Create Field Content Type in SharePoint 2010 Programmatically Using VS 2012

Introduction

Today, in this article let's play around with one of the interesting and most useful concepts in SharePoint 2010.

What is ContentType?

In simple terms "Content types are reusable sets of columns created which can be used across multiple lists or libraries. They are considered to be a central component to manage metadata".

Step 1. Open SharePoint 2010 Central Administration and navigate to a specific site.

Step 2. Open up Visual Studio 2012 and try to "SharePoint Visual Web Part" project, as in.

SharePoint Visual Web

Step 3. Select "Deploy as a farm solution" as in the following and click the "Finish" button.

Finish

Step 4. The complete code of visualwebpart1usercontrol.ascx looks like this.

<%@ Assembly Name="$SharePoint.Project.AssemblyFullName$" %>
<%@ Assembly Name="Microsoft.Web.CommandUI, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="Utilities" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="asp" Namespace="System.Web.UI" Assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="WebPartPages" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="VisualWebPart1.ascx.cs" Inherits="FieldstoContentTypeApp.VisualWebPart1.VisualWebPart1" %>
<div>
    <table style="font-family: Verdana; text-align: center;">
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2">
                <asp:label id="Label1" runat="server" text="Add Fields to Content Type - SharePoint 2010 via Visual Studio 2012" font-bold="true" forecolor="Maroon" font-size="Large"></asp:label>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
                <asp:label id="Label2" runat="server" text="Please Enter ContentType Name:"></asp:label>
            </td>
            <td>
                <asp:textbox id="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:textbox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
                <asp:label id="Label5" runat="server" text="Please Enter Group Name:"></asp:label>
            </td>
            <td>
                <asp:textbox id="TextBox3" runat="server"></asp:textbox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
                <asp:label id="Label3" runat="server" text="Please Enter Field Name:"></asp:label>
            </td>
            <td>
                <asp:textbox id="TextBox2" runat="server"></asp:textbox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2">
                <asp:button id="Button1" runat="server" text="Create Field - ContentType " forecolor="Orange" font-bold="true" backcolor="Black" onclick="Button1_Click" width="261px" />
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2">
                <asp:label id="Label4" runat="server" font-bold="true"></asp:label>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

Step 5. The complete code of visualwebpart1usercontrol.ascx.cs looks like this.

using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;

namespace FieldstoContentTypeApp.VisualWebPart1
{
    [ToolboxItemAttribute(false)]
    public partial class VisualWebPart1 : WebPart
    {
        // Uncomment the following SecurityPermission attribute only when doing Performance Profiling using
        // the Instrumentation method, and then remove the SecurityPermission attribute when the code is ready
        // for production. Because the SecurityPermission attribute bypasses the security check for callers of
        // your constructor, it's not recommended for production purposes.
        // [System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission(System.Security.Permissions.SecurityAction.Assert, UnmanagedCode = true)]
        public VisualWebPart1()
        {
        }

        protected override void OnInit(EventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnInit(e);
            InitializeControl();
        }

        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            TextBox1.Focus();
        }

        protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(TextBox1.Text) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(TextBox2.Text) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(TextBox3.Text))
            {
                Label4.Text = "Please Enter Some Values";
                Label4.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red;
            }
            else
            {
                SPWeb web = SPContext.Current.Web;
                string fieldName = web.Fields.Add(TextBox2.Text, SPFieldType.Number, true);
                SPFieldNumber number = (SPFieldNumber)web.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName(fieldName);
                number.Update();
                SPContentType contentType = web.AvailableContentTypes[SPBuiltInContentTypeId.Item];
                SPContentType type = new SPContentType(contentType, web.ContentTypes, TextBox1.Text);
                SPFieldLink link = new SPFieldLink(number);
                type.FieldLinks.Add(link);
                type.Group = TextBox3.Text;
                web.ContentTypes.Add(type);
                web.Update();
                Label4.Text = TextBox2.Text + " Field - Created Successfully";
                Label4.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green;
                TextBox1.Text = string.Empty;
                TextBox2.Text = string.Empty;
                TextBox3.Text = string.Empty;
            }
        }
    }
}

Step 6. Deploy the solution file and add the new web part to a SharePoint site.

Step 7. The output of the application looks like this.

Content type