Example: Command template code to display a user interface

Current version: 10.1

You can use a command template that displays a user interface in which the user can select options when inserting items.

Note

In some cases, you might want to reuse the command template user interface as a custom item editor.

The following code sample for a command template presents a user interface that lets the user insert a folder. This example is intentionally oversimplified to present the minimal components required to implement a command template that displays a user interface.

RequestResponse
namespace Namespace.Shell.Framework.Commands
 {
  public class NewFolder : Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.Command
 { 
   public override void Execute(Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandContext context)
   {
     if (context.Items.Length == 1)
   { 
     Sitecore.Data.Items.Item item = context.Items[0];
     System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection parameters = new 
     System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection();
     parameters["id"] = item.ID.ToString(); 
     parameters["database"] = item.Database.Name;
     Sitecore.Context.ClientPage.Start(this, "Run", parameters);
   }
 }
 protected void Run(Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPipelineArgs args)
 { 
  if (args.IsPostBack)
  { 
    if ((!String.IsNullOrEmpty(args.Result)) && args.Result != "undefined") 
  { 
    Sitecore.Context.ClientPage.SendMessage(this,"item:load(id="+args.Result +")");
  }
 }
 else
 {
   Sitecore.Text.UrlString url = new Sitecore.Text.UrlString( "/sitecore modules/shell/Namespace/NewFolder.aspx"); 
   url.Append("id", args.Parameters["id"]);
   url.Append("database", args.Parameters["database"]); Sitecore.Context.ClientPage.ClientResponse.ShowModalDialog(url.ToString(),true);
   args.WaitForPostBack(true); 
   }
  }
 }
}

The only parameter passed to the Execute() method is a Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandContext object. The first element in the Items collection of this object identifies the Sitecore.Data.Items.Item that was selected when the user invoked the command template. The Execute method invoked prepares information about the processing environment, and then invokes the Run() method, which contains the command template logic.

The Run() method invokes the command template user interface dialog box, and, after the user completes that dialog box, the method loads the created item into the editing user interface. In the Run() method, if args.IsPostBack is true, then the user has completed the interface, and if args.Result contains a value, it is the ID of the item created, and the Run() method causes the user interface to load that item. If args.IsPostBack is false, the Run() method invokes the command template user interface.

The following code represents the content of the user interface component file (/sitecore modules/shell/Namespace/NewFolder.aspx), referenced by the Run() method in the code provided previously:

RequestResponse
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="NewFolder.aspx.cs" Inherits="Namespace.Web.UI.NewFolder" %>
 <html>
    <head>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
 function onClose()
 {
 window.returnValue = form1.hidCreatedId.value;
 window.close();
 }
 function onCancel()
 {
 if(confirm( "Are you sure you want to cancel?"))
 { 
window.close(); 
} 
window.event.cancelBubble = true;
 return false;
 } 
</script>
 <base target="_self" /> 
</head>
 <body>
 <form id="form1" runat="server">
 <div> 
<asp:textbox ID="txtName" runat="server" /><br />
 <asp:checkbox id="chkCopyInsertOptions" checked="true" runat="server" Text="Copy Insert Options" />
 <asp:checkbox id="chkCopyInsertRules" checked="true" runat="server" Text="Copy Insert Rules" /> <br /> 
<asp:button runat="server" id="btnCreate" text="Create" /> 
<asp:button runat="server" id="btnCancel" text="Cancel" onclientclick="onCancel();" /> 
<asp:button runat="server" id="btnDone" text="Done" onclientclick="onClose();" visible="false"/><br />
 <input type="hidden" runat="server" id="hidCreatedId" /><br />
 </div> 
</form> 
</body>
 </html>
Note

For clarity, this code uses an ASP.NET page. Prior to Sitecore 8.1, you could also implement command templates using Sitecore Sheer.

The <base> element and its attributes prevent the browser from opening a new window when the user clicks a button in the page.

The following code represents the content of the code-behind for /sitecore modules/shell/Namespace/NewFolder.aspx:

RequestResponse
namespace Namespace.Web.UI
{
 public partial class NewFolder : System.Web.UI.Page
{
 protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
 {
 string dbName = Sitecore.Web.WebUtil.GetQueryString("database");
 Sitecore.Data.Database db = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase(dbName);
 string parentID = Sitecore.Web.WebUtil.GetQueryString("id");
 Sitecore.Data.Items.Item parent = db.GetItem(parentID);
 if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(hidCreatedId.Value)
   && (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(txtName.Text) && txtName.Text != "undefined"))
 {
   chkCopyInsertOptions.Enabled = false;
   chkCopyInsertRules.Enabled = false;
   Sitecore.Data.Items.TemplateItem template =   
     Sitecore.Context.ContentDatabase.Templates[Sitecore.TemplateIDs.Folder];
   Sitecore.Data.Items.Item item = parent.Add(txtName.Text, template);
   txtName.Enabled = false;
   btnDone.Visible = true; btnCreate.Visible = false;
   btnCancel.Visible = false; 
   hidCreatedId.Value = item.ID.ToString();
   if(chkCopyInsertOptions.Checked||chkCopyInsertRules.Checked)
   {
     item.Editing.BeginEdit();
     if (chkCopyInsertOptions.Checked)
     {
       item.Fields[Sitecore.FieldIDs.Branches].Value = parent[Sitecore.FieldIDs.Branches];
     }
     if (chkCopyInsertRules.Checked)
     {
       item.Fields["__insert rules"].Value = parent["__insert rules"];
     }
     item.Editing.EndEdit();
   }
} 
else { if(String.IsNullOrEmpty(parent[Sitecore.FieldIDs.Branches]))
   { 
   chkCopyInsertOptions.Enabled = false; 
   chkCopyInsertOptions.Checked = false;
    } 
   if(String.IsNullOrEmpty(parent["__insert rules"])) 
    {
     chkCopyInsertRules.Enabled = false;
     chkCopyInsertRules.Checked = false; 
    }
   }
  }
 }
}

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