Earlier today while preparing a training session on how to add JavaScript from a Multi-Line Text field to a rendered Sitecore page, I encountered something I had seen in the past but forgot about: Sitecore FieldControls and the FieldRenderer Web Control will convert newlines into HTML breaks.

For example, suppose you have the following JavaScript in a Multi-Line Text field:

You could use a Text FieldControl to render it:

<%@ Control Language="c#" AutoEventWireup="true" TargetSchema="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5" %>
<sc:Text ID="scJavaScript" Field="JavaScript" runat="server" />

Unfortunately, your JavaScript will not work since it will contain HTML breaks:

Why does this happen? In the RenderField() method in Sitecore.Web.UI.WebControls.FieldRenderer — this lives in Sitecore.Kernel.dll, and is called by all FieldControls — passes a “linebreaks” parameter to the <renderField> pipeline:

The Process() method in Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField.GetMemoFieldValue — this serves as one of the “out of the box” processors of the <renderField> pipeline — converts all carriage returns, line feeds, and newlines into HTML breaks:

What can we do to prevent this from happening? Well, you could spin up a new class with a Process() method to serve as a new <renderField> pipeline processor, and use that instead of Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField.GetMemoFieldValue:

using System;

using Sitecore.Diagnostics;
using Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField;

namespace Sitecore.Sandbox.Pipelines.RenderField
{
    public class GetRawMemoFieldValueWhenApplicable
    {
        public void Process(RenderFieldArgs args)
        {
            Assert.ArgumentNotNull(args, "args");
            if(!AreEqualIgnoreCase(args.FieldTypeKey, "memo") && !AreEqualIgnoreCase(args.FieldTypeKey, "multi-line text"))
            {
                return;
            }

            bool omitHtmlBreaks;
            if (bool.TryParse(args.Parameters["omitHtmlBreaks"], out omitHtmlBreaks))
            {
                return;
            }

            Assert.IsNotNull(DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor, "DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor must be set in your configuration!");
            DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor.Process(args);
        }

        private static bool AreEqualIgnoreCase(string stringOne, string stringTwo)
        {
            return string.Equals(stringOne, stringTwo, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
        }

        private GetMemoFieldValue DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor { get; set; }
    }
}

The Process() method in the class above looks for an “omitHtmlBreaks” parameter, and just exits out of the Process() method when it is set to true — it leaves the field value “as is”.

If the “omitHtmlBreaks”parameter is not found in the RenderFieldArgs instance, or it is set to false, the Process() method delegates to the Process() method of its DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor property — this would be an instance of the “out of the box” Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField.GetMemoFieldValue, and this is passed to the new <renderField> pipeline processor via the following configuration file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <pipelines>
      <renderField>
        <processor patch:instead="processor[@type='Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField.GetMemoFieldValue, Sitecore.Kernel']"
                   type="Sitecore.Sandbox.Pipelines.RenderField.GetRawMemoFieldValueWhenApplicable, Sitecore.Sandbox">
          <DefaultGetMemoFieldValueProcessor type="Sitecore.Pipelines.RenderField.GetMemoFieldValue, Sitecore.Kernel" />
        </processor>  
      </renderField>
    </pipelines>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

Let’s test this.

I added the “omitHtmlBreaks” parameter to the control I had shown above:

<%@ Control Language="c#" AutoEventWireup="true" TargetSchema="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5" %>
<sc:Text ID="scJavaScript" Field="JavaScript" Parameters="omitHtmlBreaks=true" runat="server" />

When I loaded my page, I was given a warm welcome:

When I viewed my page’s source, I no longer see HTML breaks:

If you have any thoughts on this, or know of another way to do this, please share in a comment.