What Are Special Characters? Special characters are non-alphanumeric symbols that can cause issues when used in SharePoint file and folder names. They include characters like asterisks, angle brackets, curly braces, and more. When present in filenames or paths, special characters can prevent files from opening or links from working properly. They can also contribute to…
What PreSaveItem and PreSaveAction Do The PreSaveItem and PreSaveAction interfaces in Microsoft Dynamics 365 allow developers to customize business logic that executes prior to saving records in the system. PreSaveItem executes logic before saving individual record updates, while PreSaveAction allows logic to run before bulk save operations. Using these interfaces correctly is critical to avoid…
Validating SharePoint Forms Inputs Validation of form inputs is critical for collecting clean, accurate data in SharePoint. When forms lack proper validation, faulty data can enter the system leading to errors, inconsistencies, and poor data quality. Implementing robust validation logic checks inputs as they are entered, blocking bad data from the start. Effective validation requires…
The Problem with Default PreSave Logic The out-of-the-box PreSave logic in SharePoint forms can limit solutions in several ways. By default, SharePoint attempts to save any changes made in a form when the user clicks the Save button. This can cause problems in situations such as: Validations – The default save routine does not check…
What are People Fields People fields in SharePoint allow storing and retrieving data about users and their profiles. They are commonly used to assign tasks, tag documents, populate user profile information, and enable social features. People fields store a unique user ID that points to the user’s account in SharePoint’s user profile store. The user…
Overview of User Profiles in SharePoint User profiles in SharePoint store information about users such as their name, contact information, department, manager, and other attributes. This enables personalized experiences, audiences, permissions, and more. User profiles have a default structure but can be extended with custom properties. User profile structure The default user profile contains properties…
The Problem: Request URL Length Limits When querying SharePoint lists and libraries via the REST API, it is common to use the $expand parameter to retrieve additional columns in the same call. However, when expanding people columns that contain large amounts of user profile data, the request URL can quickly become too long, resulting in…
The Core Issue – Retrieving User Info Why Accessing User Data Matters Being able to access user email addresses and login IDs programmatically from SharePoint people columns is critical for many business applications. The user data enables personalized communications, mapping to user profiles, syncing with directories, custom display formatting, and more. Here are some common…
The Problem: Limited Profile Information in Default Responses The SharePoint REST APIs provide useful profile information for users, but the default people fields returned are limited. By default, the REST responses only contain a few identifying fields like ID, Name, Email, LoginName etc. However, SharePoint stores much more user profile data like Department, Skills, Past…
What Are SharePoint List Columns? SharePoint list columns are the building blocks that make up SharePoint lists and libraries. They define the type of data stored in each row of a SharePoint list or library. Some common examples include: Text columns – Store text or numeric data like names, descriptions, and numbers. Date columns –…