Sitecore glass mapper general link in Mvc 4

Question

Hi i'm currently learning sitecore 7 with MVC4 and glassmapper and I'm having some issues with the general linkfield. I can't seem to ouput the external links (not links to items) correctly from a general linkfield. What am I doing wrong?

My model:

[SitecoreType(TemplateId = "{F8168BAF-6916-47FE-BC7F-DE3B033CE233}")]
public class SocialLink : AbstractBase
{

    [SitecoreField]
    public virtual string Description { get; set; }

    [SitecoreField]
    public virtual string Class { get; set; }

    [SitecoreField(FieldType = SitecoreFieldType.GeneralLink)]
    public virtual Link Url { get; set; }

}

in the view:

@foreach (var socialLink in Model.SocialFolder.Socials)
{
     <a href="@socialLink.Url" class="connect @socialLink.Class">@socialLink.Description</a>                
}

Output:

<a href="Glass.Mapper.Sc.Fields.Link" class="connect slideshare">Read us on Slideshare</a>

Thanks in advance.

Octahedron

Answer 1

Is the model auto-generated or did you create them manually? What type is Link, Glass.Mapper.Sc.Fields.Link? If so you need @socialLink.Url.Url, you want the Url property from the Link field called Url.

@foreach (var socialLink in Model.SocialFolder.Socials)
{
     <a href="@socialLink.Url.Url" class="connect @socialLink.Class">@socialLink.Description</a>                
}

I would be very tempted to rename Class and Url properties to something else, possibly CssClass and SocialMediaUrl or something so as not to cause confusion.

Undirected

The model is manually created. With the '.url' behind it is working. thanks for that and I will change the names to stop confusion. To further enhance this, do you know what the best is way to create an editable link field for the page editor? – Octahedron

@FilipHuysmans You should just use a single LinkField, there is no need for Description or Class since you can set those can be set in the properties of the link. Then you can make the field Editable in Glass – Undirected

I've tried something else: @RenderLink(socialLink, x=>x.Url, new NameValueCollection {{"class", "connect " + socialLink.Class}}, true, contents: socialLink.Description) But when isEditable is set to true, it is not showing up in the page editor. The field is just invisible but on normal mode everything works. When I delete the contents parameter it works in the page editor. Any thoughts on this? – Octahedron

@FilipHuysmans Try #19588481 – Undirected

Do you know how I can use a different field as the description of the link. I can only use the description from the link field with: @(Editable(socialLink, x => x.Url,new {@class=String.Format("connect {0}", socialLink.Class)})) and I can't use the page editor with: @(RenderLink(socialLink, x=>x.Url, new NameValueCollection {{"class", "connect " + socialLink.Class}},true, socialLink.Description)) – Octahedron

@(Editable<YourModelType>(Model, x => x.Link, string.Format("<a href=\"{0}\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">{1}</a>", x.Link.Url, x.Link.Text))) from the link I gave you didn't work? Otherwise no, I don't know any other way than using just the Link field as I suggested - which makes sense this is control editor that Sitecore provides, how do you tell it which parts of the link should be saved to which field? – Undirected

It works if I just use the general link field without any additional fields. With the sc:Link field I was able to combine a link field with other fields and make everything editable but this seems not to be possible in mvc with glass mapper. Thanks for your advice on this matter! – Octahedron

Mike Edwards is probably best able to answer, I'm not sure myself. You could try messaging him. – Undirected

Answer 2

So that Anchors and Querystrings are supported, it's best to use link.BuildUrl((SafeDictionary<string>)null)

There are two Link.BuildUrl()methods and, annoyingly, they both have default parameters (although one marked as obsolete). You will need to specify which one via a typed null, or...

You can add an extension method which will make things easier

public static class GlassFieldExtensions
{
    public static string GetUrl(this Link link)
    {
        return link.BuildUrl(null as SafeDictionary<string>);
    }
}

And in the HTML:

@foreach (var socialLink in Model.SocialFolder.Socials)
{
     <a href="@socialLink.GetUrl()" class="connect @socialLink.Class">@socialLink.Description</a>                
}

Seiler