Edit multiple items as ribbon button

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We wanted to add a button to the ribbon which lets the user select two or more items, and do simultaneous edits to selected columns.

Creating ribbon buttons is eeeeeasy.

Cksdev even has a built-in template for it.

What Cksdev doesn't solve is finding the correct location.

This can be a frustrating job.

Especially if you only do it from a SharePoint solution.

I chose to do it from a tiny console application, which cut the develop-test-swear-cycle to seconds rather than minutes.

It is perhaps worth sharing.

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var rb = new RibbonAdder();
            var listname = "Shared Documents";
            rb.AddButton(listname);
            rb.ListActions(listname);

            System.Console.WriteLine("Button added. Test, then press the any key.");
            System.Console.ReadKey();
            rb.RemoveAllTheCustomActions(listname);
        }

I add the button, list the custom actions for debugging purposes, wait a bit, and remove it again.

        public void AddButton(string listname)
        {
            using (var site = new SPSite("http://Norgeous:100/"))
            {
                var web = site.OpenWeb();
                var list = web.Lists.TryGetList(listname);
                if (list == null)
                    return;

                var action = list.UserCustomActions.Add();
                action.Location = "CommandUI.Ribbon";
                action.Sequence = 45;
                action.Title = "Test Action";

                action.CommandUIExtension = @"<commanduiextension>
      <commanduidefinitions>
        <commanduidefinition location="Ribbon.Documents.EditCheckout.Controls._children">
          <button             Id='Ribbon.DocumentManagement.EditLibraryItems.Button'
            Command='Ribbon.DocumentManagement.EditLibraryItems.Command'
            Sequence='45' 
            Image16by16='/_layouts/images/Norgeous/EditItems16.png' 
            Image32by32='/_layouts/images/Norgeous/EditItems32.png' 
            Description='Edit library items'
            LabelText='Edit items'
            TemplateAlias='o2' />
        
      
      <commanduihandlers>
        <commanduihandler command="Ribbon.DocumentManagement.EditLibraryItems.Command" commandaction="" javascript:="" 
javascript:
              var selectedItems = SP.ListOperation.Selection.getSelectedItems();
              var selectedIds = '';
              var listId = SP.ListOperation.Selection.getSelectedList();
              var i = 0;
              while(i!=selectedItems.length)
              {
                selectedIds += selectedItems[i].id + ',';
                i++;
              }
              selectedIds = escape(selectedIds.substring(0,selectedIds.length-1));
              var siteCollUrl = '{SiteUrl}';
              var options = SP.UI.$create_DialogOptions();
              options.title = 'Edit items';
              options.width = 850;
              options.height = 600;
              options.allowClose = true;
              options.url = siteCollUrl + '/_layouts/Norgeous/editmultipleitems.aspx?ids='+selectedIds+'&listId='+listId;
              SP.UI.ModalDialog.showModalDialog(options);"" 
       EnabledScript='javascript:SP.ListOperation.Selection.getSelectedItems().length > 1;' />
      </commanduihandler>
    
";
                action.Update();
            }
        }
</button></commanduidefinition></commanduidefinitions></commanduiextension>

'EnabledScript' only enables the button if at least two items have been selected. If one item is selected, the built in "edit item" is a better choice.

The last two methods are embarrassingly simple:

        public void ListActions(string listname)
        {
            using (var site = new SPSite("http://Norgeous:100/"))
            {
                var web = site.OpenWeb();
                var list = web.Lists.TryGetList(listname);
                foreach (SPUserCustomAction customAction in list.UserCustomActions)
                {
                    System.Console.WriteLine(customAction.Title);
                }
            }
        }

        public void RemoveAllTheCustomActions(string listname)
        {
            using (var site = new SPSite("http://Norgeous:100/"))
            {
                var web = site.OpenWeb();
                var list = web.Lists.TryGetList(listname);
                list.UserCustomActions.Clear();
            }
        }

Note: I've tried to tidy up the mess left by the Geekswithblogs editor. But I doubt I found all the errors that were introduced. The xml should be PascalCased. Read the javascript carefully, and leave a note if you find anything.