Create List Definition Programmatically using Feature Receiver

Question

I am using a Feature Receiver to create a custom content type in the FeatureActivated event.  I know know to create a list instance through code to use my content type.
What I would like to do is create a custom list definition (list template) to use my custom content type in the FeatureActiviated event.  I would like to do this entirely through C# code only (no xml files). I have been unable to find
any examples of creating a list definition through code on MSDN.

Answer 1

I hope below sample will be helpful for you to create a custom list and fields using code.
In below code block, I have used different field types which include Text , Date, Boolean, choice & lookup filed.
public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
SPSecurity.RunWithElevatedPrivileges(delegate()
SPSite site = new SPSite(SPContext.Current.Site.ID);
SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb(SPContext.Current.Web.ID);
SPList listExistCheck = web.Lists.TryGetList("My List");
SPList customList;
if (listExistCheck == null)
// Create list and record returned guid
Guid customPagesListGuid = web.Lists.Add("My List",
"My List", SPListTemplateType.GenericList);
//Get list from stored guid
customList = web.Lists[customPagesListGuid];
// Set list properties and add required content types
customList.Title = "My List";
customList.OnQuickLaunch = true; // Set to true to display on the quick launch
customList.ContentTypesEnabled = true;
customList.EnableFolderCreation = true;
customList.EnableSyndication = false; // Turn off rss
customList.Update();
customList.Fields.Add("First Name", SPFieldType.Text, true);
customList.Fields.Add("Last Name", SPFieldType.Text, true);
customList.Fields.Add("Company Name", SPFieldType.Text, false);
customList.Fields.Add("Contact Number", SPFieldType.Text, true);
customList.Fields.Add("Email", SPFieldType.Text, false);
customList.Fields.Add("Post Code", SPFieldType.Text, true);
customList.Fields.Add("Interest", SPFieldType.Choice, false);
//For adding lookup coumn
SPList targetList = web.Lists.TryGetList("Pages");
if (targetList != null)
customList.Fields.AddLookup("News", targetList.ID, false);
SPFieldLookup lookup = (SPFieldLookup)customList.Fields["News"];
lookup.LookupField = targetList.Fields["Title"].InternalName;
lookup.AllowMultipleValues = false; lookup.Update();
//for using choice field
SPFieldChoice fieldStatus = (SPFieldChoice)customList.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName("Interest");
string[] activityTypes = { "Interest 1", "Interest 2" };
fieldStatus.Choices.AddRange(activityTypes);
fieldStatus.DefaultValue = "Interest 1";
fieldStatus.Update();
//using multiline field
customList.Fields.Add("Response", SPFieldType.Note, true);
web.AllowUnsafeUpdates = true;
customList.Update();
//adding fields to default view
SPView dView = customList.DefaultView;
dView.ViewFields.Add("News");
dView.ViewFields.Add("First Name");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Last Name");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Company Name");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Contact Number");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Email");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Interest");
dView.ViewFields.Add("Response");
dView.Update();
customList.Update();
web.Update();
Adnan Amin MCT, SharePoint Architect | If you find this post useful kindly please mark it as an answer :)