How to use Meta Data in List Definition

Question

Hi there, In Custom List , I could create a Meta Data Column by UI, but don't know how to create a Meta Data column in my list definition by programming anyone has experiense? -Regards, Chi

Answer 1

Yeah, it's tricky creating a metadata column in CAML. You can do it, but it still requires a bit of code to wire up the column during feature activation. 
Basically, you need to define your taxonomy field (and a hidden field for the label), include the taxonomy catchall fields (in your list definition), add an event handler to the list definition (that will update the taxonomy catch all fields when items are
added and updated), and then wire up your taxonomy field during feature activation (this is when you would check if the termset has been created, and assign the termset id to the field, etc).
Here's an example from a test project I created (with help from others). I've posted the whole project up to the TechNet Gallery, here:
http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Declaratively-Adding-c4dc6c81.
Column Markup:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<Field
ID="{14c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5eef}" Name="inceAnimal" DisplayName="Animal" StaticName="inceAnimal" Type="TaxonomyFieldType"
Required="FALSE" Group="Ince Managed Fields" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" ShowField="Term1033">
<Customization>
<ArrayOfProperty>
<Property>
<Name>TextField</Name>
<Value xmlns:q6="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q6:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}</Value>
</Property>
</ArrayOfProperty>
</Customization>
</Field>
<Field Type="Note" ID="{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}" Name="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" DisplayName="Animal_0" StaticName="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" ShowInViewForms="FALSE" Hidden="TRUE"
RowOrdinal="0"/>
</Elements>
Content Type:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<!-- Parent ContentType: Item (0x01) -->
<ContentType ID="0x01001D68D1E8F73D4ED5BF5259CF2BCF5209" Name="Animal" Group="Ince Content Types" Description="A content type for storing information on animals." Inherits="TRUE" Version="0">
<FieldRefs>
<FieldRef ID="{14c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5eef}" DisplayName="Animal" Required="FALSE" Name="inceAnimal" />
<FieldRef ID="{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}" DisplayName="Animal_0" Hidden="TRUE" Name="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" />
<FieldRef ID="{f3b0adf9-c1a2-4b02-920d-943fba4b3611}" Name="TaxCatchAll"/>
<FieldRef ID="{8f6b6dd8-9357-4019-8172-966fcd502ed2}" Name="TaxCatchAllLabel"/>
</FieldRefs>
</ContentType>
</Elements>
List Definition (Elements.xml):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<!-- Do not change the value of the Name attribute below. If it does not match the folder name of the List project item, an error will occur when the project is run. -->
<ListTemplate
Name="ldAnimal"
Type="14000"
BaseType="0"
OnQuickLaunch="TRUE"
SecurityBits="11"
Sequence="410"
DisplayName="Animals"
Description="List for recording animals"
Image="/_layouts/images/itgen.png"/>
</Elements>
List Definition (Schema.xml)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<List xmlns:ows="Microsoft SharePoint" Title="ldAnimal" FolderCreation="FALSE" Direction="$Resources:Direction;" Url="Lists/ldAnimal" BaseType="0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" EnableContentTypes="TRUE">
<MetaData>
<ContentTypes>
<ContentType ID="0x01001D68D1E8F73D4ED5BF5259CF2BCF5209" Name="Animal" Group="Ince Content Types" Description="A content type for storing information on animals." Inherits="TRUE" Version="0">
<FieldRefs>
<FieldRef ID="{14c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5eef}" DisplayName="Animal" Required="FALSE" Name="inceAnimal" />
<FieldRef ID="{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}" DisplayName="Animal_0" Hidden="TRUE" Name="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" />
<FieldRef ID="{f3b0adf9-c1a2-4b02-920d-943fba4b3611}" Name="TaxCatchAll"/>
<FieldRef ID="{8f6b6dd8-9357-4019-8172-966fcd502ed2}" Name="TaxCatchAllLabel"/>
</FieldRefs>
</ContentType>
</ContentTypes>
<Fields>
<Field ID="{fa564e0f-0c70-4ab9-b863-0177e6ddd247}" Type="Text" Name="Title" DisplayName="$Resources:core,Title;" Required="TRUE" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="Title" MaxLength="255" />
<Field ID="{14c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5eef}" Name="inceAnimal" DisplayName="Animal" StaticName="inceAnimal" Type="TaxonomyFieldType" Required="FALSE" Group="Ince Managed Fields" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3">
<Customization>
<ArrayOfProperty>
<Property>
<Name>TextField</Name>
<Value xmlns:q6="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q6:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}</Value>
</Property>
</ArrayOfProperty>
</Customization>
</Field>
<Field Type="Note" ID="{24c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5fff}" Name="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" DisplayName="Animal_0" StaticName="inceAnimalTaxHTField0" ShowInViewForms="FALSE" Hidden="TRUE" RowOrdinal="0"/>
</Fields>
<Views>
<View BaseViewID="0" Type="HTML" MobileView="TRUE" TabularView="FALSE">
<Toolbar Type="Standard" />
<XslLink Default="TRUE">main.xsl</XslLink>
<RowLimit Paged="TRUE">30</RowLimit>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name="LinkTitleNoMenu"></FieldRef>
</ViewFields>
<Query>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name="Modified" Ascending="FALSE"></FieldRef>
</OrderBy>
</Query>
<ParameterBindings>
<ParameterBinding Name="AddNewAnnouncement" Location="Resource(wss,addnewitem)" />
<ParameterBinding Name="NoAnnouncements" Location="Resource(wss,noXinviewofY_LIST)" />
<ParameterBinding Name="NoAnnouncementsHowTo" Location="Resource(wss,noXinviewofY_ONET_HOME)" />
</ParameterBindings>
</View>
<View BaseViewID="1" Type="HTML" WebPartZoneID="Main" DisplayName="$Resources:core,objectiv_schema_mwsidcamlidC24;" DefaultView="TRUE" MobileView="TRUE" MobileDefaultView="TRUE" SetupPath="pages\viewpage.aspx" ImageUrl="/_layouts/images/generic.png" Url="AllItems.aspx">
<Toolbar Type="Standard" />
<XslLink Default="TRUE">main.xsl</XslLink>
<RowLimit Paged="TRUE">30</RowLimit>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name="Attachments"></FieldRef>
<FieldRef Name="LinkTitle"></FieldRef>
<FieldRef Name="inceAnimal" />
</ViewFields>
<Query>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name="ID"></FieldRef>
</OrderBy>
</Query>
<ParameterBindings>
<ParameterBinding Name="NoAnnouncements" Location="Resource(wss,noXinviewofY_LIST)" />
<ParameterBinding Name="NoAnnouncementsHowTo" Location="Resource(wss,noXinviewofY_DEFAULT)" />
</ParameterBindings>
</View>
</Views>
<Forms>
<Form Type="DisplayForm" Url="DispForm.aspx" SetupPath="pages\form.aspx" WebPartZoneID="Main" />
<Form Type="EditForm" Url="EditForm.aspx" SetupPath="pages\form.aspx" WebPartZoneID="Main" />
<Form Type="NewForm" Url="NewForm.aspx" SetupPath="pages\form.aspx" WebPartZoneID="Main" />
</Forms>
</MetaData>
</List>
Taxonomy List Event Receiver Markup:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<Receivers ListTemplateId="14000" ListUrl="Lists/ldAnimal">
<Receiver>
<Name>TaxonomyItemSynchronousAddedEventReceiver</Name>
<Type>ItemAdding</Type>
<Assembly>Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Assembly>
<Class>Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy.TaxonomyItemEventReceiver</Class>
<Synchronization>Synchronous</Synchronization>
<SequenceNumber>10000</SequenceNumber>
</Receiver>
<Receiver>
<Name>TaxonomyItemUpdatingEventReceiver</Name>
<Type>ItemUpdating</Type>
<Assembly>Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c</Assembly>
<Class>Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy.TaxonomyItemEventReceiver</Class>
<Synchronization>Synchronous</Synchronization>
<SequenceNumber>10000</SequenceNumber>
</Receiver>
</Receivers>
</Elements>
Feature Activation Code:
[Guid("8b0a27ee-22dd-4a4e-940e-9cce3a596c49")]
public class AnimalFieldsandContentTypeEventReceiver : SPFeatureReceiver
private const String TermGroupName = "Zoology";
private const String TermSetName = "Animals";
private readonly Guid _termSetId = new Guid("{8CC56BE3-93A0-4007-81AF-30EB39A42959}");
private readonly Guid _animalFiedId = new Guid("{14c4e3ff-5d11-4412-a7ae-287f187d5eef}");
private const String ClassName = "AnimalFieldsandContentTypeEventReceiver";
public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
try
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.FeatureActivated", ClassName), String.Format("Activating feature."), LogType.Information);
var site = properties.Feature.Parent as SPSite;
if (site == null)
Logging.Log(ClassName, "The Site is null. Feature not activated.", LogType.Error);
throw new NullReferenceException("The Site is null. Couldn't activate the feature.");
var termStore = Taxonomy.GetDefaultTermStore(site);
if (termStore == null)
Logging.Log(ClassName, "The Taxonomy Termstore is null. Feature not activated.", LogType.Error);
throw new NullReferenceException("The Taxonomy Termstore is null. Feature not activated.");
var termGroup = Taxonomy.GetTermGroup(termStore, TermGroupName, true);
var termSet = Taxonomy.GetTermSet(termGroup, TermSetName, _termSetId, true);
Taxonomy.ConnectTaxonomyTerm(site, termSet, termGroup, _animalFiedId);
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.FeatureActivated", ClassName), String.Format("Successfully activated feature."), LogType.Information);
catch (Exception e)
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.FeatureActivated", ClassName), String.Format("Unexpected error activating the feature. Error: {0}", e.Message), LogType.Error);
throw;
Taxonomy Helper Class:
namespace TaxonomyTesting
public class Taxonomy
private const String ClassName = "Taxonomy";
public static TermStore GetDefaultTermStore(SPSite site)
var taxonomySession = new TaxonomySession(site);
var termStore = taxonomySession.DefaultSiteCollectionTermStore;
if (termStore != null) return termStore;
return taxonomySession.TermStores.Count == 0 ? null : taxonomySession.TermStores[0];
public static TermSet GetTermSet(Group group, String termsetName, Guid termsetId, Boolean createIfMissing)
try
foreach (var termSet in @group.TermSets.Where(set => set.Name.ToLower().Equals(termsetName.ToLower())))
return termSet;
if (createIfMissing)
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermSet", ClassName), String.Format("Termset does not exist. Creating termset: {0}", termsetName), LogType.Information);
var termSet = group.CreateTermSet(termsetName, termsetId, 1033);
group.TermStore.CommitAll();
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermSet", ClassName), String.Format("Successfully create termset: {0}", termsetName), LogType.Information);
return termSet;
return null;
catch (Exception e)
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermSet", ClassName), String.Format("Unexpected error getting a termset. Error: {0}", e.Message), LogType.Error);
throw new Exception("[GetTermSet] Exception getting term set.");
public static Group GetTermGroup(TermStore store, String groupName, Boolean createIfMissing)
try
foreach (var termGroup in @store.Groups.Where(termGroup => termGroup.Name.ToLower().Equals(groupName.ToLower())))
return termGroup;
if(createIfMissing)
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermGroup", ClassName), String.Format("Termgroup does not exist. Creating term store group: {0}", groupName), LogType.Information);
store.CreateGroup(groupName);
store.CommitAll();
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermGroup", ClassName), String.Format("Successfully create term store group: {0}", groupName), LogType.Information);
return store.Groups[groupName];
return null;
catch (Exception e)
Logging.Log(String.Format("{0}.GetTermGroup", ClassName), String.Format("Unexpected error getting a term store group. Error: {0}", e.Message), LogType.Error);
throw new Exception("[GetTermGroup] Exception getting term store group.");
public static void ConnectTaxonomyTerm(SPWeb web, TermSet termSet, Group termGroup, Guid taxonomyFieldId)
if (web.Fields.Contains(taxonomyFieldId))
var field = web.Fields[taxonomyFieldId] as TaxonomyField;
if (field == null)
throw new ArgumentException(String.Format("The field with id {0} is not a TaxonomyField.",taxonomyFieldId));
field.SspId = termSet.TermStore.Id;
field.TermSetId = termSet.Id;
field.TargetTemplate = String.Empty;
field.AnchorId = Guid.Empty;
field.Update(true);
return;
throw new ArgumentException(String.Format("The field with id {0} could not be found on the current web, {1}", taxonomyFieldId, web.Url));
public static void ConnectTaxonomyTerm(SPSite site, TermSet termSet, Group termGroup, Guid taxonomyFieldId)
ConnectTaxonomyTerm(site.RootWeb, termSet, termGroup, taxonomyFieldId);
Logging class (just a helper class, that isn't required if you don't want to log to the ULS)
namespace TaxonomyTesting
public static class Logging
private const String SolutionName = "TaxonomyTesting";
public static void Log(String callingClass, String message, LogType logType)
switch (logType)
case LogType.Error:
SPDiagnosticsService.Local.WriteTrace(0, new SPDiagnosticsCategory(SolutionName, TraceSeverity.Unexpected, EventSeverity.ErrorCritical), TraceSeverity.Unexpected, String.Format("[{0}][{1}] [Error] {2}", SolutionName, callingClass, message), message);
return;
case LogType.Warning:
SPDiagnosticsService.Local.WriteTrace(0, new SPDiagnosticsCategory(SolutionName, TraceSeverity.High, EventSeverity.Warning), TraceSeverity.High, String.Format("[{0}][{1}] [Warning] {2}", SolutionName, callingClass, message), message);
return;
case LogType.Information:
SPDiagnosticsService.Local.WriteTrace(0, new SPDiagnosticsCategory(SolutionName, TraceSeverity.Medium, EventSeverity.Information), TraceSeverity.Medium, String.Format("[{0}][{1}] {2}", SolutionName, callingClass, message), message);
return;
public enum LogType
Information,
Warning,
Error
Regards, Matthew
MCPD | MCITP
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