Setting Managed Metadata Fields via Javascript - UPDATE

As I mentioned in a previous post, Managed Metadata fields can be set using Javascript. I've actually found an easier method to retrieve and update the values via javascript that I wish to share quickly.

Previously, I was retrieving the Managed Metadata Field Value in display format. I encountered an issue when attempting to use this value to update a form field on a modal popup however, due to multiple results in the Term Store being found for a single string. To remedy this, I found the hidden value for the Metadata Field including the GUID of the term. To do this, I used my handy Powershell script from my previous post, and located the field name for the Metadata Field. I then located the following XML for my field:

<Field Type="Note" DisplayName="Role_1" StaticName="RoleTaxHTField" Name="RoleTaxHTField" ID="{bbaf434e-cc7e-40b5-b43e-5605ee3c3543}" ShowInViewForms="FALSE" Required="FALSE" Hidden="TRUE" CanToggleHidden="TRUE" SourceID="{d96d858a-03f7-4b0f-a73f-fc0ee68996cd}" Customization="" ColName="ntext9" RowOrdinal="0"/>

    <Field Type="TaxonomyFieldTypeMulti" DisplayName="Role" List="{aff9fc9f-40b8-4a89-aaa3-f5f566117446}" WebId="d96d858a-03f7-4b0f-a73f-fc0ee68996cd" ShowField="Term1033" Mult="TRUE" Sortable="FALSE" Required="FALSE" Group="Knowledge Base Columns" ID="{5050205f-5771-40e1-b356-ec6c989147f1}" SourceID="{d96d858a-03f7-4b0f-a73f-fc0ee68996cd}" StaticName="Role" Name="Role" Version="4" EnforceUniqueValues="FALSE" Customization="" ColName="int8" RowOrdinal="0">

      <Default/>

      <Customization>

        <ArrayOfProperty>

          <Property>

            <Name>SspIdName>

            <Value xmlns:q1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q1:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">d6d8e56a-06c9-4c99-a5b0-1ea8b6eb747fValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>GroupIdName>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>TermSetIdName>

            <Value xmlns:q2="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q2:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">50857e97-8bdf-4000-bf13-5b1ba34d745aValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>AnchorIdName>

            <Value xmlns:q3="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q3:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000Value>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>UserCreatedName>

            <Value xmlns:q4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q4:boolean" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">falseValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>OpenName>

            <Value xmlns:q5="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q5:boolean" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">falseValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>TextFieldName>

            <Value xmlns:q6="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q6:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">{bbaf434e-cc7e-40b5-b43e-5605ee3c3543}Value>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>IsPathRenderedName>

            <Value xmlns:q7="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q7:boolean" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">falseValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>IsKeywordName>

            <Value xmlns:q8="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q8:boolean" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">falseValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>TargetTemplateName>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>CreateValuesInEditFormName>

            <Value xmlns:q9="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q9:boolean" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">falseValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>FilterAssemblyStrongNameName>

            <Value xmlns:q10="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q10:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429cValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>FilterClassNameName>

            <Value xmlns:q11="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q11:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">Microsoft.SharePoint.Taxonomy.TaxonomyFieldValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>FilterMethodNameName>

            <Value xmlns:q12="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q12:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">GetFilteringHtmlValue>

          Property>

          <Property>

            <Name>FilterJavascriptPropertyName>

            <Value xmlns:q13="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" p4:type="q13:string" xmlns:p4="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">FilteringJavascriptValue>

          Property>

        ArrayOfProperty>

      Customization>

    Field>

As you can see, there are 2 fields listed in the XML. The first field is the hidden value including the GUID of the term or terms, and the second field is the container/display field that is rendered as a string in Display Mode.

On my display form for the items that will be receiving feedback, I added a hidden field in the XSLT, and set the value to 

<xsl-value-of select="@RoleTaxHTField" />

When opening the dialog, the arguments passed include the value of this field.  On my dialog I now set the following the hidden storage field of the Metadata Field to the value passed. Now when the user submits the feedback, the value is mapped to the correct term without any errors, and there is no need to run the javascript that forces the metadata field to update.

Working with Lists and Schemas

I thought I would put up a quick post about retrieving list schema definitions via powershell while at the SPTechCon 2011 in SF this week. I've been working on some new Metadata functionality with JQuery and the SPServices Library (http://spservices.codeplex.com/ courtesy of Marc D Anderson), and realized that it's a real pain in the a** working with Managed Metadata Columns in SharePoint.

Here's a quick reference for grabbing the XML Schema of a list definition so you can get to internal field names, column definitions, and the Taxomony Ids required for interacting with the TaxonomyClientService.

$site = Get-SPSite http://[Site Url]
$web = $site.OpenWeb() - note: leave the value blank for the top-level web, or specify "/web url" between the parentheses to retrieve a specific web
$list = $web.Lists["List Name"]
$list.SchemaXML | Out-File C:\Temp\schema.xml


Now you should have an xml file containing the schema of your list. Open the file in your XML editor of choice, and have a blast locating the attributes you need.