Question

I have a feature that gets installed using a WSP package, when the feature is activated, I would like the following to happen:

1. The feature will contain a list definition.
2. When the feature gets activated by an end user (the user physically clicks the feature activation button in site features admin) – I would like a modal dialog to appear then ask the user to provide some additional details.

3.1 The additional details will be supplying a certain number of names. For example Mary, John, Peter. Form logistics I can handle.

4. Once the form is complete that information needs to somehow get back to the feature reciever, so that I can then take the base list definition, and use it as a template to create list instances for all the names supplied – so if user had supplied Mary and Peter, then 2 list instances will be created when this feature is activated.

Is any of this possible with MOSS 2007? Thank you

Answer 1

There’s no way to “hijack” the feature activation process in sharepoint. The (crude) solution would be to create a feature that deploys an application page (aka layouts page) and the list template/definition. On the page there should be a bunch of textboxes and a submit button.

The feature should have a receiver attached to it that after activation redirects the user to your page using HttpContext.Current. After entering all relevant data in the page ( Mary, John, Peter, etc.) just create the lists based on the list template deployed earlier from code using something like:

SPListTemplate listTemplate = web.ListTemplates["YOURLISTTEMPLATENAME"];
web.Lists.Add(listName, description, listTemplate); 

There is 1 caveat though, IMHO a dealbreaker even. this won’t work when the feature is activated using stsadm, seeing as there is no HttpContext!!!