How to access the Sharepoint SPNavigationNode.QuickLaunch Property? - sharepoint

Question

I have a site as follows:
--SiteA
----Subsite1
----Subsite2
Now whenever i try to access the QuickLaunch Property its always empty e.g
SPNavigation nav = spWeb.Navigation;
if (nav.QuickLaunch.Count == 0)
{
// ALWAYS TRUE
}
However if i go into the Naviation Settings (Through the UI) of SiteA and reorder any site in the list, only then will the QuickLanuch become available. (Other settings are left as default)
Can anyone explain this behaviour? I really need access to the QuickLaunch items.
Thanks

Answer 1

This error occurs if you access quicklaunch while site is being created.Below code causes the feature activated code to wait until the site collection has been created before executing.
using System.Threading;
public override void FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties)
{
//Queues changes until after site exists. For use in provisioning.
SPWeb web = properties.Feature.Parent as SPWeb;
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(ApplyYourChanges, web.Url);
}
private void ApplyYourChanges(object state)
{
string webUrl = state as string;
Uri uri = new Uri(webUrl);
// additional conditions here -- perhaps check if a feature was activated
while (!SPSite.Exists(uri))
{
Thread.Sleep(5000);
}
using (SPSite site = new SPSite(webUrl))
{
using (SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb())
{
//configure the quicklaunch menu
configureQuickLaunch(web);
}
}
}
public static void configureQuickLaunch(SPWeb spWeb)
{
SPNavigationNodeCollection nodeCollection = spWeb.Navigation.QuickLaunch;
SPNavigationNode heading = nodeCollection.Cast<SPNavigationNode>().FirstOrDefault(n => n.Title == headingNode);
SPNavigationNode item = heading.Children.Cast<SPNavigationNode>().FirstOrDefault(n => n.Url == url);
if(item == null)
{
item = new SPNavigationNode(nodeName, url);
item = heading.Children.AddAsLast(item);
}
}

Answer 2

I think, by default, the QuickLaunch uses shared navigation. In other words, the QuickLaunch for a subsite doesn't have its own collection of nodes until you do something with it. If you reorder a site, that gives it its own unique set of nodes.
If you wanted to programmatically set your QuickLaunch to have its own set of nodes programmatically, you should be able to do so this way:
SPNavigation nav = spWeb.Navigation;
nav.UseShared = false;
spWeb.Update();
I think your count should be something other than zero at that point.

Answer 3

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the QuickLaunch collection only stored customisations to the default ordering. Looking around, I can't find that documentation to show you, but it would explain the behavior you see if true.
So your QuickLaunch.Count == 0 is just confirming that default ordering of items is in place.
You can still add nodes, if that's at all helpful;
SPNavigationNodeCollection nodes = web.Navigation.QuickLaunch;
SPNavigationNode node = new SPNavigationNode("Node Name", "Node URL", true);
nodes.AddAsFirst(node);