No Thumbnails for Custom Picture Library Definition

I’ve got a Custom Picture Library definition – it encapsulates much of the same functionality I described a few days ago for Document Libraries. I built it, then ran Solution Generator against it to create the List definition and schema.

It all seemed to work alright, but when I tried uploading an image, it didn’t create my thumbnails, or the _w and _t folders the thumbnails are hidden in! This was a problem.

Well, I cracked open reflector (how did we do .NET development before it?) and dug around. Didn’t find much, except that the Upload.aspx page decides if it is for a Picture Library based on the List Template‘s Type attribute (ordinarily 109).

The Type attribute of a List Template tag says this:

Provides a unique identifier for the template. This identifier must be unique within the feature, but need not be unique across all feature definitions or site definitions.
…
This attribute corresponds to the Type attribute of the List element

Hmm. Interesting. I had changed my List Template‘s Type – I’ve been keeping all of mine unique in my solution, as I do have multiple lists based on the same out-of-box type (e.g. multiple lists based upon the ‘Custom List’ type). As I was suspicious, I changed this back to 109, and tried again. My thumbnails now worked.

I guess that this mean that the thumbnailing done during the upload process is contingent on the list’s Type being 109 still. As a consequence, I guess that a feature can only have one custom Picture Library definition (as “This identifier must be unique within the feature”).

No Thumbnails for Custom Picture Library Definition

8 thoughts on “No Thumbnails for Custom Picture Library Definition”

  1. Hi,

    If you really want to you can create an event receiver and make the logic yourself of creating a thumbnail inside _w and _t.
    I have encountered this same problem a while back and this also works.

    Regards,
    Jeroen

  2. Hi Jeroen,

    Yup, that’s a good approach. I prototyped it a while back, and it worked okay. I’d just sooner avoid reinventing the wheel if I can. I’ll just use 109 for now!

  3. I did the same thing as you but when I remove the feature it messes up the ability of sharepoint to run the site manager saying feature xxx-xx-x-xx for list template 109 is not installed on this farm.

    Any thoughts about that issue?

    Error goes something like this: “Feature ‘bbc8d48a-6fe9-493d-a035-0f7cdfc1377f’ for list template ‘109’ is not installed in this farm. The operation could not be completed. at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFeatureManager.GetFeatureRootAndListSchemaPaths(Guid featid, Int32 ltid, String& sPathToFeatureRoot, String& sPathToSchemaXml)”

  4. Jens's avatar Jens says:

    Hi!

    I have this problem, and changing back to type=109 would do it. But what if you have a custom action in your picture library that you only want on your custom list defintion?
    Any ideas?

  5. Hmm. That’s a good question. It looks like it might not be possible as a CustomAction.

    I’d be delighted to hear if you find a solution, though.

  6. TiBo's avatar TiBo says:

    Hi,

    I’ve faced this problem after making my “Type” unique (10901).
    But changing Type from 109 to 10901 solved another problem : my picture lib isn’t in QuickLaunch any more, even if OnQuickLaunch is set to “TRUE”.

    Does someone reproduce this prolbem with a Custom Picture Lib of type 109 ?

    Thanks,

    TiBo.

  7. I got the same issue with my solution for storing product images. In my situation I had two list definitions of type 109 (Picture Library) in the same feature. This is a problem as types need to be unique per feature and I would like the thumbnail preview to work. I could create another feature, move the list definition to that feature, and set the type back to 109, but I am continuing to search for a solution that will cause it work in the current state.

    If anyone has any great ideas that might solve this issue please let me know. Thanks.

    Craig

  8. We’ve created a solution for extracting image metadata and creation of thumbnails in any kind of document library. Sells for 299$ per Farm and a free trial is available.

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