How To Remove Drop-Off Libraries

How To Remove Drop-Off Libraries

As previously discussed, Sharepoint automatically creates a tin-eared list of nonsense whenever you turn on or change any aspect of its development. Some of this stuff looks useful when it arrives, and my favourite of these is the drop-off library.

Why Remove The Drop-Off Library
Drop-off libraries are supposed to be document routing catchment basins. People upload a document and fill out some metadata, Sharepoint routes the docs according to rules set up by the admin who runs the thing. The documents go to somewhere retrievable, possibly for long-term storage. It relies on computers doing things automatically, which sounds fantastic and should work really well.

Sadly, should you set up a drop library to accept a document in an anonymous way, then someone uploads the document without metadata, the upload won't fail.

No. It will upload a doc without metadata, kick the event handler, and leave the doc in the library, issuing No-Metadata warnings periodically. Should someone then fill in the metadata, the event handler then does not re-kick. No. The document simply becomes public to whomever can see the thing. Approving it also does not kick the handler. The handler is asleep. The content router is therefore of only moderate use; you will be writing your own event handlers and your own Byzantine submission guidelines, or you will be hand-picking your permissions settings.

In cases where you've been asked to do both of these things, you will want to get rid of the drop-off library.

The Drop-Off Library is protected and comes sans the Delete This Library link. Which you need.

There are a number of blog posts on the internet about how this is very straightforward, as you can use the Client Object Model, PowerShell, or Sharepoint Manager 201x to do this chore, which must be clear to people who have been administering MS products for more than three years, but I assure you is not to the rest of us.

What is the Client Object Model?
As far as I am aware, an object model is what you use to describe the construction plans and dependencies for your software. There are twenty links under Microsoft's USING THE CLIENT OBJECT MODEL page, one of which is "Creating Windows Console Managed Client Object Model Applications," none of which are "Open a CMD browser (on relevant machine/on local machine) (screencap) and type "sudo drop (relevant-path)
ARE YOU SURE -p
YES"

Good luck learning things of use on a deadline there.

What is PowerShell?
Microsoft appears to have re-written the command line to include... cmdlets. Also a vast portal on the greatness of PowerShell. Possibly, if you already know PowerShell, or any shell, this will be useful to you. But I have twenty minutes to get rid of a load of drop libraries. This is not useful either.

Sharepoint Manager 201x Looks Dodgy
Doesn't it just! But it's from CodePlex, so it's probably okay. Probably. Be fair, your network is full of zombienets already, and you REALLY need to get rid of those libraries. There are four ditched documents in Education already. They keep e-mailing you. Fail.

Sharepoint Manager is findable in all three flavours, 2007, 2010 and 2013, at http://spm.codeplex.com/.

1. Download Sharepoint Manager.
2. Install it on the computer running the instance of Sharepoint you wish to Manage.
3. Profit! You can find the lists you're looking to edit in the folder browser, and their relevant properties in the right-hand window.
4. Navigate to the relevant site, with the relevant Drop Library.
5. Set the "AllowDeletion" to True
6. Save all changes
7. Return to your local computer from your remote browse window
8. Open your local instance of IE and delete the libraries as normal
9. Feel smug* about the world and knock off for lunch.