Is there a way to add a Umbraco Custom Data Type that basically was a grouping of existing data types?

Question

On a number of different document types, I have to add the same 3 native Umbraco data types

1. content picker
2. TextString
3. TextString

It was suggested to me to see if there is a way to create a new custom data type that would basically wrap those 3 datatypes into a new datatype.

I looked at nibble.be's site and see there is a couple different ways to go about creating custom data types (using the usercontrol wrapper, or 3 class approach). However, I am not sure that a custom data type for grouping existing datatypes would be the correct route.

For one thing, we are using MVC along side Umbraco with a heavy use of Razor views. Since the document type property alias is used to acquire values from Umbraco from the content page, I don't see how this would still be possible or how you would go about getting the property value of a custom datatype that has embedded datatypes.

Would there be a working way or a better way to accomplish this solution for having to add the same fields on any document type that they are needed? I though about hierarchical approach with a document type parent with only these 3 data types (content picker and 2 textstrings), but that would mean having to put any document type that a page would need under this parent document type simply for the fact to inherit these group of properties.

Answer 1

If you're looking to embed multiple properties into a single datatype:

There are a number of embedded datatypes available; DataType Grid, Embedded Content, and Repeatable Custom Content are the three I know of. All three store their information as xml which allows easy access via both xslt and razor.

The DataType Grid is part of uComponents and is therefore actively developed. It is also open source and therefore contributions are encouraged. Embedded Content and Repeatable Custom Content, while still useful, don't appear to have any current support and therefore no plans for improvement. I think they are licensed as open source, but the source isn't publicly available as far as I can tell.

I don't think you can set a limit on the number of rows/items stored in the DataType Grid, like you can in Embedded Content (perhaps a feature request).

Take a look at some of these solutions before you plan on rolling your own. But if you still feel the urge to code out your own data type, I'd recommend Tim Geyssens' articles on created custom datatypes using the user control wrapper, with data editor settings, and serializing the data as xml. His "Master of Datatypes" video is also really helpful and covers those topics as well.

If you're looking to organize your properties into groups:

Tom Fulton published a new package/data type recently called Document Type Fieldsets that may fit your needs. It allows you to group fields together in a fieldset. Here's a screen shot: