Place an item in editing mode

Sitecore APIs that update items may throw exceptions if the item is not in editing mode. You can place an item in editing mode by using methods of the Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Editing property, or by using the Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext class.

For example, the following code places the /Sitecore/Content/Home item in the Master database in editing mode within a security disabler using methods in the Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Editing class:

Sitecore.Data.Database master = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master");

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item home = master.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

using (new Sitecore.SecurityModel.SecurityDisabler())
{
    home.Editing.BeginEdit();

    try
    {
        // Edit item
        home.Editing.EndEdit();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        home.Editing.CancelEdit();
    }
}

If you do call the Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Editing.CancelEdit() method or do not call the Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Editing.EndEdit() method, Sitecore does not commit the changes.

Alternatively, you can use the Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext class with a C# using a statement to place an item in editing mode. The closure of the using statement invokes the Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext.Dispose() method, which commits any changes made within that segment of code.

For example, the following code places the /Sitecore/Content/Home item in the Master database in editing mode using a Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext:

Sitecore.Data.Database master = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master");

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item home = master.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

//TODO: eliminate SecurityDisabler if possible

using (new Sitecore.SecurityModel.SecurityDisabler())
{
    using (new Sitecore.Data.Items.EditContext(home))
    {
        // Process home
    }
}