Create Content Type Using Object Model

Procedure

Please use the following procedure to create the content type.

Step 1

reate a Console Application and add a reference to Microsoft.SharePoint.dll. Also ensure the Prefer 32-bit project property in the Build tab is unchecked.



Step 2

Use the following code for the console application.

using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://hpvm"))
{
    using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
    {
        // Delete content type if already existss
        if (web.ContentTypes["CodeCT"] != null)
            web.ContentTypes["CodeCT"].Delete();

        // Create content type inheritin from 'Item'
        SPContentType contentType = new SPContentType(web.ContentTypes["Item"], web.ContentTypes, "CodeCT");
        web.ContentTypes.Add(contentType);
        contentType.Group = "Custom Content Types";
        contentType.Description = "Content Type created through Code";

        // Create Site Columns
        string fieldName = web.Fields.Add("Column 1", SPFieldType.Text, false);
        SPField field = web.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName(fieldName);
        field.Update();

        fieldName = web.Fields.Add("Column 2", SPFieldType.Number, false);
        field = web.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName(fieldName);
        field.Update();

        fieldName = web.Fields.Add("Column 3", SPFieldType.DateTime, false);
        field = web.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName(fieldName);
        field.Update();

        // Add Field References to Our Site Columns
        contentType.FieldLinks.Add(new SPFieldLink(web.Fields.GetField("Column 1")));
        contentType.FieldLinks.Add(new SPFieldLink(web.Fields.GetField("Column 2")));
        contentType.FieldLinks.Add(new SPFieldLink(web.Fields.GetField("Column 3")));

        // Add few fields from OOB Site Columns
        contentType.FieldLinks.Add(new SPFieldLink(web.Fields.GetField("_Status")));

        // Update
        contentType.Update();
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Content Type created successfully.");

}

 

Step 3

The code is executed below:

1. Delete any content type with name CodeCT.
2. Create new content type.
3. Add custom field definitions to the web.
4. Add custom field references to the content type.
5. Add OOB column _Status to the content type.
6. Updates content type.

Note: For custom columns, we are actually creating a Site Column through code (Fields.Add) and referring it to the content type (FieldLinks.Add).

Step 4

Execute the code.



Step 5

You can verify that the new content type was created from Site Settings > Site content types.



Step 6

Click on it and ensure that all the columns are visible.



Step 7

You can use the SPFieldType enum for finding more types.



References

How to: Programmatically Create Content Types.

Summary

In this article we explored how to create a content type using server object model code. The source code is attached for reference.