Introduction:

SharePoint 2010 provides the capability to subscribe the content through a feature called "Alerts". Alerts can be subscribed for at one of the four levels list, document library, list item and document. This also enables you to be notified by e-mail of any changes made to the content of your SharePoint Web site. In this article we will be seeing how to create an alert for a particular user and for a specified document library using the SharePoint object model.
For configuring alerts in SharePoint 2010 through out of the box refer to my previous article http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/anavijai/7593/ (Copy and paste the hyperlink).

SPAlert Class:

This class is used to represent an alert, which generates periodic e-mail or Short Message Service (SMS) notifications sent to a user about the list, list item, document, or document library to which the alert applies. Using this class we will be creating a new alert for a document library.

Steps involved:
  • Open Visual Studio 2010.
  • Go to File => New => Project.
  • Select Console Application template from the installed templates.
  • Add the following references.
    • Microsoft.SharePoint
  • Add the following namespaces.
    • using Microsoft.SharePoint;
  • Replace Program.cs with the following code.

    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Text;
    using Microsoft.SharePoint;

    namespace Alerts
    {
    class Program
     {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
    using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://serverName:22222/sites/TestSite/"))
    {
    using (SPWeb web = site.RootWeb)
    {
    SPList list=web.Lists.TryGetList("Shared Documents");
    SPUser user = web.EnsureUser(@"domainName\userName");
    SPAlert newAlert = user.Alerts.Add();
    newAlert.Title = "My Custom Alert";
    newAlert.AlertType=SPAlertType.List;
    newAlert.List = list;
    newAlert.DeliveryChannels = SPAlertDeliveryChannels.Email;
    newAlert.EventType = SPEventType.Add;
    newAlert.AlertFrequency = SPAlertFrequency.Immediate;
    newAlert.Update();
    }
    }
    }
    }
    }

  • Build the solution.
  • Hit F5.
  • Go to Site Actions => Site Settings =>Site Administration => User Alerts.

    Share1.gif
  • Select the user from the drop down to show all the alerts created by that user and click on "Update".

    Share2.gif
  • A new alert is created successfully using SharePoint object model.
  • An alternative method to check the newly created alert is to go to the Shared Documents (I have mentioned to create an alert for Shared Documents in my code) => in the ribbon interface, select Library Tools => Library => Alert Me.

    Share3.gif
  • Click on "Manage my alerts".
  • You should be able to see the alert created as shown in the following.

    Share4.gif

SPAlertType Enumeration:

It is used to specify the type of item to which an alert applies. Here I am applying the alert to the document library, so I have chosen "List" as my alert type.

Share5.gif

SPAlertDeliveryChannels Enumeration:

It is used to specify the method of delivering alerts.

Share6.gif

SPAlertFrequency Enumeration:

It is used to specify the time interval for sending an alert about changes to a specific list, list item, document library, or document.

Share7.gif

SPEventType Enumeration:

It is used to specify the type of event for a list, list item, document, or document library to which an alert responds.

Share8.gif