Asp.net Web application accessing SharePoint object model

Question

I have an asp.net 2.0 web application that will run on the same web servers as SharePoint Server 2007. The application should run in its own App Pool (IIS 6.0). The Web Application needs to call the SharePoint Object model API.

Is there a resource that explains the required configuration / security settings and other considerations that will help me achieve my goal? It is possible that I need to make some settings in SharePoint Admin Console itself; aswell as config files. Script files might need to be located in a specific location in order to be accessible. Assemblies may need to be signed.

I can only get partial success running my Web application. But only if it is deployed to a Virtual Directory that resides under the SharePoint Website (in IIS & File system). Even with this setup, I JQuery / Javascript throw errors when accessed (object null); and also images not loading.

I have made some changes to the Web applicaton web.config file which have allowed me to run the application albeit the above mentioned issues with scripts and images (Virtual directory properties also set to allow scripts and executables to run). Ajax functionality appears to work OK.

Answer 1

If your web application runs on the SharePoint machine, you should be able to access the object model. However, you need to make sure that you get the security right. There are two options that I can think of right now:

• you give the application pool identity of your web application sufficient privileges in sharepoint
• you impersonate the user in your web application (then the user browsing to your web application needs sufficient privileges in sharepoint)

Keep in mind that if you choose the first option, everyone browsing your web application will connect to sharepoint with the same credentials (application pool identity).