Work with user profiles and organization profiles by using the server object model in SharePoint

Article
03/20/2023

Learn how to create, retrieve, and change SharePoint user profiles and user profile properties programmatically by using the SharePoint server object model.

What are user profiles in SharePoint?

In SharePoint, user profiles represent SharePoint users. User profile properties represent information about the users and also about the properties themselves. For example, properties include the account name or email address of a user and the data type of a property. You can use the server object model to programmatically create, retrieve, and change user profiles, profile subtypes, and profile properties.

Note

For more information about common programming tasks for working with user profiles and the API that you use to perform the tasks, see Work with user profiles in SharePoint.

Prerequisites for setting up your development environment to work with user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

To create a console application that uses the server object model to work with user profiles and user profile properties, you'll need:

SharePoint with the profile created for the current user.
Visual Studio 2012.
Permissions to create, retrieve, and change user profile objects. (Creating and modifying profiles requires the Modify User Profiles permission.)

Create a console application that works with user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

Open Visual Studio and choose File, New, Project.
In the New Project dialog box, choose .NET Framework 4.5 from the drop-down list at the top of the dialog box.
In the Templates list, choose Windows, and then choose Console Application.
Name the project UserProfilesSSOM, and then choose the OK button.

Note: Make sure the Prefer 32-bit setting is not selected in the project's Build properties.

Add references to the following assemblies:

Microsoft.Office.Server
Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles
Microsoft.SharePoint
System.Web

Replace the contents of the Program class with the code example from one of the following scenarios:

To test the console application, on the menu bar, choose Debug, Start Debugging. You can check your changes from the Manage Profile Service page for the user profile service application in Central Administration.

Code example: Create user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

In SharePoint, user profiles represent SharePoint users. Profile types and subtypes help categorize profiles into groups, such as employees or customers. Profile types and subtypes are used to set common profile properties and attributes at the subtype level. SharePoint Server includes a default user profile subtype.

The following code example creates a UserProfile object that is associated with the default user profile subtype. Some user profile properties are automatically populated with information that is imported from the directory that contains user accounts, such as Active Directory Domain Services. For a code example that creates a custom subtype, see ProfileSubtype .

Note

Change the domain\username andservername placeholder values before you run the code.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
namespace UserProfilesSSOM
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Replace "domain\\username" and "servername" with actual values.
            string newAccountName = "domain\\username";
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://servername"))
            {
                SPServiceContext serviceContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(site);
                try
                {

                    // Create a user profile that uses the default user profile
                    // subtype.
                    UserProfileManager userProfileMgr = new UserProfileManager(serviceContext);
                    UserProfile userProfile = userProfileMgr.CreateUserProfile(newAccountName);

                    Console.WriteLine("A profile was created for " + userProfile.DisplayName);
                    Console.Read();
                }

                catch (System.Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(e.GetType().ToString() + ": " + e.Message);
                    Console.Read();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Code example: Create user profile properties by using the SharePoint server object model

User profile properties describe personal and organizational information about users. You can create and add a custom profile property to the default set of SharePoint profile properties.

A profile property and its attributes are represented by a set of linked objects: a CoreProperty object, a ProfileTypeProperty object, and a ProfileSubtypeProperty object.

The following code example creates a CoreProperty that has a URL data type (or optionally a CoreProperty that has a multivalue string data type). In addition, it creates a ProfileTypeProperty and a ProfileTypeProperty that define availability, privacy, and other settings for the property. The ProfileSubtypeProperty.DefaultPrivacy property controls the visibility of properties and other My Site content. For a complete list of the possible data types for profile property values, see PropertyDataType .

Note

Change the servername placeholder value before you run the code.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
namespace UserProfilesSSOM
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Replace "servername" with an actual value.
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://servername"))
            {
                SPServiceContext serviceContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(site);
                try
                {
                    ProfilePropertyManager profilePropMgr = new UserProfileConfigManager(serviceContext).ProfilePropertyManager;
                    CorePropertyManager corePropMgr = profilePropMgr.GetCoreProperties();

                    // Create a URL property.
                    CoreProperty coreProp = corePropMgr.Create(false);
                    coreProp.Name = "AppsWebsite";
                    coreProp.DisplayName = "Apps site";
                    coreProp.Type = PropertyDataType.URL;
                    coreProp.Length = 100;
                    corePropMgr.Add(coreProp);

                    //// Create a multivalue property.
                    //// To create this property, comment out the previous
                    //// block of code and uncomment this block of code.
                    //CoreProperty coreProp = corePropMgr.Create(false);
                    //coreProp.Name = "PublishedAppsList";
                    //coreProp.DisplayName = "Published apps";
                    //coreProp.Type = PropertyDataType.StringMultiValue;
                    //coreProp.IsMultivalued = true;
                    //coreProp.Length = 100;
                    //corePropMgr.Add(coreProp);

                    // Create a profile type property and make the core property 
                    // visible in the Details section page.
                    ProfileTypePropertyManager typePropMgr = profilePropMgr.GetProfileTypeProperties(ProfileType.User);
                    ProfileTypeProperty typeProp = typePropMgr.Create(coreProp);
                    typeProp.IsVisibleOnViewer = true;
                    typePropMgr.Add(typeProp);

                    // Create a profile subtype property.
                    ProfileSubtypeManager subtypeMgr = ProfileSubtypeManager.Get(serviceContext);
                    ProfileSubtype subtype = subtypeMgr.GetProfileSubtype(ProfileSubtypeManager.GetDefaultProfileName(ProfileType.User));
                    ProfileSubtypePropertyManager subtypePropMgr = profilePropMgr.GetProfileSubtypeProperties(subtype.Name);
                    ProfileSubtypeProperty subtypeProp = subtypePropMgr.Create(typeProp);
                    subtypeProp.IsUserEditable = true;
                    subtypeProp.DefaultPrivacy = Privacy.Public;
                    subtypeProp.UserOverridePrivacy = true;
                    subtypePropMgr.Add(subtypeProp);

                    Console.WriteLine("The properties were created.");
                    Console.Read();
                }

                catch (System.Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(e.GetType().ToString() + ": " + e.Message);
                    Console.Read();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Code example: Retrieve and change user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

The following code example retrieves all user profiles within the context and changes the value of a user's DisplayName property. Most profile properties are accessed by using the UserProfile.Item accessor.

Note

Change the domain\username andservername placeholder values before you run the code.


using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
namespace UserProfilesSSOM
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Replace "domain\\username" and "servername" with actual values.
            string targetAccountName = "domain\\username";
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://servername"))
            {
                SPServiceContext serviceContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(site);
                try
                {

                    // Retrieve and iterate through all of the user profiles in this context.
                    Console.WriteLine("Retrieving user profiles:");
                    UserProfileManager userProfileMgr = new UserProfileManager(serviceContext);
                    IEnumerator userProfiles = userProfileMgr.GetEnumerator();
                    while (userProfiles.MoveNext())
                    {
                        UserProfile userProfile = (UserProfile)userProfiles.Current;
                        Console.WriteLine(userProfile.AccountName);
                    }

                    // Retrieve a specific user profile. Change the value of a user profile property
                    // and save (commit) the change on the server.
                    UserProfile user = userProfileMgr.GetUserProfile(targetAccountName);
                    Console.WriteLine("\\nRetrieving user profile for " + user.DisplayName + ".");
                    user.DisplayName = "Pat";
                    user.Commit();
                    Console.WriteLine("\\nThe user\\'s display name has been changed.");
                    Console.Read();
                }

                catch (System.Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(e.GetType().ToString() + ": " + e.Message);
                    Console.Read();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Code example: Retrieve and change attributes for user profile properties by using the SharePoint server object model

The following code example retrieves the set of properties that represent a specific user property and its attributes, and then it changes the CoreProperty.DisplayName attribute, ProfileTypeProperty.IsVisibleOnViewer attribute, and ProfileSubtypeProperty.PrivacyPolicy attribute. These changes apply globally to the property set. ProfileSubtypeProperty.PrivacyPolicy specifies whether users are required to provide a value for the property. PrivacyPolicy applies to user profile properties only.

Note

Change the servername placeholder value before you run the code.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
namespace UserProfilesSSOM
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Replace "servername" with an actual value.
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://servername"))
            {
                SPServiceContext serviceContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(site);
                try
                {
                    ProfilePropertyManager profilePropMgr = new UserProfileConfigManager(serviceContext).ProfilePropertyManager;
                    ProfileSubtypePropertyManager subtypePropMgr = profilePropMgr.GetProfileSubtypeProperties("UserProfile");

                    // Retrieve a specific property set (a profile subtype property and
                    // its associated core and profile type properties).
                    // Changing these properties affects all instances of this property set.
                    ProfileSubtypeProperty subtypeProp = subtypePropMgr.GetPropertyByName(PropertyConstants.Title);
                    CoreProperty coreProp = subtypeProp.CoreProperty;
                    ProfileTypeProperty typeProp = subtypeProp.TypeProperty;

                    Console.WriteLine("Property name: " + coreProp.DisplayName);
                    Console.WriteLine("IsVisibleOnViewer = " + typeProp.IsVisibleOnViewer);
                    Console.WriteLine("PrivacyPolicy = " + subtypeProp.PrivacyPolicy);
                    Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to change the values.");
                    Console.Read();

                    // Change attributes on the properties and save (commit) the changes
                    // on the server.
                    coreProp.DisplayName = "Position";
                    coreProp.Commit();
                    typeProp.IsVisibleOnViewer = true;
                    typeProp.Commit();
                    subtypeProp.PrivacyPolicy = PrivacyPolicy.OptOut;
                    subtypeProp.Commit();
                    Console.WriteLine("The property attributes have been changed.");
                    Console.Read();
                }

                catch (System.Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(e.GetType().ToString() + ": " + e.Message);
                    Console.Read();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Code example: Retrieve and change values for user properties by using the SharePoint server object model

The following code example retrieves all UserProfile type properties and retrieves the property values for a specific user. Then, it changes the single-value PictureUrl property and the multivalue PastProjects property. For the complete list of profile property name constants, see PropertyConstants .

Note

Change the domain\username, http://servername/docLib/pic.jpg, and servername placeholder values before you run the code.


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Office.Server;
using Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System.Web;
namespace UserProfilesSSOM
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Replace "domain\\username," "http://servername/docLib/pic.jpg," and "servername" with actual values.
            string accountName = "domain\\username";
            string newPictureUrl = "http://servername/docLib/pic.jpg";
            using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://servername"))
            {
                SPServiceContext serviceContext = SPServiceContext.GetContext(site);

                try
                {
                    UserProfileManager userProfileMgr = new UserProfileManager(serviceContext);
                    ProfilePropertyManager profilePropMgr = new UserProfileConfigManager(serviceContext).ProfilePropertyManager;
                   
                    // Retrieve all properties for the "UserProfile" profile subtype,
                    // and retrieve the property values for a specific user.
                    ProfileSubtypePropertyManager subtypePropMgr = profilePropMgr.GetProfileSubtypeProperties("UserProfile");
                    UserProfile userProfile = userProfileMgr.GetUserProfile(accountName);
                    IEnumerator<ProfileSubtypeProperty> userProfileSubtypeProperties = subtypePropMgr.GetEnumerator();
                    while (userProfileSubtypeProperties.MoveNext())
                    {
                        string propName = userProfileSubtypeProperties.Current.Name;
                        ProfileValueCollectionBase values = userProfile.GetProfileValueCollection(propName);
                        if (values.Count > 0)
                        {

                            // Handle multivalue properties.
                            foreach (var value in values)
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine(propName + ": " + value.ToString());
                            }
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine(propName + ": ");
                        }
                    }
                    Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to change the values.");
                    Console.Read();

                    // Change the value of a single-value user property.
                    userProfile[PropertyConstants.PictureUrl].Value = newPictureUrl;

                    // Add a value to a multivalue user property.
                    userProfile[PropertyConstants.PastProjects].Add((object)"Team Feed App");
                    userProfile[PropertyConstants.PastProjects].Add((object)"Social Ratings View web part");

                    // Save the changes to the server.
                    userProfile.Commit();
                    Console.WriteLine("The property values for the user have been changed.");
                    Console.Read();
                }

                catch (System.Exception e)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(e.GetType().ToString() + ": " + e.Message);
                    Console.Read();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

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Work with user profiles and organization profiles by using the server object model in SharePoint

What are user profiles in SharePoint?

Prerequisites for setting up your development environment to work with user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

Create a console application that works with user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

Code example: Create user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

Code example: Create user profile properties by using the SharePoint server object model

Code example: Retrieve and change user profiles by using the SharePoint server object model

Code example: Retrieve and change attributes for user profile properties by using the SharePoint server object model

Code example: Retrieve and change values for user properties by using the SharePoint server object model

See also

Additional resources