| Links to other posts in Dynamic Forms Series |
| 1. Introduction to SharePoint Dynamic Forms |
| 2. List Based Rendering of Share Point Dynamic Forms |
| 3. Template Based Rendering of Share Point Dynamic Forms |
| 4. Configuring and Extending Share Point Dynamic Forms |
| 5. XML Specification for Template based rendering (This Post) |
| 6. Project @ CodePlex |
The template based form generation in SharePoint Dynamic Forms requires XML specification as input. This XML file contains information about the list, columns and its validation rules. This blog post explains the options available in the XML template in respect to version 1.0 of SharePoint Dynamic Forms.
Let’s begin with a sample xml file and dive deep into the options available to control the rendering of Dynamic Form
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<DynamicForms>
<Form ListName="Tasks" DisplayName="Daily Task List">
<Fields>
<Field InternalName="Title" DisplayName="Task Name">
</Field>
<Field InternalName="Body" DisplayName="Task Description">
<Validations>
<Rule Type="re" Value="True"></Rule>
</Validations>
</Field>
<Field InternalName="StartDate" DisplayName="Start Date">
<Validations>
<Rule Type=">" Value="[TODAY]+2d"></Rule>
</Validations>
</Field>
<Field InternalName="DueDate" DisplayName="Due Date">
<Validations>
<Rule Type="re" Value="True"></Rule>
<Rule Type="==" Value=">|StartDate"></Rule>
</Validations>
</Field>
<Field InternalName="PercentComplete" DisplayName="% Complete">
<Validations>
<Rule Type="re" Value="True"></Rule>
<Rule Type=">" Value="10%"></Rule>
</Validations>
</Field>
</Fields>
</Form>
</DynamicForms>DynamicForms is the root element of the XML and it can have only one Form element. As of now Dynamic Forms does not support multiple lists in a single form so the option for multiple forms is ruled out. Form element can also have only one Fields element which in turn can have multiple Field elements. Literally the field element represents each column in that list and is uniquely identified with its internal name. Field elements can have any number of Rules enclosed inside single Validation element.
Form Element
Attribute Name | Description | Sample Value |
ListName | Name of the target list that should be used to locate the columns | Tasks |
DisplayName | Will be used as Form Title if Show Form Header in Display Settings is selected | Daily Task List |
Field Element
Attribute Name | Description | Sample Value |
InternalName | Internal Name of the column | Title |
DisplayName | Caption to be used for Input fields, if unavailable Internal name will be used as DisplayName | Task Name |
Rule Element
Attribute Name | Description | Sample Value |
Type | Validation Type, more like operators | =, !=, (), )(,re (Refer rule type for available options) |
Value | Caption to be used for Input fields, if unavailable Internal name will be used as DisplayName | [TODAY]+2d 10% 123 |
ErrorMessage | Custom Error Message for this rule. If blank, default error message will be displayed. Accepts “[fld]” as a replaceable token which would be replaced with Display Name of field | [fld] cannot contain the word test. |
Rule Types
Symbol | Description | Applicable To Column Types | Example |
re | Required Field | All Columns including lookup | <Rule Type="re" Value="True"/> |
ml | Min Length | String Columns (Text, Note) | <Rule Type="ml" Value="5"/> |
xl | Max Length | String Columns | <Rule Type="xl" Value="10"/> |
fl | Fixed Length | String Columns | <Rule Type="fl" Value="3"/> |
> | Greater Than | Date and Numeric Columns (Number, Integer, Currency) | <Rule Type=">" Value="10"/> |
>= | Greater Than Equal | Date and Numeric Columns | <Rule Type=">=" Value="[TODAY]"/> |
< | Less Than | Date and Numeric Columns | <Rule Type="<" Value="10.5"/> |
<= | Less Than Equal | Date and Numeric Columns | <Rule Type="<=" Value="15%"/> |
= | Equal | Date, Numeric, String Columns | <Rule Type="=" Value="Sample"/> |
!= | Not Equal | Date, Numeric, String Columns | <Rule Type="!=" Value="100"/> |
=> | Range | Date, Numeric Columns | <Rule Type="=>" Value="5|95"/> |
== | Compare | String, Numeric, Date Columns | <Rule Type="==" Value=">|CostPrice"/> |
rx | RegEx | String Columns | <Rule Type="rx" Value="[a-z]"/> |
() | Contains | String Columns | <Rule Type="()" Value="test"/> |
)( | Does not Contains | String Columns | <Rule Type=")(" Value="test"/> |
Value Options for Specific Data Types
Date
Value | Description |
20-Aug-2012 | Specific date. Should be in dd-MMM-yyyy format |
[TODAY] | Current Date |
[TODAY]+2d | Current Date + 2 days |
[TODAY]+2m | Current Date + 2 Months |
[TODAY]+2y | Current Date + 2 years |
[TODAY]-2d | Current Date – 2 days |
[TODAY]-2m | Current Date – 2 Months |
[TODAY]-2y | Current Date – 2 Years |
Range
Value | Description |
5|95 | Range between 5 and 95 , including both the values. Values are separated with pipe symbol . |
Percentage (%)
Value | Description |
10% | If the column type is percentage, value can contain % symbol |
Compare
Value | Description |
InternalName|Operator | It’s a combination of Internal Name of a field and an operator separated by pipe symbol. |
>|CostPrice | Let’s assume that this validation rule is set to a field Selling Price. This enforces a rule that the selling price should be greater that cost price. If this condition is set in Cost Price the rule would be “<|Sellingprice>” |
>|StartDate | Should be greater than value of Start Date field |
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