Lists.GetListItems Method (Lists)
Returns information about items in the list based on the specified query.

Web Service: ListsWeb Reference: http://<Site>/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx
Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)
<SoapDocumentMethodAttribute("http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/GetListItems", RequestNamespace:="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/", ResponseNamespace:="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/", Use:=SoapBindingUse.Literal, ParameterStyle:=SoapParameterStyle.Wrapped)> _
Public Function GetListItems ( _
    listName As String, _
    viewName As String, _
    query As XmlNode, _
    viewFields As XmlNode, _
    rowLimit As String, _
    queryOptions As XmlNode, _
    webID As String _
) As XmlNode
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As Lists
Dim listName As String
Dim viewName As String
Dim query As XmlNode
Dim viewFields As XmlNode
Dim rowLimit As String
Dim queryOptions As XmlNode
Dim webID As String
Dim returnValue As XmlNode

returnValue = instance.GetListItems(listName, viewName, query, viewFields, rowLimit, queryOptions, webID)
C#
[SoapDocumentMethodAttribute("http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/GetListItems", RequestNamespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/", ResponseNamespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/", Use=SoapBindingUse.Literal, ParameterStyle=SoapParameterStyle.Wrapped)] 
public XmlNode GetListItems (
    string listName,
    string viewName,
    XmlNode query,
    XmlNode viewFields,
    string rowLimit,
    XmlNode queryOptions,
    string webID
)

Parameters

listName

A string that contains either the display name or the GUID for the list. It is recommended that you use the GUID, which must be surrounded by curly braces ({}). When querying the UserInfo table, the string contains "UserInfo".

viewName

A string that contains the GUID for the view surrounded by curly braces ({}), which determines the view to use for the default view attributes represented by the query, viewFields, and rowLimit parameters. If this parameter contains an empty string, the default view is used. If the view GUID is supplied, the value of the query, viewFields, or rowLimit parameter overrides the equivalent setting within the view. For example, if the view specified by the viewFields parameter has a row limit of 100 rows but the rowLimit parameter contains 1000, then 1,000 rows are returned in the response.

query

A Query element containing the query that determines which records are returned and in what order, and that can be assigned to a System.Xml.XmlNode object, as in the following example.

Xml
<Query>
   <Where>
      <Lt>
         <FieldRef Name="ID" />
         <Value Type="Counter">3</Value>
      </Lt>
   </Where>
</Query>

If supplied, the value of this parameter overrides either the query within the view specified by the viewName parameter or the query within the default view for the list.

viewFields

A ViewFields element that specifies which fields to return in the query and in what order, and that can be assigned to a System.Xml.XmlNode object, as in the following example.

Xml
<ViewFields>
   <FieldRef Name="ID" />
   <FieldRef Name="Title" />
</ViewFields>

If supplied, the value of this parameter overrides the view fields within the view specified by the viewName parameter or the view fields in the default view for the list.

rowLimit

A string that specifies the number of items, or rows, to display on a page before paging begins. If supplied, the value of this parameter overrides the row limit set in the view specified by the viewName parameter or the row limit set in the default view for the list.

queryOptions

An XML fragment in the following form that contains separate nodes for the various properties of the SPQuery object, and that can be assigned to a System.Xml.XmlNode object.

Xml
<QueryOptions>
   <IncludeMandatoryColumns>FALSE
      </IncludeMandatoryColumns>
   <DateInUtc>TRUE</DateInUtc>
</QueryOptions>

The following table shows the elements that can be used in the Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML) fragment passed through the queryOptions parameter.

Element

Description

DateInUtc

TRUE to return dates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format. FALSE to return dates in ISO format. This element is optional, and its default value is TRUE.

Folder

Specifies a URL used to filter document library items for items in the specified folder. This element is optional, and its default value is an empty string.

Paging

A string that contains data needed to support paging, including a ListItemCollectionPositionNext attribute. If left empty, the list items returned start from the beginning of the list. Client applications should supply the value of a server-supplied bookmark. The server returns the next page of data based on the bookmark supplied. This element is optional, and its default value is an empty string.

IncludeMandatoryColumns

TRUE to specify that mandatory system columns be returned in addition to the fields specified by the viewFields parameter (for example, owsHiddenVersion, dependent fields, and required fields). This element is optional, and its default value is TRUE.

MeetingInstanceID

An integer value where a positive number represents a specific meeting instance. Negative numbers have the following meanings: -3 = UnSpecified, -2 = AllWithSeries, -1 = AllButSeries, 0 = Series. This element is optional, and its default value is -1. Negative values correspond to values of the Microsoft.SharePoint.Meetings.SPMeeting.SpecialInstance enumeration.

ViewAttributes

A string representing all attributes returned as part of the View element when retrieving a view through the GetView method. This element is optional, and its default value is empty. If a viewName parameter is supplied, the view attributes from the persisted view are used. When this argument is supplied, it overrides any view attributes that can be retrieved from the persisted view specified by the viewName parameter. This element is optional and its default value is an empty string. To return all documents in a library, the ViewAttributes element is used as follows: <ViewAttributes Scope="Recursive" />.

To pass an empty value for this parameter, include an empty QueryOptions element as follows.

Xml
<queryOptions xmlns:SOAPSDK9=
      "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" >
   <QueryOptions/>
</queryOptions>

webID

Optional. A string containing the GUID of the parent Web site for the list surrounded by curly braces ({}). Setting this parameter to null means the Web site specified by the Url property of the service will be used, and if the Url property of the service is not specified, the root Web site will be used.

Return Value

An XML fragment in the following form that contains information about the list items and that can be assigned to a System.Xml.XmlNode object.
Xml
<listitems xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" 
   xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" 
   xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" 
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/">
   <rs:data ItemCount="4">
      <z:row ows_Number_Field="6555.00000000000" 
         ows_Created="2003-06-18T03:41:09Z" 
         ows_ID="3" ows_owshiddenversion="3" />
      <z:row ows_Number_Field="78905456.0000000" 
         ows_Created="2003-06-18T17:15:58Z" 
         ows_ID="4" ows_owshiddenversion="2" />
         ...
   </rs:data>
</listitems>
Remarks

The GetListItems method supports server-side paging. The XML data returned by this method includes a ListItemCollectionPositionNext attribute inside the rs:Data element that contains the information to support paging. This string contains data for the fields in the sort and for other items needed for paging. You should consider this string internal and not to be modified; modifying it can produce unexpected results. The following example shows the form of this return value when paging is supported.

Xml
<rs:Data ListItemCollectionPositionNext=" 
Paged=TRUE&p_ID=100&View=
      %7bC68F4A6A%2d9AFD%2d406C%2dB624%2d2CF8D729901E%7d&PageFirstRow=
      101" Count=1000 >
   <z:row ows_FirstName="Nancy" ows_LastName="Name" ….. />
   ...
</rs:Data>

To get the next page of data, the queryOption parameter is used, as shown in the following example.

Xml
<QueryOptions>
  <Paging ListItemCollectionPositionNext=" 
    Paged=TRUE&p_ID=100&View=
    %7bC68F4A6A%2d9AFD%2d406C%2dB624%2d2CF8D729901E%7d&PageFirstRow=
   101" />
</QueryOptions>
Example

The following code example displays items where a Number field contains a value greater than 5,000 and a DateTime field contains a value greater than a specified date. The example uses an XmlDocument object to create XmlNode objects for parameters.

This example requires that a using (Visual C#) or Imports (Visual Basic) directive be included for the System.Xml namespace.

Visual Basic
Dim listService As New Web_Reference_Folder.Lists()
listService.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials

Dim xmlDoc = New System.Xml.XmlDocument()

Dim ndQuery As XmlNode = 
    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "Query", "")
Dim ndViewFields As XmlNode = 
    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "ViewFields", "")
Dim ndQueryOptions As XmlNode = 
    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "QueryOptions", "")

ndQueryOptions.InnerXml = 
    "<IncludeMandatoryColumns>FALSE</IncludeMandatoryColumns>" + _
    "<DateInUtc>TRUE</DateInUtc>"
ndViewFields.InnerXml = 
    "<FieldRef Name='Field1'/><FieldRef Name='Field2'/>"
ndQuery.InnerXml = 
    "<Where><And><Gt><FieldRef Name='Field1'/>" + _
    "<Value Type='Number'>5000</Value></Gt><Gt>
        <FieldRef Name='Field2'/>" + _
    "<Value Type='DateTime'>2003-07-03T00:00:00</Value></Gt></And></Where>"

Try

    Dim ndListItems As XmlNode = 
        listService.GetListItems("List_Name", Nothing, ndQuery, _
        ndViewFields, Nothing, ndQueryOptions, Nothing)

    MessageBox.Show(ndListItems.OuterXml)

    Catch ex As System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException

        MessageBox.Show("Message:" + ControlChars.Lf + ex.Message + 
            ControlChars.Lf + 
        "Detail:" + ControlChars.Lf + ex.Detail.InnerText + 
            ControlChars.Lf + 
        "StackTrace:" + ControlChars.Lf + ex.StackTrace)

End Try
C#
Web_Reference_Folder.Lists listService = new Web_Reference_Folder.Lists();
listService.Credentials= System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument();

XmlNode ndQuery = xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element,"Query","");
XmlNode ndViewFields = 
    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element,"ViewFields","");
XmlNode ndQueryOptions = 
    xmlDoc.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element,"QueryOptions","");

ndQueryOptions.InnerXml = 
    "<IncludeMandatoryColumns>FALSE</IncludeMandatoryColumns>" + 
    "<DateInUtc>TRUE</DateInUtc>";
ndViewFields.InnerXml = "<FieldRef Name='Field1' />
    <FieldRef Name='Field2'/>";
ndQuery.InnerXml = "<Where><And><Gt><FieldRef Name='Field1'/>" + 
    "<Value Type='Number'>5000</Value></Gt><Gt><FieldRef Name='Field2'/>" + 
    "<Value Type=
        'DateTime'>2003-07-03T00:00:00</Value></Gt></And></Where>";
try
{
    XmlNode ndListItems = 
        listService.GetListItems("List_Name", null, ndQuery, 
        ndViewFields, null, ndQueryOptions, null);
    MessageBox.Show(ndListItems.OuterXml);
}

catch (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show("Message:\n" + ex.Message + "\nDetail:\n" + 
        ex.Detail.InnerText + 
         "\nStackTrace:\n" + ex.StackTrace);
}
See Also

Tags :


Community Content

sarangasl
Retrieving SharePoint List Items' Attachment URLs using Lists Web Service
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/03/25/retrieving-sharepoint-list-items-attachment-urls-using-lists-web-service.aspx

SharePoint List Web Service GetListItems


Tags :

Mick Badran - MVP
webId parameter

I would LOVE to see this code compile as writtern. I have not had any luck in using this method of this web service without something in the 7th parameter (webId). Through trial and error, I've learned that passing an empty string will allow the method to operate like it did under v2.

(or you can use null/nothing for the webID parameter)

Tags :

Ninja Coder
"Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)."
"Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)."

this is the error i get when i try to use the code given...
Tags :

Versus-Spirit
Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)
"Guid should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)."

For sub-site, When using the name and not the GUID in GetList, you must enter full URL in end-point :

<endpoint address="http://server/sub-site1/sub-site2/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx" ...>

And not :

<endpoint address="http://server/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx" ...>


Tags :

Thomas Lee
IncludeMandatoryColumns, multi user and multi lookup columns

It looks like there is an annoying bug with GetListItems:

-

When IncludeMandatoryColumns=TRUE

And the list has at least one mandatory muti user or multi lookup column

And that none of the multi value columns are specified in the ViewFields

GetListItems will return duplicated items - one for each value in the multi-Value column.

--

With one multi value column, one could consider this is by design even though this looks quite strange to adopt this approach in this very specific situation and not in all others.

--

The problem is that things get really buggy when you have a list with multiple multi-value columns.

-

Say we have the following mandatory multi-value columns: MVC01 (multi-user) and MVC02 (multi-lookup)

The following item (I separate multiple values with a comma):

Title : Whatever value

MVC01: John,Rick,Blade

MVC02: Beverages,Condiments

-

If you do not specify any of the multi-value columns in ViewFields element, GetListItems will return 3 items:

Whatever value - John - Beverages

Whatever value - Rick - Condiments

Whatever value - Blade

-

One would expect the following result:

Whatever value - John - Beverages
Whatever value - John - Condiments
Whatever value - Rick - Beverages
Whatever value - Rick - Condiments
Whatever value - Blade - Beverages

Whatever value - Blade - Condiments

--

Things get even worse if you specify one of the multi-value column as part of the ViewFields element.

-

Say you specify MVC02, GetListItems will only return one item:

Whatever value - John - Beverages,Condiments

-

If you specify MVC01, it will return:

Whatever value - John,Rick,Blade - Beverages

Tags : productbug?

Cybercoder
Need help? Use a Wrapper from CodePlex

A wrapper for accessing the Lists.asmx is avaialble on CodePlex. It is included with the Sharepoint/SSIS Adapter (you do not need to use the adapter for the wrapper).

http://www.codeplex.com/SQLSrvIntegrationSrv

-

The SharepointUtility DLL is a gaccable component which can get column information, get list data - only retrieving columns you want, and also upload/remove files from SharePoint using the Lists.asmx webservice under the hood.

-

It supports a very friendly Linq syntax so you can pass in IEnumerable type of objects of anything to provide the list of columns you want, or a dictionary of data to update in the list.

-

It also wraps a lot of common errors which are NOT clear by the error result that comes back from the webservice. I highly suggest you check out the component if you are using the webservice, it will save you a lot of headache.


Stéphane.ch
True Object reference not set to an instance of an object

I connect this webservice via Nintex but got the error message "True Object reference not set to an instance of an object"

Here is my soap :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Body>
<GetListItems xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/">
<listName>{33F58256-9964-43B2-B511-0D5AB918F4D6}</listName>
<viewName>{53B6AF25-BA41-421F-812D-045219E3C576}</viewName>
<query>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name="ID" />
</OrderBy>
</query>

<viewFields>
<FieldRef Name="ID" />
</viewFields>
<rowLimit>100</rowLimit>
<queryOptions />
<webID></webID>
</GetListItems>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

What's wrong ?

Thanks

Tags :

Testrun
Validating XMLNode for invalid characters?
I was able to implement the web service properly, but is there some way to validate the xmlnode being returned for invalid characters?

For example, the data I am retrieving from the webservice has several items with vertical tabs on them. Upon retrieval via webservice, the application throws an exception of "' ', hexadecimal value 0x0B, is an invalid character", with the ' ' or the 0x0B being the vertical tab.


Kevin Stephens
Attributes
Where are the attributes defined for what is returned from this call?

returnedItems = _listService.GetListItems(_listID, _viewID, query, viewFieldsNode, "", queryOptions.GetXmlNode(), "");

//Move the values into our list
foreach (System.Xml.Linq.XElement x in returnedItems.GetXElement().Descendants(z + "row")) {
Dictionary<string,object> oneItem = new Dictionary<string,object>();

foreach (XAttribute a in x.Attributes()) {
oneItem.Add(a.Name.LocalName,a.Value);
}
Tags :

Peter Holpar
Columns missing when using the Lists.GetListItems SharePoint web service
If there is an optional field that is left empty, then the field will not be included in the response XML even if the field is specified in the ViewFields. For details and a possible workaround read the post:
http://pholpar.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/columns-missing-when-using-the-lists-getlistitems-sharepoint-web-service/

Another known issue with GetListItems is that it does not handle the line breaks in multiline text field. Line breaks are simply removed from the response. I don't know any simple workaround for that except creating your own web service using the WSS object model.
Tags :

Page view tracker