Sitefinity Dynamic Content Selector Field

DynamicContentSelectorField.cs

	/// <summary>
	/// A simple field for displaying related dynamic content items in a drop-down menu.
	/// Requirements:
	///		* the name of the field must exactly match the name of the content type being displayed
	///		* the content type must be within the same module as the content type using this field
	/// </summary>
	public class DynamicContentSelectorField : ChoiceField
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// Defaults the rendering of the list as a drop-down menu
		/// </summary>
		/// <value>
		/// The option for which to render choices.
		/// </value>
		public override RenderChoicesAs RenderChoicesAs
		{
			get { return RenderChoicesAs.DropDown; }
			set { base.RenderChoicesAs = value; }
		}

		/// <summary>
		/// Defaults the script descriptor to be ChoiceField so we don't have to reimplement the JavaScript for the field.
		/// </summary>
		/// <value>
		/// The type of the script descriptor.
		/// </value>
		protected override string ScriptDescriptorType
		{
			get { return typeof(ChoiceField).FullName; }
		}

		/// <summary>
		/// Default the type of the resource assembly to ChoiceField so we don't have to implement a new resource file
		/// </summary>
		protected override Type ResourcesAssemblyInfo
		{
			get { return typeof(ChoiceField); }
		}

		/// <summary>
		/// Configures the specified definition.
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="definition">The definition.</param>
		public override void Configure(IFieldDefinition definition)
		{
			// retrieve Control Definition Name to parse dynamic type of the module
			var controlDefinitionName = definition.ControlDefinitionName.Split('.');
			if (controlDefinitionName == null || controlDefinitionName.Length == 0)
				throw new NullReferenceException(string.Concat("Control Definition is empty or not found: ", definition.ControlDefinitionName));

			// re-join array minus last item to get full dynamic module type
			var moduleType = string.Join(".", controlDefinitionName.Take(controlDefinitionName.Length - 1));

			// retrieve fieldname from definition to get the specified dynamic type
			var fieldName = definition.FieldName;
			if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(fieldName))
				throw new NullReferenceException("Field name cannot be empty.");

			// resolve the type, ensure it exists
			Type contentType;
			var dynamicModuleManager = DynamicModuleManager.GetManager();
			moduleType = string.Concat(moduleType, ".", fieldName);

			try
			{
				contentType = TypeResolutionService.ResolveType(moduleType);
			}
			catch (Exception ex)
			{
				throw new TypeLoadException(string.Concat(moduleType, " dynamic type not found."));
			}

			// retrieve published items and add to choice list
			var myCollection = dynamicModuleManager.GetDataItems(contentType).Where(g => g.Status == ContentLifecycleStatus.Live);
			foreach (var contentItem in myCollection)
			{
				var item = new ChoiceItem();
				item.Text = contentItem.GetValue<string>("Name");
				item.Value = contentItem.Id.ToString();
				this.Choices.Add(item);
			}

			base.Configure(definition);
		}

StoreController.cs

// GET: /Store/Browse/Genre
public ActionResult Browse(string Genre)
{
	// get the matching genre
	var genre = dynamicModuleManager.GetDataItems(StoreController.GenreType).Where(g => g.GetValue<string>("Name") == Genre && g.Status == ContentLifecycleStatus.Live).FirstOrDefault();

	// retrieve album list
	var albumList = new List<Album>();
	var albums = dynamicModuleManager.GetDataItems(StoreController.AlbumType).Where(a => a.GetValue<Guid>("Genre") == genre.Id && a.Status == ContentLifecycleStatus.Live);
	foreach (var album in albums)
		albumList.Add(new Album(album));

	// store genre name
	ViewBag.Genre = Genre;
	return View(albumList);
}