It\u2019s a common task to create SharePoint Fields (Columns) through code, and to deploy it to the SharePoint server as a feature. This process is actually quite an easy one: there is Visual Studio item called \u201cSite Column\u201d which you can add to the SharePoint Solution. It is change the appropriate column type and names, include the new Site Column in a feature, and voila, it is ready to be deployed.<\/p>\n

The story is a bit different with the columns of the MMS (Taxonomy) types, though.<\/p>\n

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First of all, after you create the Taxonomy field, you will need to create a hidden Note field, which will be associated with the Taxonomy field. You need to specify a Guid for the Note field.<\/p>\n

Taxonomy field schema:<\/p>\n

\n<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>\n<Elements xmlns="http:\/\/schemas.microsoft.com\/sharepoint\/">\n\n  <Field ID="{85A452FD-37E7-47B0-A4F1-910EDC0E0650}"\n         Type="TaxonomyFieldType"\n         DisplayName="Order Status"\n         ShowField="Term1033"\n         Required="FALSE"\n         EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE"\n         Group="DeltaAccess"\n         StaticName="OrderStatus"\n         Name="OrderStatus"\/>\n<\/Elements>\n<\/pre>\n
Hidden note field schema:<\/p>\n
\n<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>\n<Elements xmlns="http:\/\/schemas.microsoft.com\/sharepoint\/">\n  <Field\n    ID="{f47685b7-93eb-45da-8227-c59925a0d87e}"\n    Name="OrderStatus_Note" StaticName="OrderStatus_Note"\n    SourceID="http:\/\/schemas.microsoft.com\/sharepoint\/v3\/fields"\n    Type="Note"\n    DisplayName="OrderStatus_Note"\n    Group="DeltaAccess" \/>\n<\/Elements>\n<\/pre>\n
Now, after both fields are created declaratively, and deployed to the site, you will need to 1) Connect the Taxonomy field with the Note field and 2) connect the Taxonomy field to the actual taxonomy \u2013 that is the part which we couldn\u2019t do on a declarative way.<\/p>\n
We will do that in the FeatureActivated event receiver on the feature we use for deploying the both fields:<\/p>\n
\nSPSite site = properties.Feature.Parent as SPSite;\nGuid fieldId = new Guid("{85A452FD-37E7-47B0-A4F1-910EDC0E0650}");\nif (site.RootWeb.Fields.Contains(fieldId))\n{\n    TaxonomySession session = new TaxonomySession(site);\n    if (session.TermStores.Count != 0)\n    {\n        var termStore = session.TermStores["ManagedMetadata_Proxy"];\n        var group = termStore.Groups["GroupName"];\n        var termSet = group.TermSets["TermSetName"];\n        TaxonomyField field = site.RootWeb.Fields[fieldId] as TaxonomyField;\n\n        \/\/set the text field to the id of the OrderStatus_Note field : f47685b7-93eb-45da-8227-c59925a0d87e\n        field.TextField = new Guid("{f47685b7-93eb-45da-8227-c59925a0d87e}");\n\n        \/\/ Connect to MMS\n        field.SspId = termSet.TermStore.Id;\n        field.TermSetId = termSet.Id;\n        field.TargetTemplate = string.Empty;\n        field.AnchorId = Guid.Empty;\n        field.Update();\n    }\n}\n<\/pre>\n
And that is basically it.<\/p>\n
Warning:<\/h5>\n
If you don\u2019t set the Note field, everything will seem to function at first, but you will start getting the error:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe SPListItem being updated was not retrieved with all taxonomy fields.\u201d<\/p>\n
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