The purpose of this tool is,

1. Explore SharePoint with the help of SharePoint REST API(for e.g. lists, libraries, features, etc)2. Generate CAML Query and export list/library data in various formats like excel, csv, pdf and

clipboard.

You have two options to use this tool.

1. Farm Based Solution2. SharePoint Application(SharePoint Hosted)

You can download this tool and source code from below CodePlex url

https://sharepoint2013explorer.codeplex.com/

Tool does exactly same job for both options. I am also planning to release this in Office Store. Once its release I will update this page.

1. Installation1.1. Farm Solution

1.1.1.Deploy the "SharePoint.Explorer.wsp" solution.1.1.2.Activate "SharePoint Explorer" feature.1.1.3.Navigate to

http://<servername>:<portno>/_layouts/15/SharePoint.Explorer/SharePoint.Explorer.aspx

Once you navigate to the page mentioned in above step you are all set to explore.

1.2. SharePoint App1.2.1.Upload App to Office 365

Once you navigate to application mentioned in above step you are all set to explore.

Note: Export functionality will not work with IE.

2. Difference between farm and application.2.1. Textbox v/s Dropdown

With farm solution text box will be displayed in upper left corner With application drop down you have an option to choose between AppWeb and

HostWeb.

2.2. Go Button With farm solution you can update URL and click go to navigate to the specific subsite if

you want. Other approach to browse subsite will be to navigate to subsite and then browse “_layouts/15/SharePoint.Explorer/SharePoint.Explorer.aspx”.

No need for Go button in application

2.3. OData URL If you look at the green box with URL which will show you the OData URL which will is

what has been executed last. If you browse Host from application URL will be different. For e.g. https://<SPWebUrl>/SharePointAppExplorer/_api/SP.AppContextSite(@target)/web?@target='<SPHostURL>'

3. Access pointWith this tool you can access multiple access point within SharePoint

Site - http://server/site/_api/site Web - http://server/site/_api/web User Profile - http:// server/site/_api/SP.UserProfiles.PeopleManager Search - http:// server/site/_api/search Publishing - http:// server/site/_api/publishing

4. Single Page ApplicationIf you look at the tool you will notice two sections.

4.1. Left section This section has three or four controls depending on which tool you are using. Farm solution: you will see Textbox, go button, drop down control for access point and tree

view. Application: you will see two dropdown to select url, access point dropdown and tree view.

4.2. Right sectionThis section has two section Rest URL and Tabs (Properties and Results)

4.3. Rest URLHere you can see what the latest rest call was. This will be helpful if you need to know what the REST URL to access any particular resource is. First you can navigate to the specific object and then grab the url from here and you can use it in your application.

4.4. Properties TabThis tab will show all metadata that has been retrieved with REST call for selected node. This tab also have button “Export”. If you click on this button all metadata will be exported to Excel.

4.5. Results TabThis tab will give results or more specifically it will iterate every element under “data.d.results” node. If you are familiar with SharePoint Rest API you will understand what I am talking about. For e.g. if you click on Lists node this tab will show all lists. If you click on Items node under any list tab this tab will display all items (first 100). If you click on Content Types node this tab will display all content types.

Once you are on Results tab you can do any of below three operations.

4.5.1. Show/Hide ColumnsYou can click on “Select columns” text which will open popup up with all existing columns. You can hide/show columns from results table by check/uncheck checkbox.

4.5.2. ExportYou can export all items from Result table to Excel. This functionality is currently not working in Chrome.

4.5.3. PreviousYou will only see “Previous” button when you click on Items node under any List’s node. This button will be disabled when you are on first page or list items count is less than 100. This button will be enabled when you are on second page.

4.5.4. NextYou will only see “Next” button when you click on Items node under any List’s node. This button will be disabled when you are on last page or list items count is less than 100. This button will be enabled when list items count is greater than 100.

5. CAML Query BuilderYou can open CAML Query Builder tab by clicking on “CAML” button under Results tab.

You can execute CAML by performing below steps (i.e. Select Fields, Select Filters, Select additional options and then click on “Execute” button.

5.1. Select PropertiesBefore you execute query you will select fields which will be retrieved with CAML query.

You can either select field by view or by field attribute. These all options are available in drop down shown below.

5.2. Select FiltersYou can select filter by selecting fields, operator and its value.

5.2.1. Date FieldIf you select date type field then button will appear next to value text box. Clicking on this button will open popup to select date value. You can click on this button or enter valid date value.

5.2.2. Lookup FieldIf you select lookup type field then button will appear next to value text box. Clicking on this button will open popup to select lookup value. You can click on this button or enter valid lookup value.

5.2.3. User FieldIf you select user type field then button will appear next to value text box. Clicking on this button will open popup to select user value. You can click on this button or enter valid user value.

5.2.4. IN OperatorIf you select IN operator then you can select multiple values or enter multiple values separated by <AND> separator.

5.3. Select Additional optionsIn this section you can select additional query options (Files and folder option, Row limit, Dates in UTC).

5.4. ExecuteOnce you have selected Fields, Filters and Options you can now click on “Execute”. Once you click “Execute” button tool will perform below steps.

Update CAML Query textbox Execute query Activate Results tab and populate result in result tab

I have used DataTable to show CAML Results

5.5. ExportOnce you execute CAML against any list you can export data into any of below format.

Clipboard Excel CSV PDF