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It seems that Site Columns defined as Type="Choice" ignore the Required="TRUE" attribute when it comes to form validation on the Edit/New pages. In this sceanrio, I chose to not define a default value because I need the user to explicitly read and select a value...yet the form still saves when the field is left blank.

Is this expected behavior and is there a work-around? I am developing my feature in Visual Studio so whatever the solution is, it needs to be implemented in a way that can be deployed as a feature.

More Info

Here is my original field definition

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<Field
    ID="{5f8fe565-f627-4aed-b7b1-48e5bd2ec8ac}"
    Name="TechnicalReviewAction"
    DisplayName="Technical Review Action"
    Type="Choice"
    Required="TRUE"
    Format="Dropdown"
    FillInChoice="FALSE"
    Group="Knowledge Base Articles">
    <Default></Default>
    <CHOICES>
        <CHOICE>Publish</CHOICE>
        <CHOICE>Revise</CHOICE>
        <CHOICE>Reject</CHOICE>
    </CHOICES>
</Field>

I have tried it with different combinations of including/excluding empty Default element and the FillInChoice element.

Here is the definition in the content type

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<!-- Parent ContentType: Workflow Task (0x010801) -->
<ContentType ID="0x010801003EE4B5580C5846B6BE74BFC41A663388"
             Name="Technical Review Task"
             Group="KB Article"
             Description="Content Type for Technical Review Tasks in KB Workflow"
             Inherits="TRUE"
             Version="0">
    <FieldRefs>
        <FieldRef ID="{5f8fe565-f627-4aed-b7b1-48e5bd2ec8ac}"
                  Name="TechnicalReviewAction"
                  DisplayName="Action" />
        <FieldRef ID="{5f4f08ad-7f5b-4d5d-879c-50b416acae3d}"
                  Name="ActionComment" />
    </FieldRefs>
</ContentType>

And here is a screenshot of the form. As you can see there is no asterisks indicating a required field and of course the form saves without entering a value.

Missing required field indicator

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  • Remove <Default></Default>. I've also updated my answer. – Robert Kaucher Feb 24 '14 at 19:42
  • I just saw that you said you tried excluding it. This sounds very strange. You are not using a custom new form are you? – Robert Kaucher Feb 24 '14 at 19:59
  • Not yet. My end-game is to use a custom form but I was trying to get this to work first. Here is an odd thing -- I just got it to work by adding the Required="TRUE" to the FieldRef in the ContentType declaration. I thought properties were inherited? – Jason Feb 24 '14 at 22:14
  • I did as well. Add that as an answer! – Robert Kaucher Feb 25 '14 at 0:53
  • Robert -- Can you clarify that inheritance question? When you define a Field and then reference that field in a Content Type, which properties need to be repeated? All of them? Are the defined property values not copied from the original field definition? – Jason Feb 25 '14 at 4:11
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This is not normal if your definition is correct. Could you post it?

Update: <Default></Default> <= Get rid of that.

<Field Type="Choice" 
       DisplayName="Test_Field" 
       Required="TRUE" 
       EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" 
       Indexed="FALSE" 
       Format="Dropdown" 
       FillInChoice="FALSE" 
       ID="{f2b25ba8-ca63-4374-9eb3-7a6da830cd6a}" 
       StaticName="Test_Field"
       Name="Test Item">
   <CHOICES>
      <CHOICE>Enter Choice #1</CHOICE>
      <CHOICE>Enter Choice #2</CHOICE>
      <CHOICE>Enter Choice #3</CHOICE>
   </CHOICES>
</Field>

Notice here I do not have DefaultValue in my definition at all. If you put DefaultValue="", that will likely mess up definition. That's the only suggestion as to what I think might cause this issue.

A value is required

A value is required

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  • I apologize for the delayed response. I was pulled to some other projects and also had to deal with a solution caching problem with SharePoint that kept me from uploading modified fields. I updated my original posting with the field definitions. – Jason Feb 24 '14 at 18:39
0

Are you not putting a line for default value? or are you setting DefaultValue="" ? I believe you require the latter in order for this to work.

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  • @Tal -- The use of a default value negates the need for the Required attribute. As I stated in the original posting, I DO NOT want to define a default value...I want the user to HAVE TO pick one of the available choices but I do not want to give them the ability to save the task without selecting. – Jason Feb 11 '14 at 22:06
0

It seems that some field properties are not inherited when referenced within Content Types. So although I had Required="TRUE" set in my Field, I also had to add it to the FieldRef of the Content Type.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
<!-- Parent ContentType: Workflow Task (0x010801) -->
<ContentType ID="0x010801003EE4B5580C5846B6BE74BFC41A663388"
             Name="Technical Review Task"
             Group="KB Article"
             Description="Content Type for Technical Review Tasks in KB Workflow"
             Inherits="TRUE"
             Version="0">
    <FieldRefs>
        <FieldRef ID="{5f8fe565-f627-4aed-b7b1-48e5bd2ec8ac}"
                  Name="TechnicalReviewAction"
                  DisplayName="Action"
                  Required="TRUE" /> <!-- This needs to be explicitly set...cannot use setting from Field definition -->
        <FieldRef ID="{5f4f08ad-7f5b-4d5d-879c-50b416acae3d}"
                  Name="ActionComment" />
    </FieldRefs>
</ContentType>

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