Create an item with a specific ID and Branch

Question

I found an article showing how to create an item using a branch. https://briancaos.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/creating-items-from-branches-in-sitecore/

I found another article showing how to create an image and being able to specify the new item's ID. http://mixedsitecore.blogspot.com/2014/08/creating-new-item-with-specific-id.html

I can't find how to create a new item with a specific ID and a branch. Can I assign a branch after creating the item? Can I change an item's ID after it's created?

Answer 1

If what you are looking to do is create a new item with a specific ID from a specific branch template then what you are looking for is the following:

var newItemName = "Name of Root Item to Create" // this may be overridden by your branch template depending on how you set it up
var branchId = ... // ID of your branch template
var parentItem = ... // parent item under which the branch should be created as a child
var newItemId = ... // ID of the item to create 

ItemManager.AddFromTemplate(newItemName, branchId, parentItem, newItemId);

The above call to the static Sitecore.Data.Managers.ItemManager.AddFromTemplate(string, ID, Item, ID) method will allow you to create an item with a specific ID and branch.

Note that the non-static methods Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Add(string, BranchItem) and Sitecore.Data.Items.Item.Add(string, BranchId) both call the static method, above.

Answer 2

What you're asking for, doesn't entirely make sense. At least not to me. But let's start with the questions:

The questions

Can I create a new Item with a specific ID and branch?

Well you can create a new Item with a specific ID, sure. It will blow up if the ID you're selecting already exists however. It looks like this:

parent.Add("myNewItem", templateID, newItemId);

You could theoretically add information on this newly created Item to indicate a branch, but it would mean nothing at this point. Branches only exist and have an effect when used to create items - not after the fact.

There is no way to specify a Branch Template Id instead of a Template Id in Item creation API. The reason (probably) is; a Branch Template results in not 1 Item but 1..n items.

Can I assign a branch after creating the item?

Yes, but it would have no effect.

parent.Fields[FieldIDs.Branches].Value = branchId.ToString();

All it would do, is show "created from [your branch]" in the Content Editor. It would have no other effect.

Can I change an Item ID after it is created?

No. Not using official APIs. On a database level, yes, but I strongly advise you not to go there. Doing so would not be supported by Sitecore either.

Answer 3

Have you had the opportunity to utilize PowerShell for this task? thanks

Import-Module -Name Sitecore.PowerShell.Extensions
$itemId = "{ITEM_ID}"
$branchId = "{BRANCH_ID}"
$parentItemPath = "/sitecore/content/ParentItem"
$parentItem = Get-Item -Path "master:$parentItemPath"
$branchItem = Get-Item -Path "master:/sitecore/templates/Branches/Branches/$branchId"
$newItem = New-Item -Path "master:" -Name "New Item Name" -ItemType "Sample Item" -Id $itemId -Parent $parentItem -Branch $branchItem
if ($newItem -ne $null) {
    Write-Host "Item created successfully with ID $($newItem.ID)"
} else {
    Write-Host "Failed to create item"
}