Cannot recycle a Sitecore CMS Item from a Windows Service

Question

I am using a Windows Service which does cleanup jobs on Sitecore Items (inactive or old products) and when I am trying to delete them I cannot.

if (qItem != null)
{
 qItem.Recycle();
}

Relevat StackTrace is:

Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
StackTrace:   at Sitecore.Tasks.ItemEventHandler.OnItemDeleted(Object sender, EventArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.EventSubscribers.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters, EventResult result)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.EventSubscribers.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.RaiseEvent(String eventName, Object[] parameters)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.RaiseItemDeleted(Object sender, ItemDeletedEventArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Events.Event.DataEngine_ItemDeleted(Object sender, ExecutedEventArgs`1 e)
   at System.EventHandler`1.Invoke(Object sender, TEventArgs e)
   at Sitecore.Data.Engines.EngineCommand`2.RaiseExecuted()
   at Sitecore.Data.Engines.DataEngine.RaiseDeletedItem(Item item, ID parentId, Boolean result)
   at Sitecore.Data.Archiving.Archive.NotifyItemDeleted(Item item, ID parentId)
   at Sitecore.Data.Archiving.SqlArchive.DoArchiveItems(IEnumerable`1 items, Guid archivalId)
   at Sitecore.Data.Archiving.SqlArchive.DoArchiveItems(IEnumerable`1 items, Guid archivalId)
   at Sitecore.Data.Archiving.SqlArchive.ArchiveItem(Item item)
   at Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Recycle()

I mention again that this error I get only if I recycle an item from a Windows Service. Same recycle works ok from Web app.

In Web app I am logged in into sitecore and user is admin, so he has some rights.

In Windows Service the user (Sitecore.Context.User) is "default\Anonymous".

To bypass security checks I surrounded the Recycle call inside a SecurityDisabler using but without results.

Do I need to login into Sitecore from my Windows Service? If yes, how can I do that?

Or is there another way to recycle/delete Sitecore Item from a non-web application?

Here is the code that runs and throws a Access Denied Exception (it does not run inside a SecurityDisabler context):

Recycle item directly, not inside a security disabler. Here is the code that recycles item inside a SecurityDisabler context. No Access Denied exception now, but a "Object reference not set to an instance" exception.

Recycle item inside a SecurityDisabler context

You could try the web service. You can find it under /sitecore/shell/WebService — Lloyd

nickwesselman nickwesselman · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-03T13:57:55

Looking in Reflector at the method (Sitecore.Tasks.ItemEventHandler.OnItemDeleted) which is throwing the exception, it would appear that your null reference is likely the TaskDatabase.

protected void OnItemDeleted(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
    Item item = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as Item;
    Error.AssertNotNull(item, "No item in parameters");
    using (new SecurityDisabler())
    {
        Globals.TaskDatabase.RemoveItemTasks(item);
    }
}

I assume for your windows service, you have an App.config with a stripped down Sitecore configuration. You should ensure that the /sitecore/configuration/TaskDatabase element is in your Sitecore config.

Cannot recycle a Sitecore CMS Item from a Windows Service

3 Answers