core-service via PowerShell load of all users not returning all user data

Question

I am curious if this is my issue, a defect, or something else. I am using PowerShell to connect to CME via core-service and load all users (excluding the "predefined" users). I get the user objects, but some of the properties are null. Most importantly, the Privileges property is null, even for users I know are system administrators. in fact, if I fetch such users specifically by ID, the object returned has that property set. But, when fetching them all, it doesn't. Here's how I'm loading the list.

$filter = New-Object Tridion.ContentManager.CoreService.Client.UsersFilterData
$filter.IsPredefined =$false
$client = Get-TridionCoreServiceClient
$allUsers = $client.GetSystemWideList($filter)
$client.close()
$allUsers | Format-Table -Wrap

I did test adding this line:

$filter.BaseColumns = 3

That didn't seem to make a difference. I also used a foreach over the items in case Format-Table was the issue.

foreach ($user in $allUsers)
{
    Write-Host $user.Id
    Write-Host $user.Title
    Write-Host $user.Privileges
}

That didn't make any difference either. Am I missing something to indicate that I want the entire user object?

Answer 1

This isn't specific to PowerShell. That data is simply not loaded when getting a list of users. As you might have guessed, it's for performance reasons (both time and bandwidth).

The BaseColumns flag is a generic parameter and each list supports it differently. It's fair enough to suggest that Extended could return this data, but that is not currently the case.

So yes, I'm afraid you will need to load the users individually -- or work around it in other ways. If this is a one-time thing, I'd just load them. If you regularly need to know who is an admin and who is not, I would implement an event system that sets some application data when a user is saved (don't forget to clear it when the user is no longer an admin) and then use that data instead of the regular list of users to get a list of administrators.

Answer 2

In case of doubt always call GetSystemWideListXml method. If it's there in Xml - it will be in data objects as well. You set BaseColumns.Extended, so everything seems to be right. I guess it's omitted for performance reasons as each user can have quite a few privileges. You may always re-read users you are interested in.