First step in the process is to create a basic feature for MOSS. For more information in regarding the template, view the information here: http://www.stevenboldt.com/blog/post/2009/06/01/Creating-a-SharePoint-Custom-Event-Handler-Basics.aspx

The steps I took in creating item level security utilized a custom list in MOSS. This way, the user can customize the setting of the feature and also the group/user permissions that will be set. This can also be done using a config file or other possibilities, but for my example, I used a list.

Configuration List Setup

Browse to the SharePoint site you have the Security event handler feature activated and create a new list called: ItemLevelSecurityConfiguration(or whatever you want to call it). A basic example of what the list should include is as follows:

For the columns Group 1 and Group 2, I set the following:

• Allow multiple section = Yes
• Allow selection of = People and Groups
• Choose From = All Users
• Show Field = Name

For the column RoleType, I set the choice values as follows:

• Administrator
• Contribute
• Guest
• Reader
• WebDesigner

For my example, I set the default value as Contribute.

To set the values of the configuration list, observe the following for reference:

• Title = Name of the entry, usually the same name as the document library
• WebURL = the web URL of the site that the feature is activated on
• SharePointList = SharePoint Document library that will incorporate the security event handler feature
• Group 1 = the groups(or user) that will be given access to the document.
• Group 2 = the groups(or user) that will be given access to the document.
• RoleType = type of permissions the groups are given access to the document (default is Contribute).

Connecting to the Configuration List

A method that I created that gathered the information from the configuration list is called SetConfiguration. This method allows the user to pass in 2 parameters, a SPWeb & document library name. 

Since the configuration list shouldn’t change often, I decided to cache the values, so that the setting of the configuration is kept to a minumum. Line 19 shows me inserting the values into the HttpRuntime.Cache, expiring after 1 day (DateTime.Now.AddHours(24)).  Therefore, next time this method is called, it will be able to populate the SPListItem without parsing through the MOSS list. The SPListItem specifies a specific row or item in a list. To determine this row, I used a SPQuery method utilizing CAML to retrieve the SharePointList values where it matches the current document library that the feature is running. I then call the SPList GetItems method to populate a list item collection.

   1: #region SetConfiguration

   2:         private void SetConfiguration(SPWeb sWeb, string docLibName)

   3:         {

   4:             SPListItem configurationListItemForDocLib = HttpRuntime.Cache.Get(docLibName) as SPListItem;

   5:             if (configurationListItemForDocLib == null)

   6:             {

   7:                 //List name of configuration settings

   8:                 SPList spListConfig = sWeb.Lists["ItemLevelSecurityConfiguration"];

   9:  

  10:                 //Query the ItemLevelSecurityConfiguration SharePoint list where the entry matches the current document library.

  11:                 SPQuery spQuery = new SPQuery();

  12:                 spQuery.Query = "<Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='SharePointList' /><Value Type='Text'>" + docLibName + "</Value></Eq></Where>";

  13:                 spQuery.RowLimit = 1;

  14:  

  15:                 SPListItemCollection collListItems = spListConfig.GetItems(spQuery);

  16:                 if (collListItems.Count != 0)

  17:                 {

  18:                     configurationListItemForDocLib = collListItems[0];

  19:                     HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert(docLibName, configurationListItemForDocLib, null, DateTime.Now.AddHours(24), System.Web.Caching.Cache.NoSlidingExpiration);

  20:                 }

  21:             }

  22:  

  23:             if (configurationListItemForDocLib != null)

  24:             {

  25:                 sharePointList = configurationListItemForDocLib["SharePointList"].ToString();

  26:                 Group1 = (SPFieldUserValueCollection)configurationListItemForDocLib["Group 1"];

  27:                 Group2 = (SPFieldUserValueCollection)configurationListItemForDocLib["Group 2"];

  28:                 roleType = configurationListItemForDocLib["RoleType"].ToString();

  29:  

  30:                 applySecurity = true;

  31:             }

  32:             else

  33:             {

  34:                 applySecurity = false;

  35:             }

  36:         }

  37:  

  38:         #endregion

Now we have a customizable list and a connection for this list. The next post will show the ways to apply the security to the individual documents.