Description Exchange OAuth Implements OAuth 2.0 authentication for connecting Grooper to Microsoft Exchange Online (Office 365) using Azure AD. OAuth Service Login Implements OAuth 2.0 authentication using the client credentials flow for secure server-to-server access in Grooper. Anonymous Authentication Implements HTTP authentication where no credentials or identity are provided to the server. Auto Authentication Authenticates HTTP requests using the credentials of the current Windows user. Basic Authentication Implements Basic HTTP Authentication for connecting to external content platforms in Grooper. NTLM Authentication Implements NTLM (Windows Integrated) Authentication for connecting to external content platforms in Grooper. OneDrive OAuth Implements OAuth 2.0 authentication for connecting Grooper to Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint Online using a Microsoft account. SharePoint OAuth Implements OAuth 2.0 authentication for connecting Grooper to SharePoint Online (365) using Azure AD.
Timeout	Int32	►	Specifies the timeout for HTTP requests. Default10
Read Write Timeout	Int32	►	Specifies the timeout for HTTP read/write operations. Default30
Options
Enable Subsites	Boolean	►	Specifies whether subsites below the Base URL should be exposed as part of the repository. DefaultFalse When enabled, all subsites beneath the specified Base URL will be included in the SharePoint repository structure. If enabled, Grooper will enumerate and expose all subsites, their document libraries, and content types, allowing queries and operations across the entire site collection hierarchy. If disabled, only the root site (specified by the Base URL) and its immediate document libraries will be available. Performance Note: Enabling this option on large site collections can significantly increase connection and initialization times, as the entire subsite hierarchy must be discovered and loaded. To improve performance, consider connecting directly to a specific subsite or enabling caching via the EnableCaching property. Typical usage: Enable when you need to access or search content across multiple subsites from a single connection. Disable when you only need to work with the root site or want to minimize connection overhead.
Enable Library Types	Boolean	►	Specifies whether custom content types associated with Document Libraries should be exposed as CMIS types. DefaultFalse When enabled, Grooper will enumerate and expose all custom content types defined in SharePoint Document Libraries as separate CMIS content types. If enabled, each custom content type (with its own fields/columns) in a Document Library will be available for queries and mapping in Grooper, in addition to the standard 'Document' and 'Folder' types. If disabled, only the base 'Document' and 'Folder' types are exposed, and custom fields are not available for CMIS queries or mapping. Performance Note: Enabling this option at the root of a large site collection can significantly increase connection and initialization times, as all custom types must be discovered and loaded. To improve performance, consider connecting directly to a subsite containing the desired custom types, or enable caching via the EnableCaching property. Typical usage: Enable when you need to access or map custom fields from Document Libraries, or perform queries using those fields. Disable when you only need standard document/folder types or want to minimize connection overhead.
Enable Caching	Boolean	►	Specifies whether the SharePoint site structure (sites and libraries) should be cached to reduce connection time. DefaultFalse When enabled, Grooper will cache the hierarchy of sites and libraries in the SharePoint repository after the first connection. Subsequent connections will load this information from cache, greatly reducing initialization time. If enabled, the site/library structure is loaded from cache on subsequent connections, improving performance, especially for large site collections or when both EnableLibraryTypes and EnableSubsites are enabled. If disabled, the site/library structure is fetched from SharePoint on every connection, which may result in long initialization times for large repositories. Cache Management: When caching is enabled, changes to the SharePoint structure (such as adding or removing sites/libraries) will not be recognized until the cache is cleared. To reset the cache and force Grooper to reload the latest structure, use the CMIS Connection - Reset or CMIS Repository - Reset command. Typical usage: Enable to improve performance when working with large or complex SharePoint environments. Disable if you require Grooper to always reflect the latest SharePoint structure without manual cache resets.

See Also

Exchange OAuthOAuth Service LoginAnonymous AuthenticationAuto AuthenticationBasic AuthenticationNTLM AuthenticationOneDrive OAuthSharePoint OAuth

Used By

CMIS Connection