How do I utilize the save event in a Sitecore custom Item Editor?

Question

I am creating a custom item editor, and am using the following blog post as a reference for responding to the "save" event in the Content Editor, so that I do not need to create a second, confusing Save button for my users.

http://www.markvanaalst.com/sitecore/creating-a-item-editor/

I am able to save my values to the item, but the values in the normal Content tab are also being saved, overriding my values. I have confirmed this via Firebug. Is there a way to prevent this, or to ensure my save is always after the default save?

I have this in as a support ticket and on SDN as well, but wondering what the SO community can come up with.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Took a shot at an iframe-based solution, which uses an IFrame field to read and save the values being entered in my item editor. It needs to be cleaned up a bit, and feels like an interface hack, but it seems to be working at the moment.

In my item editor:

jQuery(function() { 
var parentScForm = window.parent.scForm; 
parentScForm.myItemEditor = window; 
});


function myGetValue(field) { 
var values = []; 
jQuery('#myForm input[@name="'+field+'"]:checked').each(function() { 
values.push(jQuery(this).val()); 
}); 
var value = values.join('|'); 
return value; 
} 

In my Iframe field:

function scGetFrameValue() { 
var parentScForm = window.parent.scForm; 
if (typeof(parentScForm.myItemEditor) != "undefined") { 
if (typeof(parentScForm.myItemEditor.myGetValue) != "undefined") { 
return parentScForm.myItemEditor.myGetValue("myLists"); 
} 
} 
return null; 
} 

In theory, I could have multiple fields on the item which are "delegated" to the item editor in this way -- working with the content editor save rather than trying to fight against it. I'm a little uneasy about "hitchhiking" onto the scForm to communicate between my pages -- might consult with our resident Javascript hacker on a better method.

Any comments on the solution?