Multiple root node in asp.net SiteMapPath (Web.sitemap)

Question

I am implementing a Dashboard kind of web application, where users having different Roles. I have to show Site Map Path at the top pf the page, as user browse the different pages inside the dashboard. I am using asp.net SiteMapPath, how can i use it for Multiple root node. i need to implement multiple root node as per users roles.

Ex:- Admin->Directory1->Directory2->Page1.aspx

Teacher->Directory1->Page2.aspx

Student->Directory2->Page1.aspx and so on.

Where Admin, Teacher, and Student are root node of the path.

It shouldn't be like Admin->Teacher->Directory1->Page2.aspx

Any solution?

Thanks.

Answer 1

• three site Map file (For Admin, Teacher, Student) We've placed these sitemap files into the App_Data folder, In the user control, we create a public enum, to represent the different menus available.

  public enum SiteMapMenus  
  

  { Admin, Teacher, Student , NotSet }

  • Then created a public property to set the menu type at design time.

SiteMapMenus eMenuToLoad = SiteMapMenus.NotSet;  
public SiteMapMenus MenuToLoad  
{  
    get { return eMenuToLoad; }  
    set { eMenuToLoad = value; }  
}  

• Now, The GetMenuDataSource method reads the required sitemap file as an XML file, then creates and returns a data source that can be bound to the control.

  XmlDataSource GetMenuDataSource(SiteMapMenus menu, string serverMapPath)  
  {  
      XmlDataSource objData = new XmlDataSource();  
      objData.XPath = "siteMap/siteMapNode";  
     switch (menu)  
     {  
  case SiteMapMenus.Admin:objData.DataFile=serverMapPath + @"\App_Data\Admin.sitemap";  
          break;  
      case SiteMapMenus.Teacher:
  objData.DataFile=serverMapPath+@"\App_Data\Teacher.sitemap";  
                   break;  
              case SiteMapMenus.Student:
  objData.DataFile=serverMapPath+@"\App_Data\Student.sitemap";  
                  break;  
      default:  
          break;  
  }  
  objData.DataBind();  
  return objData;  
  }  
  

• as the data source is now XML, and not in the format returned from the sitemap provider, we need to setup our databindings on the menu control itself.

    <asp:Menu ID="Menu1" runat="server">     
 <DataBindings>   
         <asp:MenuItemBinding DataMember="siteMapNode" 
         TextField="title" NavigateUrlField="url"  />   
    </DataBindings>   
 </asp:Menu>  

• We can now finally bind the source to the control, and this is all fired off in the Page_Load event handler of the User Control.

  protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)  
    {  
       Menu1.DataSource = GetMenuDataSource(eMenuToLoad, 
                          Server.MapPath("~"));  
       Menu1.DataBind();  
    }  
  

• Using our new menu is now as easy as registering the user control on the page, and specifying which menu to display by setting the MenuToLoad property.

     <DW:MyMenu ID="MyMenu1" runat="server" MenuToLoad="Secure" />
  

Now, You can use different different site map for different different users.....

Answer 2

you can use the admin as your root node, and define everything in the asp:Menu, in your case, use <asp:Menu ID="mainMenu" DataSourceId="siteMapDataSource" runat="server" StaticDisplayLevels="2" StaticSubMenuIndent="0" /> the StaticDisplayLevels="2" will make sure admin, teacher and student are always presented, and the indent will prevent it from appearing indented, as it is defined by default.