Field Types

2. Field Types

Many of the Sitecore field types can be used to select media items; various forms are used to store references in the XML repository. The table below provides a summary of the features supported by various field types:

Field Type	Multiple	Order	Upload	Links	Source	Query	Storage
HTML	True	True	True	True	N/A	N/A	Markup (HTML)
Lookup	False	N/A	False	True	True	True	GUID
Reference	False	N/A	False	True	True	N/A	GUID
Tree	False	N/A	False	False	True	N/A	GUID
Checklist	True	False	False	True	True	True	Pipe-separated GUID(s)
Multilist	True	True	False	True	True	True	Pipe-separated GUID(s)
Image	False	N/A	True	True	True	N/A	XML (file path, Sitecore path relative to media library, mediaid, etc)
Link	False	N/A	True	True	True	N/A	XML (Sitecore path relative to media library, id, etc.)
InternalLink	False	N/A	False	True	True	N/A	Full Sitecore path
File	False	N/A	True	False	True	N/A	Sitecore path relative to media library
Treelist	True	True	False	False	True	N/A	Pipe-separated GUID(s)

Field Type – the name of a Sitecore field type
Multiple – allows the user to select multiple items
Order – allows the user to order the selected items
Upload – allows the user to upload new items (field types which don’t support upload require the user to navigate to media library and upload, then navigate back to content to reference the uploaded media)
Links – references in fields of this type are maintained in Sitecore’s link database
Source – supports The Source Property to limit selection to a specific region of the XML repository
Query – field type supports query in Source as opposed to just a path
Storage – indicates the format of references stored in this type of field

HTML

HTML fields may contain standard HTML anchors (href) to media as well as embedded media such as images (src); such references are tracked in the link database. In general such soft references should not be managed programmatically.

Selection

Lookup, Reference and Tree fields store the Sitecore GUID of the selected item.

Retrieving the path to the media item specified in a selection field is relatively straightforward – retrieve the Sitecore item corresponding to the GUID, then retrieve the path field from that item. Assuming the context item contains a field named SelectedItem the XSL code to retrieve the path would be as follows:

<xsl:variable name="mediaid" select="sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . )" />

<xsl:variable name="mediaitem" select="sc:item( $mediaid, . )" />

<sc:text field="path" select="$mediaitem" />

Abbreviated:

<sc:text field="path" select=" select="sc:item( sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . ), . )" />

The .NET equivalent:

string id = Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["selecteditem"].Value;

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item itm = Sitecore.Context.Item.Database.Items[id];

string path = itm.Fields["path"].Value;

Abbreviated:

Sitecore.Context.Item.Database.Items[Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["selecteditem"].Value].Fields["path"].Value;

Multiselect

Checklist and Multilist fields store the Sitecore GUIDs of the selected items separated by pipes (“|”) with no trailing pipes. A common solution is recursion using a named template. Notice the pipe appended to the definition of $guids to simplify string parsing:

<xsl:call-template name="NamedTemplate" />

...

<xsl:template name="NamedTemplate">

<xsl:param name="guids" select="concat( sc:fld( 'selecteditem', $home ), '|' )" />

<xsl:variable name="guid" select="substring-before( $guids, '|' )" />

<xsl:if test="$guid">

<xsl:variable name="item" select="sc:item( $guid, . )" />

<xsl:if test="$item">

<sc:text field="path" select="$item" />

</xsl:if>

<xsl:if test="substring-after( $guids, '|' )">

<xsl:call-template name="NamedTemplate">

<xsl:with-param name="guids" select="substring-after( $guids, '|' )" />

</xsl:call-template>

</xsl:if>

</xsl:template>

And the equivalent .NET:

Sitecore.Data.Fields.MultilistField mFld = Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["multilist"];

foreach( Sitecore.Data.ID id in mFld.TargetIDs ) {

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item itm = Sitecore.Context.Item.Database.Items[id];

if ( itm != null ) {

// process itm.Fields["path"].Value

}

Image

Fields of type Image can actually be used for any media, storing their contents as follows:

Properties can be accessed with sc:fld:

<xsl:value-of select="sc:fld( 'selectedimage', ., 'src' )" />

Or the .NET equivalent:

Sitecore.Data.Fields.ImageField iFld = Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["selectedimage"];

// process iFld.Src

Link

When a media item is selected in a field of type Link, content is stored as follows:

In XSL, sc:fld would be used to access the properties:

<xsl:variable name="mediaid" select="sc:fld( 'selecteditem', ., 'id' )" />

<xsl:variable name="mediaitem" select="sc:item( $mediaid, . )" />

<sc:text field="path" select="$mediaitem" />

Or abbreviated:

<sc:text field="path" select=" select="sc:item( sc:fld( 'selecteditem', ., 'id' ), . )" />

Note: additional methods in the XslHelper class such as may be of value.

The .NET equivalent:

Sitecore.Data.Fields.LinkField lFld = Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["link"];

if ( lFld.TargetItem != null ) {

// handle lFld.TargetItem.Fields["path"].Value;

}

InternalLink

Fields of type InternalLink store the full Sitecore path to the selected item, for instance:

/sitecore/media library/PDFs/Subdir/test pdf

The path to the file referenced in the referenced media item can be retrieved with XSL:

<xsl:variable name="mediaitempath" select="sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . )" />

<xsl:variable name="mediaitem" select="sc:item( $mediaitempath, . )" />

<sc:text field="path" select="$mediaitem" />

Or abbreviated:

<sc:text field="path" select=" select="sc:item( sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . ), . )" />

The .NET equivalent:

string mediaItemPath = Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["selecteditem"].Value;

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item itm = Sitecore.Context.Item.Database.Items[mediItemPath];

itm.Fields["path"].Value;

Or abbreviated:

Sitecore.Context.Item.Database.Items[Sitecore.Context.Item.Fields["selecteditem"].Value].Fields["path"].Value;

File

Fields of type File store the Sitecore path relative to the media library, for instance:

/PDFs/Subdir/test pdf

The media path must be inserted at the beginning of this path to retrieve the media item:

<xsl:variable name="mediaitempath" select="sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . )" />

<xsl:variable name="mediaitemfullpath" select="concat( '/sitecore/media library', sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . ))" />

<xsl:variable name="mediaitem" select="sc:item( $mediaitemfullpath, . )" />

<sc:text field="path" select="$mediaitem" />

Or abbreviated:

<sc:text field="path" select="sc:item( concat( '/sitecore/media library', sc:fld( 'selecteditem', . )), . )" />

The equivalent .NET would generally be a helper method:

public static string GetMediaFilePath( Sitecore.Data.Items.Item itm, string field ) {

string filePath = null;

string mediaPath = itm.Fields[field].Value;

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item mediaItem = itm.Database.Items["/sitecore/media library/" + mediaPath];

if ( mediaItem != null ) {

filePath = mediaItem.Fields["path"].Value;

}

return( filePath );

}

GetMediaFilePath( Sitecore.Context.Item, "selecteditem" );

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