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Is there any way that allows me to create a timer job without having to code it? Any application out there that abstracts the coding?

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  • What are you trying to do? How do you know that it has to be a timer job? Describe what you're wanting to do and there may be an alternative to coding a timer job.
    – Ryan
    Dec 22, 2011 at 10:08
  • I want Sharepoint to scan a folder in the filesystem on a periodic basis. The folder will have documents to be uploaded to a library. Each document will have a corresponding metadata file. Sharepoint will then upload the document without any human intervention. If document already exists in that particular library, Sharepoint will version it. (IBM FileNet has a similar product called ICC.)
    – Regmi
    Dec 22, 2011 at 22:13

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Not that I am aware of. I think it’s hard if not impossible for someone to come up with a product which can (efficiently) address enormous amount of possibilities with SharePoint without custom code.

There is a “SharePoint Timer job Item” VS.NET extension which can download and get started with a template for your custom timer job.

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What activity would you expect to execute with a custom timer job without coding? This would mean you would not have access to the server object model or be able to interact with SharePoint internally.

You probably should create a windows scheduled task to do what you need to do if you don't need to interact with SharePoint internally - for example kicking off file system copies/migration from one location to another (eg. backing up the 14 hive).

EDIT (specifics were given after answer was created):

Given that requirement I would consider a scheduled task which runs a PowerShell script (using SP API) to upload the files to the SharePoint list and log errors etc. The advantages are that the task can be managed by sys admins and if something goes wrong it is not tied to the farm and will not affect other timer jobs/resources.

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  • Russell, I have explained the activity below the question now.
    – Regmi
    Dec 22, 2011 at 22:19
  • @Regmi - I have updated my answer. Hopefully you find the right solution! :)
    – Russell
    Dec 22, 2011 at 22:59
  • thanks. Followup question - Will the powershell script be able to handle the metadata portion of the documents too?
    – Regmi
    Dec 22, 2011 at 23:03
  • Yes, you can assign field values to items using the object model. This is available in PowerShell. :)
    – Russell
    Dec 22, 2011 at 23:17
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Sounds like a good idea for a codeplex project. Maybe you already have a class library, or a powershell script that you want to run on your SharePoint server on a scheduled basis, and instead of coding the timer job wrapper yourself, you use a framework which will abstract away the timer job details, and allow you to configure the job via a custom central admin page. Kind of like the idea behind the SmartPart.

I like it!

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Some timer job functionality you can configure by using Information management policy. For example, you can move the item to the recycle bin or audit document viewing.

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