CS-Script: An alternative approach to automating and scripting in SharePoint

Overview

PowerShell is the de facto standard for SharePoint automation and scripting nowadays. But there are several competitors for the .NET platform, one of them is CS-Script.

According to the official site information:

CS-Script is a CLR (Common Language Runtime) based scripting system which uses ECMA-compliant C# as a programming language. CS-Script currently targets Microsoft implementation of CLR (.NET 2.0/3.0/3.5/4.0/4.5) with full support on Mono.

CS-Script is an open-source initiative that is distributed under the license agreement, which can be found here. However commercial support is also available.

CS-Script combines the power and richness of C# and FCL with the flexibility of a scripting system. CS-Script can be useful for system and network administrators, developers and testers. For any one who needs an automation for solving variety of programming tasks.

CS-Script could be used for solving variety of programming tasks such as:

analysing and adjusting system configuration
extending functionality of a software system with flexible scripting
configuring development or testing environment
automating software batch build
automating testing, and collecting test results

CS-Script In Action

So, lets take a look at different examples of using Script C# with SharePoint and get started with the classic example of printing the greeting.

Example 1. Hello World

	//css_host /version:v3.5 /platform:x64;
	//css_dir C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\ISAPI;
	using System;
	using Microsoft.SharePoint;

	namespace CSScript4SP
	{
	class Program
	{
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
	using (var site = new SPSite("http://intranet.contoso.com"))
	{
	using (var web = site.OpenWeb())
	{
	Console.WriteLine("Hello SP!");
	}
	}
	}
	}
	}

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HelloSP.cs

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Running it via command-line using CS-Script engine executable (eg. csc.exe) gives us the the following results

Points to note:

Since it is running under SharePoint 2010, the following directives should be specified:

//css_host [/version:<CLR_Version>] [/platform:<CPU>]
– used to force the script to be compiled and executed against legacy CLR and alternative CPU architecture on Windows x64
//css_dir <path> – include assemblies from SharePoint directory into script and assembly probing

Example 2. Reference another C# script

In this example is demonstrated how to reference another C# script

	//css_host /version:v3.5 /platform:x64;
	//css_dir C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\ISAPI;
	//css_import WebPartManagerExtensions;
	using System;
	using Microsoft.SharePoint;
	using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages;

	namespace CSScript4SP
	{
	class Program
	{
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
	using (var site = new SPSite("http://intranet.contoso.com"))
	{
	using (var web = site.OpenWeb())
	{
	web.ForEachWebPartOnPage<Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart>("/en/Pages/default.aspx",PrintWebPartInfo);
	}
	}
	}

	private static void PrintWebPartInfo(SPWeb web, Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart webPart, SPLimitedWebPartManager wpm)
	{
	Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2} {3}", webPart.Title, webPart.GetType().Name, webPart.ZoneIndex, webPart.ZoneID);
	}
	}
	}

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PrintWebPartInfo.cs

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Points to note:

//css_import<file> [, preserve_main][, rename_namespace(<oldName>, <newName>)] – reference the method ‘ForEachWebPartOnPage’ of a WebPartManagerExtensions.cs

Example 3. Reference library

In this example is demonstrated how to expose classes in an assembly CustomSharePointLibrary.dll

	//css_host /version:v3.5 /platform:x64;
	//css_dir C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\ISAPI;
	//css_reference CustomSharePointLibrary.dll;
	using System;
	using Microsoft.SharePoint;

	namespace CSScript4SP
	{
	class Program
	{
	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
	using (var site = new SPSite("http://intranet.contoso.com"))
	{
	using (var web = site.OpenWeb())
	{
	//access to classes from assembly CustomSharePointLibrary.dll
	}
	}
	}

	}
	}

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CustomSharePointLibrary.cs

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Points to note:

//css_reference <file> – load the assembly at execution time

References

CS-Script Project Home

2 thoughts on “CS-Script: An alternative approach to automating and scripting in SharePoint”

samuel sandeep says:

August 6, 2013 at 12:36 pm

Hi Vadim,

Nice post ,thanks for sharing this article.

Sharepoint Developers

John says:

August 12, 2013 at 10:54 pm

A bit over my head but you made it possible for me to follow along the steps. Great info and a timely post for me. Thanks!

John.