How to: Extend the Navigation Provider in SharePoint Server 2010 (ECM)

Article
07/24/2014

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

You can extend the navigation provider in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 by deriving a custom provider class from any of the default site map providers. Deriving from a SharePoint Server 2010 site map provider supplies several benefits, such as navigation node caching and security trimming. The following code example derives from the PortalSiteMapProvider class and demonstrates how to add items to the site map provider. Although the site map provider classes have approximately twenty abstract or virtual methods, only a small number must be overridden and implemented in a custom site map provider.

Create a Microsoft Visual C# class library project with the following code, add the required references, and then build the project.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Navigation;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Configuration;

namespace MyCustomNav
{
public class Navigation: PortalSiteMapProvider
{
public override SiteMapNodeCollection GetChildNodes(System.Web.SiteMapNode 
node)
{
PortalSiteMapNode pNode = node as PortalSiteMapNode;
if (pNode != null)
{
if (pNode.Type == NodeTypes.Area)
{
SiteMapNodeCollection nodeColl = base.GetChildNodes(pNode);
SiteMapNode childNode = new SiteMapNode(this, 
"<https://www.microsoft.com>", "<https://www.microsoft.com>", "Microsoft");

SiteMapNode childNode1 = new SiteMapNode(this, 
"<https://support.microsoft.com>", "<https://support.microsoft.com>", "Support");

nodeColl.Add(childNode);

SiteMapNodeCollection test = new SiteMapNodeCollection();
test.Add(childNode1);
childNode.ChildNodes = test;

return nodeColl;
}
else
return base.GetChildNodes(pNode);
}
else
return new SiteMapNodeCollection();
}
}
}

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing
Imports Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Navigation
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
Imports System.Configuration

Namespace MyCustomNav
    Public Class Navigation
        Inherits PortalSiteMapProvider
        Public Overrides Function GetChildNodes(ByVal node As System.Web.SiteMapNode) As SiteMapNodeCollection
            Dim pNode As PortalSiteMapNode = TryCast(node, PortalSiteMapNode)
            If pNode IsNot Nothing Then
                If pNode.Type = NodeTypes.Area Then
                    Dim nodeColl As SiteMapNodeCollection = MyBase.GetChildNodes(pNode)
                    Dim childNode As New SiteMapNode(Me, "<https://www.microsoft.com>", "<https://www.microsoft.com>", "Microsoft")

                    Dim childNode1 As New SiteMapNode(Me, "<https://support.microsoft.com>", "<https://support.microsoft.com>", "Support")

                    nodeColl.Add(childNode)

                    Dim test As New SiteMapNodeCollection()
                    test.Add(childNode1)
                    childNode.ChildNodes = test

                    Return nodeColl
                Else
                    Return MyBase.GetChildNodes(pNode)
                End If
            Else
                Return New SiteMapNodeCollection()
            End If
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

Copy the .dll file that you created in step 1 into the SharePoint Server 2010 virtual directory’s bin folder.

Create the following entry in the web.config file for the Web application, and then set the trust level to Full.

<add name="MyCustomNavigationProvider" type="MyCustomNav.Navigation, MyCustomNav" 
NavigationType="Current" />

Create a custom master page, and then add the following code under the top navigation’s ContentPlaceHolder element.

<SharePoint:AspMenu
ID="TopNavigationMenu"
  Runat="server"
  DataSourceID="topSiteMap1"
  EnableViewState="false"
  AccessKey="<%$Resources:wss,navigation_accesskey%>"
  Orientation="Horizontal"
  StaticDisplayLevels="1"
  MaximumDynamicDisplayLevels="3"
  DynamicHorizontalOffset="0"
  StaticPopoutImageUrl="/_layouts/images/menudark.gif"
  StaticPopoutImageTextFormatString=""
  DynamicHoverStyle-BackColor="#CBE3F0"
  SkipLinkText=""
  StaticSubMenuIndent="0"
  CssClass="ms-topNavContainer">
<StaticMenuStyle/>
<StaticMenuItemStyle CssClass="ms-topnav" ItemSpacing="0px"/>
<StaticSelectedStyle CssClass="ms-topnavselected" />
<StaticHoverStyle CssClass="ms-topNavHover" />
<DynamicMenuStyle BackColor="#F2F3F4" BorderColor="#A7B4CE" 
  BorderWidth="1px"/>
<DynamicMenuItemStyle CssClass="ms-topNavFlyOuts"/>
<DynamicHoverStyle CssClass="ms-topNavFlyOutsHover"/>
<DynamicSelectedStyle CssClass="ms-topNavFlyOutsSelected"/>
</SharePoint:AspMenu>
<asp:SiteMapDataSource
  ShowStartingNode="False"
  SiteMapProvider="MyCustomNavigationProvider"
  id="topSiteMap1"
  runat="server"
  StartFromCurrentNode="true"/>

Reset Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS). Your SharePoint Server site should now show the updated navigation from the extended navigation provider.

How to: Extend the Navigation Provider in SharePoint Server 2010 (ECM)

How to extend the navigation provider

See Also

Concepts

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