Problem : You want to change some of the values that have been entered into the
columns for a specific file or list item. For example, you want to
change the details for an event in a calendar list or want to change the
name or title of a document in a document library.
Solution : Lists and document libraries in SharePoint might be configured to ask
you for metadata about files and list items. This data appears when you
view the properties of a file or list itemor as
columns when you view the document libraries or lists, and may be also
shown when you search for documents using the advanced search .
This
information is useful when you are looking for a file or a list item;
you might be able to search for it based on the value that is set in its
properties.
To edit the properties of a
file, locate the file in the folder where it was saved and hover the
mouse cursor over the link to the file. This opens a drop-down menu of
actions for that file. If you have permissions to edit that file’s
properties, you see the option to do so in that menu, called Edit
Properties (see Figure 1).
With list items, the
procedure is slightly easier. Although you can do the same as for files
(as described in the preceding paragraph), you can also simply click the
title of the list item to view the properties and then choose Edit Item
from the menu bar. Choosing this option opens a page where you can
modify the current properties of the file or list item.
Properties that are
mandatory are marked with a red asterisk (*) next to them, and you must
fill in those properties to be able to save your changes (see Figure 2). If you don’t fill in those properties, SharePoint does not let you click OK and tells you what properties are not filled in.
File and list item properties can be of different types, and each type has a different way of capturing data (see Figure 3).
For example, a text property displays a text box for you to enter data.
A date property can appear as a text box (for the date) with a button
next to it that looks like a calendar that will allow you to pick a
date, and it might even have two drop-downs for selecting a time. A
yes/no field appears as a check box.
SharePoint also
validates the properties based on the types. This means, for example,
that you cannot write text in a date field or in a numeric property. If
you do so, SharePoint shows you a red error message under that field and
prevents you from saving the properties until you fix the problem.
Additionally, the
document library or list manager may choose to impose additional
conditions on some of the properties—for example, stating that the title
of a file should be up to 40 characters long. SharePoint also alerts
you if you try to save the properties when one of those conditions is
not met, and tells you what field is not set correctly and what
limitations are configured for that field.
An important action when
creating a new file in some document libraries is choosing the content
type for the file. Different content types require different properties,
so it is recommended that before you enter the other properties, you
select the content type first. This should not be a problem because the
content type property is always the first one to appear in the list of
properties (if the document library was configured to use more than one
content type), as you can see in Figure 4.
Changing the content
type causes the page to refresh and load the properties that are
required for the selected content type. However, if the new content type
has some of the same properties as the old, the values in those
properties are not lost. You therefore can switch between content types
without worrying about losing the information.
After you have filled in all the properties that you want, click OK at the bottom or the top of the page to save the changes.
If the document library
is set up to require you to check in and check out files, you must check
in the file after changing its properties.
To edit the
properties of multiple list items or files, you can also use the
datasheet view.
