Programmatically set the description field of a URL in a Links List

Question

I have created a console application which creates a site collection and updates a links list in an existing sharepoint site which acts as a site register.

The code for adding a new entry to the list works and adds the url of the new site to my site register as intended. Here is the code I use to do this:

Console.WriteLine("Updating Workplace Site Register");
string siteUrl = "http://contoso.com";

 ClientContext clientContext = new ClientContext(siteUrl);
 SP.List oList = clientContext.Web.Lists.GetByTitle("Site Register");
 ListItemCreationInformation itemCreateInfo = new ListItemCreationInformation();
 ListItem oListItem = oList.AddItem(itemCreateInfo);
 oListItem["URL"] = mainurl;
 oListItem.Update();
 clientContext.ExecuteQuery();

Currently this causes the raw url of the new site to appear in the site register as a link. There is a Description field attached to each URL in a links list which sets the display value of the new link.

How can I alter my code so that it also updates this field and my new link displays in a more user friendly fashion?

Answer 1

You can set it like this:

oListItem["URL"] = String.Format("{0}, {1}", mainurl, "Description");

It's a simple string and URL value is followed by a description which are separated by a comma.

Or you can use a more object oriented approach:

var value = new SPFieldUrlValue(mainurl);
value.Description = "Description";
oListItem["URL"] = value;

Whichever suits you :)

Answer 2

Try this:

FieldUrlValue url = new FieldUrlValue();
url.Url = "Your Url here";
url.Description = "Your description here";
oListItem["URL"] = url;