XmlDocuments Element ignored in Content Type?

Question

I have a content type defined in Elements.xml and I want to add an Event Receiver. My Elements.xml looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"&gt;
  <!-- Parent ContentType: Announcement (0x0104) -->
  <ContentType ID="0x0104008a424de98660457481eb7d8ddb5161ee"
               Name="News Posting"
               Group="News"
               Description="$Resources:NewsCTypeDescription"
               Inherits="TRUE"
               Version="1"
               Sealed="TRUE"
               >
    <FieldRefs>
      <FieldRef ID="{7EBC5918-CB79-440A-8DF3-480C6951C4EB}" Name="NewsExcerpt"/>
    </FieldRefs>
    <XmlDocuments>
      <XmlDocument NamespaceURI="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/events"&gt;
        <spe:Receivers xmlns:spe="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/events"&gt;
          <Receiver>
            <Name>ItemAdded</Name>
            <Type>ItemAdded</Type>
            <Class>MyAssembly.NewsItemEventReceiver</Class>
            <Assembly>$SharePoint.Project.AssemblyFullName$</Assembly>
            <SequenceNumber>10000</SequenceNumber>
            <Synchronization>Synchronous</Synchronization>
            <Data />
            <Filter />
          </Receiver>
        </spe:Receivers>
      </XmlDocument>
    </XmlDocuments>
  </ContentType>
</Elements>

The weird thing is that the Event Receiver never executes. I've checked the Schema with SharePoint Manager 2010, and it seems that the XmlDocuments element is ignored completely? Here's the content type SchemaXml according to SharePoint Manager:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<ContentType ID="0x0104008A424DE98660457481EB7D8DDB5161EE" Name="News Posting" Group="News" Description="A News Posting" Sealed="TRUE" Version="1">
  <Folder TargetName="_cts/News Posting" />
  <Fields>
    <Field ID="{c042a256-787d-4a6f-8a8a-cf6ab767f12d}" Name="ContentType" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="ContentType" Group="_Hidden" Type="Computed" DisplayName="Content Type" Sealed="TRUE" Sortable="FALSE" RenderXMLUsingPattern="TRUE" PITarget="MicrosoftWindowsSharePointServices" PIAttribute="ContentTypeID" Customization="">
      <FieldRefs>
        <FieldRef ID="{03e45e84-1992-4d42-9116-26f756012634}" Name="ContentTypeId" />
      </FieldRefs>
      <DisplayPattern>
        <MapToContentType>
          <Column Name="ContentTypeId" />
        </MapToContentType>
      </DisplayPattern>
    </Field>
    <Field ID="{fa564e0f-0c70-4ab9-b863-0177e6ddd247}" Name="Title" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="Title" Group="_Hidden" Type="Text" DisplayName="Title" Required="TRUE" FromBaseType="TRUE" Customization="" ShowInNewForm="TRUE" ShowInEditForm="TRUE" />
    <Field ID="{7662cd2c-f069-4dba-9e35-082cf976e170}" Name="Body" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="Body" Group="_Hidden" Type="Note" RichText="TRUE" RichTextMode="FullHtml" IsolateStyles="TRUE" DisplayName="Body" Sortable="FALSE" NumLines="15" Customization="" />
    <Field ID="{6a09e75b-8d17-4698-94a8-371eda1af1ac}" Name="Expires" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="Expires" Group="_Hidden" Type="DateTime" DisplayName="Expires" Format="DateOnly" Customization="" />
    <Field ID="{7EBC5918-CB79-440A-8DF3-480C6951C4EB}" Group="News" Name="NewsExcerpt" DisplayName="Excerpt of the Article" Description="165 Characters maximum" MaxLength="165" Type="Text" Customization="" />
    </Field>
  </Fields>
  <XmlDocuments>
    <XmlDocument NamespaceURI="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3/contenttype/forms"&gt;
      <FormTemplates xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3/contenttype/forms"&gt;
        <Display>ListForm</Display>
        <Edit>ListForm</Edit>
        <New>ListForm</New>
      </FormTemplates>
    </XmlDocument>
  </XmlDocuments>
</ContentType>

I have tried adding a FormTemplates XmlDocument as well, just to see if that works, but even this is ignored (I've changed the ListForm to ListForm2, but the SchemaXml is unchanged.

I've deleted the entire Web Application and Content Database to make sure there was nothing stale/stuck, but the result is still the same.

Is XmlDocuments depreciated in SharePoint 2010? What are the alternatives?

Answer 1

You should add your event receiver as a feature, maybe even as a part of the same feature that installs the content type. We always do it this way and it works perfectly