Auto number column in SharePoint list

Question

In a SharePoint list I want an auto number column that as I add to the list gets incremented  How best can I go about this

User · Answer

I had this issue with a custom list and while it's not possible to use the auto-generated ID column to create a calculated column, it is possible to use a workflow to do the heavy lifting.

I created a new workflow variable of type Number and set it to be the value of the ID column in the current item. Then it's simply a matter of calculating the custom column value and setting it - in my case I just needed the numbering to begin at 100,000.

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User · Answer

You can t add a new unique auto-generated ID to a SharePoint list  but there already is one there  If you edit the  All Items  view you will see a list of columns that do not have the display option checked   There are quite a few of these columns that exist but that are never displayed  like  Created By  and  Created   These fields are used within SharePoint  but they are not displayed by default so as not to clutter up the display  You can t edit these fields  but you can display them to the user  if you check the  Display  box beside the ID field you will get a unique and auto-generated ID field displayed in your list   Check out  Unique ID in SharePoint list

User · Answer

As stated  all objects in sharepoint contain some sort of unique identifier  often an integer based counter for list items  and GUIDs for lists    That said  there is also a feature available at http   www codeplex com features called  Unique Column Policy   designed to add an other column with a unique value  A complete writeup is available at http   scothillier spaces live com blog cns 8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB 293 entry

User · Answer

Sharepoint Lists automatically have an column with  ID  which auto increments  You simply need to select this column from the  modify view  screen to view it

User · Answer

I had this issue with a custom list and while it's not possible to use the auto-generated ID column to create a calculated column, it is possible to use a workflow to do the heavy lifting.

I created a new workflow variable of type Number and set it to be the value of the ID column in the current item. Then it's simply a matter of calculating the custom column value and setting it - in my case I just needed the numbering to begin at 100,000.

enter image description here

User · Answer

As stated  all objects in sharepoint contain some sort of unique identifier  often an integer based counter for list items  and GUIDs for lists    That said  there is also a feature available at http   www codeplex com features called  Unique Column Policy   designed to add an other column with a unique value  A complete writeup is available at http   scothillier spaces live com blog cns 8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB 293 entry

User · Answer

If you want to control the formatting of the unique identifier you can create your own  lt FieldType gt  in SharePoint  MSDN also has a visual How-To  This basically means that you re creating a custom column   WSS defines the Counter field type  which is what the ID column above is using   I ve never had the need to re-use this or extend it  but it should be possible   A solution might exist without creating a custom  lt FieldType gt   For example  if you wanted unique IDs like CUST1  CUST2      it might be possible to create a Calculated column and use the value of the ID column in you formula    CUST   amp   ID    I haven t tried this  but this should work

User · Answer

If you want something beyond the ID column that s there in all lists  you re probably going to have to resort to an Event Receiver on the list that  calculates  what the value of your unique identified should be or using a custom field type that has the required logic embedded in this   Unfortunately  both of these options will require writing and deploying custom code to the server and deploying assemblies to the GAC  which can be frowned upon in environments where you don t have complete control over the servers   If you don t need the unique identifier to show up immediately  you could probably generate it via a workflow  either with SharePoint Designer or a custom WF workflow built in Visual Studio    Unfortunately  calculated columns  which seem like an obvious solution  won t work for this purpose because the ID is not yet assigned when the calculation is attempted   If you go in after the fact and edit the item  the calculation may achieve what you want  but on initial creation of a new item it will not be calculated correctly

User · Answer

So I am not sure I can really think of why you would actually need a  site collection unique  id  so maybe you can comment and let us know what is actually trying to be accomplished here     Either way  all items have a UniqueID property that is a GUID if you really need it  http   msdn microsoft com en-us library microsoft sharepoint splistitem uniqueid aspx

User · Answer

Peetha has the best idea  I ve done the same with a custom list in our SP site  Using a workflow to auto increment is the best way  and it is not that difficult  Check this website out  http   splittingshares wordpress com 2008 04 11 auto-increment-a-number-in-a-new-list-item   I give much appreciation to the person who posted that solution  it is very cool

User · Answer

it s in there by default   It s the id field

User · Answer

If you want something beyond the ID column that s there in all lists  you re probably going to have to resort to an Event Receiver on the list that  calculates  what the value of your unique identified should be or using a custom field type that has the required logic embedded in this   Unfortunately  both of these options will require writing and deploying custom code to the server and deploying assemblies to the GAC  which can be frowned upon in environments where you don t have complete control over the servers   If you don t need the unique identifier to show up immediately  you could probably generate it via a workflow  either with SharePoint Designer or a custom WF workflow built in Visual Studio    Unfortunately  calculated columns  which seem like an obvious solution  won t work for this purpose because the ID is not yet assigned when the calculation is attempted   If you go in after the fact and edit the item  the calculation may achieve what you want  but on initial creation of a new item it will not be calculated correctly

User · Answer

You can t add a new unique auto-generated ID to a SharePoint list  but there already is one there  If you edit the  All Items  view you will see a list of columns that do not have the display option checked   There are quite a few of these columns that exist but that are never displayed  like  Created By  and  Created   These fields are used within SharePoint  but they are not displayed by default so as not to clutter up the display  You can t edit these fields  but you can display them to the user  if you check the  Display  box beside the ID field you will get a unique and auto-generated ID field displayed in your list   Check out  Unique ID in SharePoint list

User · Answer

If you want something beyond the ID column that s there in all lists  you re probably going to have to resort to an Event Receiver on the list that  calculates  what the value of your unique identified should be or using a custom field type that has the required logic embedded in this   Unfortunately  both of these options will require writing and deploying custom code to the server and deploying assemblies to the GAC  which can be frowned upon in environments where you don t have complete control over the servers   If you don t need the unique identifier to show up immediately  you could probably generate it via a workflow  either with SharePoint Designer or a custom WF workflow built in Visual Studio    Unfortunately  calculated columns  which seem like an obvious solution  won t work for this purpose because the ID is not yet assigned when the calculation is attempted   If you go in after the fact and edit the item  the calculation may achieve what you want  but on initial creation of a new item it will not be calculated correctly

User · Answer

it s in there by default   It s the id field

User · Answer

it s in there by default   It s the id field

User · Answer

You can t add a new unique auto-generated ID to a SharePoint list  but there already is one there  If you edit the  All Items  view you will see a list of columns that do not have the display option checked   There are quite a few of these columns that exist but that are never displayed  like  Created By  and  Created   These fields are used within SharePoint  but they are not displayed by default so as not to clutter up the display  You can t edit these fields  but you can display them to the user  if you check the  Display  box beside the ID field you will get a unique and auto-generated ID field displayed in your list   Check out  Unique ID in SharePoint list

User · Answer

Sharepoint Lists automatically have an column with  ID  which auto increments  You simply need to select this column from the  modify view  screen to view it

User · Answer

If you want to control the formatting of the unique identifier you can create your own  lt FieldType gt  in SharePoint  MSDN also has a visual How-To  This basically means that you re creating a custom column   WSS defines the Counter field type  which is what the ID column above is using   I ve never had the need to re-use this or extend it  but it should be possible   A solution might exist without creating a custom  lt FieldType gt   For example  if you wanted unique IDs like CUST1  CUST2      it might be possible to create a Calculated column and use the value of the ID column in you formula    CUST   amp   ID    I haven t tried this  but this should work

User · Answer

Peetha has the best idea  I ve done the same with a custom list in our SP site  Using a workflow to auto increment is the best way  and it is not that difficult  Check this website out  http   splittingshares wordpress com 2008 04 11 auto-increment-a-number-in-a-new-list-item   I give much appreciation to the person who posted that solution  it is very cool

User · Answer

As stated  all objects in sharepoint contain some sort of unique identifier  often an integer based counter for list items  and GUIDs for lists    That said  there is also a feature available at http   www codeplex com features called  Unique Column Policy   designed to add an other column with a unique value  A complete writeup is available at http   scothillier spaces live com blog cns 8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB 293 entry

User · Answer

Sharepoint Lists automatically have an column with  ID  which auto increments  You simply need to select this column from the  modify view  screen to view it

User · Answer

If you want to control the formatting of the unique identifier you can create your own  lt FieldType gt  in SharePoint  MSDN also has a visual How-To  This basically means that you re creating a custom column   WSS defines the Counter field type  which is what the ID column above is using   I ve never had the need to re-use this or extend it  but it should be possible   A solution might exist without creating a custom  lt FieldType gt   For example  if you wanted unique IDs like CUST1  CUST2      it might be possible to create a Calculated column and use the value of the ID column in you formula    CUST   amp   ID    I haven t tried this  but this should work

User · Answer

As stated  all objects in sharepoint contain some sort of unique identifier  often an integer based counter for list items  and GUIDs for lists    That said  there is also a feature available at http   www codeplex com features called  Unique Column Policy   designed to add an other column with a unique value  A complete writeup is available at http   scothillier spaces live com blog cns 8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB 293 entry

User · Answer

So I am not sure I can really think of why you would actually need a  site collection unique  id  so maybe you can comment and let us know what is actually trying to be accomplished here     Either way  all items have a UniqueID property that is a GUID if you really need it  http   msdn microsoft com en-us library microsoft sharepoint splistitem uniqueid aspx

User · Answer

If you want to control the formatting of the unique identifier you can create your own  lt FieldType gt  in SharePoint  MSDN also has a visual How-To  This basically means that you re creating a custom column   WSS defines the Counter field type  which is what the ID column above is using   I ve never had the need to re-use this or extend it  but it should be possible   A solution might exist without creating a custom  lt FieldType gt   For example  if you wanted unique IDs like CUST1  CUST2      it might be possible to create a Calculated column and use the value of the ID column in you formula    CUST   amp   ID    I haven t tried this  but this should work

User · Answer

Sharepoint Lists automatically have an column with  ID  which auto increments  You simply need to select this column from the  modify view  screen to view it

User · Answer

You can t add a new unique auto-generated ID to a SharePoint list  but there already is one there  If you edit the  All Items  view you will see a list of columns that do not have the display option checked   There are quite a few of these columns that exist but that are never displayed  like  Created By  and  Created   These fields are used within SharePoint  but they are not displayed by default so as not to clutter up the display  You can t edit these fields  but you can display them to the user  if you check the  Display  box beside the ID field you will get a unique and auto-generated ID field displayed in your list   Check out  Unique ID in SharePoint list

User · Answer

it s in there by default   It s the id field

User · Answer

If you want something beyond the ID column that s there in all lists  you re probably going to have to resort to an Event Receiver on the list that  calculates  what the value of your unique identified should be or using a custom field type that has the required logic embedded in this   Unfortunately  both of these options will require writing and deploying custom code to the server and deploying assemblies to the GAC  which can be frowned upon in environments where you don t have complete control over the servers   If you don t need the unique identifier to show up immediately  you could probably generate it via a workflow  either with SharePoint Designer or a custom WF workflow built in Visual Studio    Unfortunately  calculated columns  which seem like an obvious solution  won t work for this purpose because the ID is not yet assigned when the calculation is attempted   If you go in after the fact and edit the item  the calculation may achieve what you want  but on initial creation of a new item it will not be calculated correctly

[sharepoint] Auto number column in SharePoint list

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