SharePoint 2010 Validation Settings

One of the cool things in SharePoint 2010 for end-users is the validation of columns. In normal applications you can have a validation on a field; examples :
– a field number must be between value x and value y that are also on the item
– a date must be smaller then another date on the item

A coworker was playing with the validation settings and it looked so cool I had to write this post about it!

His goal was to create 2 numeric fields where 1 of the fields has to be filled in, but they cannot both be filled in..not possible without code in SharePoint 2007, but a piece of cake in SharePoint 2010.

Just create the 2 fields, go to list settings – validation settings and create following validation:
=OR([Field1]=””,[Field2]=””)
Don’t forget to insert a user message.

If you go back to your list and fill in both fields, hit save and you will see the user message popping up in red!

REMARK FOR DUTCH USERS!!!
Als je de bovenstaande formule gebruikt, zal deze niet werken in de nederlandse versie!!
In deze versies moet je “;” in plaats van “,” gebruiken. Ook “OR” of “AND” werken niet, deze dienen “OF” of “EN” zijn.

About: Marijn

Marijn Somers (MVP) has over 14 years experience in the SharePoint world, starting out with SP2007. Over the years the focus has grown to Office 365, with a focus on collaboration and document management. He is a business consultant at Balestra and Principal Content Provider for "Mijn 365 Coach" that offers dutch employee video training. His main work tracks are around user adoption, training and coaching and governance. He is also not afraid to dig deeper in the technicalities with PowerShell, adaptive cards or custom formatting in lists and libraries. You can listen to him on the biweekly "Office 365 Distilled" podcast.


One thought on “SharePoint 2010 Validation Settings”

  1. Hi, I'm experiencing an annoying issue. Validation message is not shown, although I've configured it right. Do you know what should happen to it? Maybe a Javascript bug on Custom lists?

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