SharePoint/MOSS - Deleting other people's un-checked-in items from a list

Question

A simple scenario:

I want to delete a pagelayout that is out-dated from our MOSS publishing site. An ex-colleague has created a new page using this page layout and he has not checked it in. I can't delete the pagelayout because his file is referencing it. I can't 'see' the file because it hasn't been checked in, to remove it.

I've tried SPFolder.Items, SPList.GetItemById(), couple of other object model methods. But SharePoint simply won't show that item to me. I've even poked around SPList.GetItem(new SPQuery() { IncludeAllUserPermissions = true; })

Anyone know how to get rid of this item? :-)

Answer 1

Abs's answer lead us gave us the hint - hey how does the ManageCheckedOutFiles page see the files not yet checked-in by other users?

1. go to ~layouts/ManageCheckedOutFiles.aspx
2. inherits from Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.ManageCheckedOutFilesPage
3. reflector 12\CONFIG\BIN\Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.dll
4. in protected void PrepareContent() we read the key lines:
5. IList checkedOutFiles = this.CurrentList.CheckedOutFiles;

so back in our code

SPDocumentLibrary doclib = PublishingWeb.PagesList as SPDocumentLibrary;
foreach(var checkedoutfile in doclib.CheckedOutFiles)
{
    checkedoutfile.TakeOverCheckOut();
    var file = doclib.GetItemById(checkedoutfile.ListItemId);
    file.CheckIn();
}

Thanks everyone :-)

Answer 2

If you are a site collection administrator, you can also force a check in of the other person's checked out file. The trick is that you have to know what library it's in. If you know that, you can navigate to that library, then do the following things:

1. Click on Settings -> Document Library Settings (or List Settings, I suppose)
2. Click on Manage checked out files in the Permissions and Management column
3. You should now see a list of checked out files, which you can select, then click on Take Ownership of Selection in the toolbar.
4. Once you've done that, you can check the file in yourself.