Creating Dynamic Module Items Using the Module Builder API

Creating Dynamic Module Items Using the Module Builder API

Posted on January 26, 2012 0 Comments
Creating Dynamic Module Items Using the Module

The content you're reading is getting on in years
This post is on the older side and its content may be out of date.
Be sure to visit our blogs homepage for our latest news, updates and information.

We previously looked at how you can retrieve dynamic module items using the Module Builder API. Today we'll take a look at how you can use that same API to also create new items.

Using the sample code from the Code Reference (generated for every dynamic module you create) you can easily develop a new public widget that allows your site visitors to create items. Because dynamic module items support the Content Lifecycle, you can prevent these items from being published before they are reviewed.

For this example, we will once again be using the Showcases module example that Gabe created and has available on the Module Builder Webinar notes.

Submit Showcases Widget

Because Sitefinity widgets are simply user controls, all we really need to do is create a new User Control and add our input markup plus the backing code to write that data to the API. Start with the frontend of the User Control:

<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="SubmitShowcase.ascx.cs" Inherits="SitefinityWebApp.Modules.Showcases.SubmitShowcase" %><%@ Register Assembly="Telerik.Sitefinity" Namespace="Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.Fields" TagPrefix="sf" %><div class="sfShowcaseSubmitForm"> <p>Do you have a website you would like us to feature? Submit it below!</p> <div> <label for="Title" class="txtLbl">Company or Website Name</label> <asp:TextBox ID="Title" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" /> </div> <div> <label for="SiteUrl" class="txtLbl">Site Url</label> <asp:TextBox ID="SiteUrl" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" /> </div> <div> <label for="LaunchDate" class="txtLbl">Launch Date</label> <telerik:RadDatePicker ID="LaunchDate" runat="server" ClientIDMode="Static" /> <div> <label for="Industries" class="txtLbl">Industry</label> <asp:DropDownList ID="Industries" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" /> </div> <div> <label class="txtLbl">Case Study Features</label> <asp:CheckBoxList ID="FeaturesList" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" RepeatColumns="4" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" RepeatLayout="Table" /> </div> <div> <label for="Countries" class="txtLbl">Country</label> <asp:DropDownList ID="Countries" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" /> </div> <div> <label>Sitefinity Version</label> <asp:RadioButtonList ID="Version" runat="server"> <asp:ListItem Text="Sitefinity 3.x" Value="Sitefinity 3.x" /> <asp:ListItem Text="Sitefinity 4.x" Value="Sitefinity 4.x" /> </asp:RadioButtonList> </div> <div> <label for="Thumbnail" class="txtLbl">Website Screenshot</label> <telerik:RadUpload ID="Thumbnail" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" AllowedFileExtensions=".gif,.jpg,.jpeg,.png" MaxFileInputsCount="1" InputSize="45" ControlObjectsVisibility="None" /> <div> <label for="CaseStudy" class="txtLbl">Case Study (PDF)</label> <telerik:RadUpload ID="CaseStudy" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" AllowedFileExtensions=".pdf" MaxFileInputsCount="1" InputSize="45" ControlObjectsVisibility="None" /> <div> <label for="Content" class="txtLbl">Case Study</label> <sf:FormManager ID="formManager" runat="server" /> <sf:HtmlField ID="Content" ClientIDMode="Static" runat="server" Width="99%" Height="370px" DisplayMode="Write" FixCursorIssue="True" /> </div> <div> <asp:Button ID="btnSubmit" runat="server" Text="Submit" OnClick="Submit" /> </div> <telerik:RadInputManager ID="RadInput" runat="server"> <telerik:RegExpTextBoxSetting ValidationExpression="http(s)?://([\w-]+\.)+[\w-]+(/[\w- ./?%&amp;=]*)?" ClearValueOnError="false"> <TargetControls> <telerik:TargetInput ControlID="SiteUrl" /> </TargetControls> </telerik:RegExpTextBoxSetting> <telerik:TextBoxSetting Validation-IsRequired="true"> <TargetControls> <telerik:TargetInput ControlID="Title" /> <telerik:TargetInput ControlID="SiteUrl" /> <telerik:TargetInput ControlID="LaunchDate" /> <telerik:TargetInput ControlID="Content" /> </TargetControls> </telerik:TextBoxSetting> </telerik:RadInputManager> </div> </div> </div></div>

This is simply a collection of input controls to collect the data from the user that corresponds to the fields for our dynamic content type. For simplicity, we've excluded validation controls.

Choice Fields

In the current version of Sitefinity (4.4 as of today), choice fields used by the module do not yet persist the valid list of items anywhere other than on the backend sitefinity forms that are created by the module. As a result, it is not yet possible to automatically bind input controls such as dropdown menus and radio buttons to those choices, but instead must be manually populated.

This is what we have done in the code above for the Sitefinity Version field, and explicitly defined the valid choices for our module.

Future versions of the module builder will address this so that you can access these choices and bind to them automatically.

Code-Behind: On Control Load

Although we cannot bind to choice fields automatically, there are some controls we can load automatically using the regular Sitefinity API. Specifically we can pre-load the Taxonomy fields for Industry, Features, and Countries.

For this I've defined a helper method that will retrieve the list taxon items for a taxonomy based on the name of the parent taxonomy title.

private IEnumerable<ITaxon> GetTaxonomy<TTaxonomy>(string TaxonomyName) where TTaxonomy : class, ITaxonomy{
    // bind categories selector var taxMgr = TaxonomyManager.GetManager();
    var taxonomy = taxMgr.GetTaxonomies<TTaxonomy>().Where(t => t.Title == TaxonomyName).FirstOrDefault();
    if (taxonomy == null) return null;

    // return taxa items var taxa = taxonomy.Taxa;
    return taxa;
}

Now we can simply call that helper method on the Page_Load event so that our taxonomy controls are loaded and bound.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (IsPostBack) return;

    // bind Industries menu foreach (var industry in GetTaxonomy<HierarchicalTaxonomy>("Industries"))
    {
        var item = new ListItem(industry.Title, industry.Id.ToString());
        Industries.Items.Add(item);
    }

    // bind features selectors foreach (var feature in GetTaxonomy<FlatTaxonomy>("Features"))
    {
        var chk = new ListItem(feature.Title, feature.Id.ToString());
        FeaturesList.Items.Add(chk);
    }

    // bind countries selectors foreach (var country in GetTaxonomy<FlatTaxonomy>("Countries"))
    {
        var item = new ListItem(country.Title, country.Id.ToString());
        Countries.Items.Add(item);
    }
}

Code-Behind: On Submit

Once the user completes the form and submits it, we want to save that data into a new dynamic module item. Because we have media fields in our content model, we need to first support uploading of media to the Sitefinity Images and Documents modules. This is done with helper methods of each type that write the file contained in a RadUpload control to the database.

protected Telerik.Sitefinity.Libraries.Model.Image UploadImage(RadUpload radUploader, string title)
{
    Telerik.Sitefinity.Libraries.Model.Image img = null;
    if (radUploader.UploadedFiles.Count == 0) return img;

    // select showcases album var imgMgr = LibrariesManager.GetManager();
    var album = imgMgr.GetAlbums().Where(a => a.Title == "Showcase Screenshots").FirstOrDefault();
    
    // prepare transaction using (var sf = App.Prepare().SetTransactionName("UploadTransaction").WorkWith())
    {
        // temporarily disable security checks to allow image creation without login sf.Images().GetManager().Provider.SuppressSecurityChecks = true;

        // save image properties img = imgMgr.CreateImage();
        img.Parent = album;
        img.Title = title;
        img.UrlName = title + "_Screenshot";
        img.Status = Telerik.Sitefinity.GenericContent.Model.ContentLifecycleStatus.Master;

        // upload Image var file = radUploader.UploadedFiles[0];
        imgMgr.Upload(img, file.InputStream, file.GetExtension());
        imgMgr.Publish(img);
        imgMgr.SaveChanges();

        // re-enable security sf.Images().GetManager().Provider.SuppressSecurityChecks = false;
    }

    // return image so it can be associated with module content item return img;
}

protected Telerik.Sitefinity.Libraries.Model.Document UploadDocument(RadUpload radUploader, string title)
{
    Telerik.Sitefinity.Libraries.Model.Document doc = null;
    if (CaseStudy.UploadedFiles.Count == 0) return doc;

    // select showcases album var docMgr = LibrariesManager.GetManager();
    var album = docMgr.GetDocumentLibraries().Where(a => a.Title == "Showcase Case Studies").FirstOrDefault();

    // prepare transaction using (var sf = App.Prepare().SetTransactionName("UploadTransaction").WorkWith())
    {
        // temporarily disable security checks to allow image creation without login sf.Documents().GetManager().Provider.SuppressSecurityChecks = true;

        // save image properties doc = docMgr.CreateDocument();
        doc.Parent = album;
        doc.Title = title;
        doc.UrlName = title;
        doc.Status = Telerik.Sitefinity.GenericContent.Model.ContentLifecycleStatus.Master;

        // upload Image var file = radUploader.UploadedFiles[0];
        docMgr.Upload(doc, file.InputStream, file.GetExtension());
        docMgr.Publish(doc);
        docMgr.SaveChanges();

        // re-enable security sf.Documents().GetManager().Provider.SuppressSecurityChecks = false;
    }

    // return image so it can be associated with module content item return doc;
}

Finally, we simply go through each field and map the simple properties (text, datetime, boolean, etc) using the SetValue() extension method.

NOTE: be sure to include the using Telerik.Sitefinity.Model namespace to use this extension method.

public void Submit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // initialize the dynamic module content manager DynamicModuleManager mgr = DynamicModuleManager.GetManager();
    

    // initialize a new [ModuleItem] Type showcaseType = TypeResolutionService.ResolveType("Telerik.Sitefinity.DynamicTypes.Model.Showcases.Showcase");
    DynamicContent showcaseItem = mgr.CreateDataItem(showcaseType);

    // save simple fields to the item var title = Title.Text.Trim();
    showcaseItem.SetValue("Title", title);
    showcaseItem.SetValue("SiteUrl", SiteUrl.Text);    
    showcaseItem.SetValue("LaunchDate", LaunchDate.SelectedDate);
    showcaseItem.SetValue("UrlName", new Lstring(title.Replace(" ", "-"))); // TODO: use regex to strip characters showcaseItem.SetValue("Content", Content.Value.ToString());
    showcaseItem.SetValue("Platform", new string[] { Version.SelectedValue });

    // save selected country showcaseItem.Organizer.AddTaxa("countries", new Guid(Countries.SelectedValue));

    // save selected category showcaseItem.Organizer.AddTaxa("industries", new Guid(Industries.SelectedValue));

    // save selected tags foreach (ListItem tag in FeaturesList.Items)
        if (tag.Selected) showcaseItem.Organizer.AddTaxa("features", new Guid(tag.Value));

    // save thumbnail if present var img = UploadImage(Thumbnail, title);
    if (img != null)
    {
        var contentLink = new ContentLink(img.Parent.Id, img.Id);
        var screenshots = new List<ContentLink>() { contentLink };
        showcaseItem.SetValue("Screenshot", screenshots.ToArray());
    }

    // save document if present var doc = UploadDocument(CaseStudy, title);
    if (doc != null)
    {
        var contentLink = new ContentLink(doc.Parent.Id, doc.Id);
        var screenshots = new List<ContentLink>() { contentLink };
        showcaseItem.SetValue("CaseStudy", screenshots.ToArray());
    }

    // You need to call SaveChanges() in order for the items to be actually persisted to data store showcaseItem.SetValue("Owner", SecurityManager.GetCurrentUserId());
    showcaseItem.SetValue("PublicationDate", DateTime.Now);
    
    // uncomment this line to publish the item instead of saving as draft //mgr.Lifecycle.Publish(showcaseItem); mgr.SaveChanges();
    
    //// TODO: enable workflow //var contextBag = new Dictionary<string, string>(); //contextBag.Add("ContentType", showcaseType.FullName); //WorkflowManager.MessageWorkflow( // showcaseItem.Id, // showcaseType, // null, // "SendForApproval", // false, // contextBag);}

By default, items created will remain in Draft status. To publish an item, simply uncomment the line in the code above the SaveChanges() method.

mgr.Lifecycle.Publish(showcaseItem);

Wrapping Up

With just a few lines of code on a single user control, we were able to quickly extend our module to allow public users to add content items. The Code Reference is full of additional helpful examples to help you customize and make the most of your new dynamic modules.

If you haven't already, take some time to try out the new Module Builder, and as always, be sure to share your experiences with us in the Sitefinity Discussion Forums.

progress-logo

The Progress Team

View all posts from The Progress Team on the Progress blog. Connect with us about all things application development and deployment, data integration and digital business.

Comments

Comments are disabled in preview mode.
Topics

Sitefinity Training and Certification Now Available.

Let our experts teach you how to use Sitefinity's best-in-class features to deliver compelling digital experiences.

Learn More
Latest Stories
in Your Inbox

Subscribe to get all the news, info and tutorials you need to build better business apps and sites

Loading animation