Setting a droplink default in a branch template

Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP

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I'm creating a branch where my home item has three drop link fields for navigation. I'm also creating the starting point for the three navigation paths in my branch. However, pre-setting the drop link fields to these navigation paths doesn't work correctly, because when the branch is created, it's referencing the original branch item, not the solution item. I'm looking for a way to properly replace these datasources at branch creation time.

branch

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asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

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up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I'm creating a branch where my home item has three drop link fields for navigation. I'm also creating the starting point for the three navigation paths in my branch. However, pre-setting the drop link fields to these navigation paths doesn't work correctly, because when the branch is created, it's referencing the original branch item, not the solution item. I'm looking for a way to properly replace these datasources at branch creation time.

branch

share|improve this question

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I'm creating a branch where my home item has three drop link fields for navigation. I'm also creating the starting point for the three navigation paths in my branch. However, pre-setting the drop link fields to these navigation paths doesn't work correctly, because when the branch is created, it's referencing the original branch item, not the solution item. I'm looking for a way to properly replace these datasources at branch creation time.

branch

share|improve this question

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

I'm creating a branch where my home item has three drop link fields for navigation. I'm also creating the starting point for the three navigation paths in my branch. However, pre-setting the drop link fields to these navigation paths doesn't work correctly, because when the branch is created, it's referencing the original branch item, not the solution item. I'm looking for a way to properly replace these datasources at branch creation time.

branch

branch

share|improve this question

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

share|improve this question

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

asked 1 hour ago

Ken McAndrew

2,135524

2,135524

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote

There isn't an OOTB way to achieve this.

But. I always use Alen Pelin's SmartCommands. Included in this package is "Smart Create From Branch" which does what you need.

Having this branch template

my branch
$name: linkField -> branchChild
branchChild: linkField -> $name

by default, the item created from this branch template becomes

createdItem: linkField -> branchChild
createdChild: linkField -> $name

With smart link replacement it becomes expected:

createdItem: linkField -> createdChild
createdChild -> createdItem

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
  – Dan Sinclair
  59 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
  – Mark Cassidy♦
  49 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

There are two possible solutions:

Not great: change the fields' type to Drop List

This will work because the names of the items underneath the relative navigation paths will be the same.

Disclaimer: This has a bad code smell. The home item no longer relates directly to an item with ID. If the selected item is moved or has its name changed, the reference is lost. (It's also more expensive to get the related item because you have to get the parent and then find the child by a specific name, vs just getting the item by ID for a Drop Link.)

Better: update the home item with code after it's created

You can attach to the item:created event and add your own code to set your field values.

1. 
   

   Create a custom class to perform the reference updates:

   
   
   

   public class SetHomeItemNavigationItems : EventBase
   
    public void ItemCreated(object sender, EventArgs args)
    
    var itemCreatedArgs = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as ItemCreatedEventArgs;
   
    Assert.IsNotNull(itemCreatedArgs, nameof(itemCreatedArgs));
   
    if (itemCreatedArgs?.Item == null)
    return;
   
    // If this item is being created in a different database (e.g. "web" because it's being published), ignore it
    if (!"master".Equals(itemCreatedArgs.Item?.Database?.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    return;
   
    using (new DatabaseSwitcher(itemCreatedArgs.Item.Database))
    
    if (itemCreatedArgs.Item.TemplateID == new ID("home-page-id"))
    
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.BeginEdit();
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 1"].Value = // get navigation item 1
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 2"].Value = // get navigation item 2
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 3"].Value = // get navigation item 3
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.EndEdit();
    
    
    
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Add a patch config file to enable your event handler:

   
   
   

   <configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
    <events>
    <event name="item:created">
    <handler type="Custom.Events.ItemCreated.SetHomeItemNavigationItems,Custom" method="ItemCreated" />
    </event>
    </events>
    </sitecore>
   </configuration>
   

   
   

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

add a comment | 

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote

There isn't an OOTB way to achieve this.

But. I always use Alen Pelin's SmartCommands. Included in this package is "Smart Create From Branch" which does what you need.

Having this branch template

my branch
$name: linkField -> branchChild
branchChild: linkField -> $name

by default, the item created from this branch template becomes

createdItem: linkField -> branchChild
createdChild: linkField -> $name

With smart link replacement it becomes expected:

createdItem: linkField -> createdChild
createdChild -> createdItem

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
  – Dan Sinclair
  59 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
  – Mark Cassidy♦
  49 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

There isn't an OOTB way to achieve this.

But. I always use Alen Pelin's SmartCommands. Included in this package is "Smart Create From Branch" which does what you need.

Having this branch template

my branch
$name: linkField -> branchChild
branchChild: linkField -> $name

by default, the item created from this branch template becomes

createdItem: linkField -> branchChild
createdChild: linkField -> $name

With smart link replacement it becomes expected:

createdItem: linkField -> createdChild
createdChild -> createdItem

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
  – Dan Sinclair
  59 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
  – Mark Cassidy♦
  49 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote

up vote
3
down vote

There isn't an OOTB way to achieve this.

But. I always use Alen Pelin's SmartCommands. Included in this package is "Smart Create From Branch" which does what you need.

Having this branch template

my branch
$name: linkField -> branchChild
branchChild: linkField -> $name

by default, the item created from this branch template becomes

createdItem: linkField -> branchChild
createdChild: linkField -> $name

With smart link replacement it becomes expected:

createdItem: linkField -> createdChild
createdChild -> createdItem

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

There isn't an OOTB way to achieve this.

But. I always use Alen Pelin's SmartCommands. Included in this package is "Smart Create From Branch" which does what you need.

Having this branch template

my branch
$name: linkField -> branchChild
branchChild: linkField -> $name

by default, the item created from this branch template becomes

createdItem: linkField -> branchChild
createdChild: linkField -> $name

With smart link replacement it becomes expected:

createdItem: linkField -> createdChild
createdChild -> createdItem

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

answered 1 hour ago

Mark Cassidy♦

15.6k43078

15.6k43078

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
  – Dan Sinclair
  59 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
  – Mark Cassidy♦
  49 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
  – Dan Sinclair
  59 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
  – Mark Cassidy♦
  49 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
– Dan Sinclair
59 mins ago

This looks cool; I've never used it. Does it really break Item Buckets? Is there any way to use some of it without breaking bucketing?
– Dan Sinclair
59 mins ago

Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
– Mark Cassidy♦
49 mins ago

Well I run my own customised set of these commands. I think Alen originally only made these to solve some issues around Item Cloning - and as extra commands. But I patch these commands in to replace the default item:copy and item:duplicate commands and have never had an issue. If indeed they do mess with buckets, it would be very little code to just abort if item.IsBucket or whatever that property is.
– Mark Cassidy♦
49 mins ago

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

There are two possible solutions:

Not great: change the fields' type to Drop List

This will work because the names of the items underneath the relative navigation paths will be the same.

Disclaimer: This has a bad code smell. The home item no longer relates directly to an item with ID. If the selected item is moved or has its name changed, the reference is lost. (It's also more expensive to get the related item because you have to get the parent and then find the child by a specific name, vs just getting the item by ID for a Drop Link.)

Better: update the home item with code after it's created

You can attach to the item:created event and add your own code to set your field values.

1. 
   

   Create a custom class to perform the reference updates:

   
   
   

   public class SetHomeItemNavigationItems : EventBase
   
    public void ItemCreated(object sender, EventArgs args)
    
    var itemCreatedArgs = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as ItemCreatedEventArgs;
   
    Assert.IsNotNull(itemCreatedArgs, nameof(itemCreatedArgs));
   
    if (itemCreatedArgs?.Item == null)
    return;
   
    // If this item is being created in a different database (e.g. "web" because it's being published), ignore it
    if (!"master".Equals(itemCreatedArgs.Item?.Database?.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    return;
   
    using (new DatabaseSwitcher(itemCreatedArgs.Item.Database))
    
    if (itemCreatedArgs.Item.TemplateID == new ID("home-page-id"))
    
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.BeginEdit();
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 1"].Value = // get navigation item 1
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 2"].Value = // get navigation item 2
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 3"].Value = // get navigation item 3
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.EndEdit();
    
    
    
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Add a patch config file to enable your event handler:

   
   
   

   <configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
    <events>
    <event name="item:created">
    <handler type="Custom.Events.ItemCreated.SetHomeItemNavigationItems,Custom" method="ItemCreated" />
    </event>
    </events>
    </sitecore>
   </configuration>
   

   
   

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

There are two possible solutions:

Not great: change the fields' type to Drop List

This will work because the names of the items underneath the relative navigation paths will be the same.

Disclaimer: This has a bad code smell. The home item no longer relates directly to an item with ID. If the selected item is moved or has its name changed, the reference is lost. (It's also more expensive to get the related item because you have to get the parent and then find the child by a specific name, vs just getting the item by ID for a Drop Link.)

Better: update the home item with code after it's created

You can attach to the item:created event and add your own code to set your field values.

1. 
   

   Create a custom class to perform the reference updates:

   
   
   

   public class SetHomeItemNavigationItems : EventBase
   
    public void ItemCreated(object sender, EventArgs args)
    
    var itemCreatedArgs = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as ItemCreatedEventArgs;
   
    Assert.IsNotNull(itemCreatedArgs, nameof(itemCreatedArgs));
   
    if (itemCreatedArgs?.Item == null)
    return;
   
    // If this item is being created in a different database (e.g. "web" because it's being published), ignore it
    if (!"master".Equals(itemCreatedArgs.Item?.Database?.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    return;
   
    using (new DatabaseSwitcher(itemCreatedArgs.Item.Database))
    
    if (itemCreatedArgs.Item.TemplateID == new ID("home-page-id"))
    
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.BeginEdit();
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 1"].Value = // get navigation item 1
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 2"].Value = // get navigation item 2
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 3"].Value = // get navigation item 3
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.EndEdit();
    
    
    
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Add a patch config file to enable your event handler:

   
   
   

   <configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
    <events>
    <event name="item:created">
    <handler type="Custom.Events.ItemCreated.SetHomeItemNavigationItems,Custom" method="ItemCreated" />
    </event>
    </events>
    </sitecore>
   </configuration>
   

   
   

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

up vote
0
down vote

There are two possible solutions:

Not great: change the fields' type to Drop List

This will work because the names of the items underneath the relative navigation paths will be the same.

Disclaimer: This has a bad code smell. The home item no longer relates directly to an item with ID. If the selected item is moved or has its name changed, the reference is lost. (It's also more expensive to get the related item because you have to get the parent and then find the child by a specific name, vs just getting the item by ID for a Drop Link.)

Better: update the home item with code after it's created

You can attach to the item:created event and add your own code to set your field values.

1. 
   

   Create a custom class to perform the reference updates:

   
   
   

   public class SetHomeItemNavigationItems : EventBase
   
    public void ItemCreated(object sender, EventArgs args)
    
    var itemCreatedArgs = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as ItemCreatedEventArgs;
   
    Assert.IsNotNull(itemCreatedArgs, nameof(itemCreatedArgs));
   
    if (itemCreatedArgs?.Item == null)
    return;
   
    // If this item is being created in a different database (e.g. "web" because it's being published), ignore it
    if (!"master".Equals(itemCreatedArgs.Item?.Database?.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    return;
   
    using (new DatabaseSwitcher(itemCreatedArgs.Item.Database))
    
    if (itemCreatedArgs.Item.TemplateID == new ID("home-page-id"))
    
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.BeginEdit();
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 1"].Value = // get navigation item 1
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 2"].Value = // get navigation item 2
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 3"].Value = // get navigation item 3
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.EndEdit();
    
    
    
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Add a patch config file to enable your event handler:

   
   
   

   <configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
    <events>
    <event name="item:created">
    <handler type="Custom.Events.ItemCreated.SetHomeItemNavigationItems,Custom" method="ItemCreated" />
    </event>
    </events>
    </sitecore>
   </configuration>
   

   
   

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

There are two possible solutions:

Not great: change the fields' type to Drop List

This will work because the names of the items underneath the relative navigation paths will be the same.

Disclaimer: This has a bad code smell. The home item no longer relates directly to an item with ID. If the selected item is moved or has its name changed, the reference is lost. (It's also more expensive to get the related item because you have to get the parent and then find the child by a specific name, vs just getting the item by ID for a Drop Link.)

Better: update the home item with code after it's created

You can attach to the item:created event and add your own code to set your field values.

1. 
   

   Create a custom class to perform the reference updates:

   
   
   

   public class SetHomeItemNavigationItems : EventBase
   
    public void ItemCreated(object sender, EventArgs args)
    
    var itemCreatedArgs = Event.ExtractParameter(args, 0) as ItemCreatedEventArgs;
   
    Assert.IsNotNull(itemCreatedArgs, nameof(itemCreatedArgs));
   
    if (itemCreatedArgs?.Item == null)
    return;
   
    // If this item is being created in a different database (e.g. "web" because it's being published), ignore it
    if (!"master".Equals(itemCreatedArgs.Item?.Database?.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
    return;
   
    using (new DatabaseSwitcher(itemCreatedArgs.Item.Database))
    
    if (itemCreatedArgs.Item.TemplateID == new ID("home-page-id"))
    
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.BeginEdit();
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 1"].Value = // get navigation item 1
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 2"].Value = // get navigation item 2
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Fields["Navigation Field 3"].Value = // get navigation item 3
    itemCreatedArgs.Item.Editing.EndEdit();
    
    
    
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Add a patch config file to enable your event handler:

   
   
   

   <configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
    <sitecore>
    <events>
    <event name="item:created">
    <handler type="Custom.Events.ItemCreated.SetHomeItemNavigationItems,Custom" method="ItemCreated" />
    </event>
    </events>
    </sitecore>
   </configuration>
   

   
   

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

answered 1 hour ago

Dan Sinclair

460313

460313

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

 

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