SharePoint 15 object model preview

A technical preview of the Managed Object Model Software Development Kit for SharePoint 15 was also released today and this provides some insights into what might be included in the next version of SharePoint. Some of the more interesting additions are:

The addition of a CorporateCatalog enumeration with the following values:

• StoreFront – The package is from the marketplace.
• CorporateCatalog – The package is from a corporate gallery.
• DeveloperSite – The package is from a developer site.
• ObjectModel – The package is loaded via an object model.
• RemoteObjectModel – The package is uploaded via CSOM.

New SPApp, SPAppInstance and SPAppCatalog classes. The description for the SPApp class states: “Represents an app loaded onto Microsoft SharePoint Server and ready to be installed.” which also contains a CreateAppInstance method that states “Creates an instance of an app at the specified site specified by the web parameter. The new instance can then be retrievedby using the SPAppCatalog class and using the returned ID.”

This hints at an extended deployment framework allowing more control over deployment of custom components within SharePoint. For example we also have a SPWeb.LoadAndInstallApp method that is used to upload and install an app package and a SPWeb.AppDatabaseName property.

Another potentially related addition is the SPWebApplication.IsUserLicensedForEntity method that “Checks if the currently logged in user has the proper license to access the specified entity.”