Forum Discussion
Custom ID System for Document Set
Hi all,
Completely overwhelmed with how complicated it is to do this on SharePoint and haven't been able to find anything online about my specific question.
Context: We use a Document Library that is organized into Document Sets to track our organization's correspondence items. A new Document Set is created for each new correspondence item, and all relevant documents (original message, draft response, signed response, etc.) are stored within. We use Document Sets instead of folders because we track various metadata properties for each item.
Issue: We have been using the default "ID" column, but the IDs of the files contained within the Document Sets continue the numbering order from the library level instead of resetting to "1" in each Document Set (e.g., the ID numbers for any files uploaded into item "178" continue from "179" and so on). I know this is just how the SharePoint ID system behaves, but my director would ideally like the IDs for the documents contained within to be the same as the parent Document Set + a suffix (e.g., 178-1, 178-2, etc.). If that is not possible, they would like to just have the IDs of the files within the Document Set reset to 1 instead of continuing and disrupting the order at the Document Library level.
Is there a way to do this that isn't extremely convoluted and doesn't require manual entry?
Here is a mock-up of what we would like. The bold number represents the ID column.
- Correspondence Tracker (Document Library)
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
- 178-1 John Doe to Organization.docx
- 178-2 Organization to John Doe.docx
- 178-3 Organization to John Doe-SIGNED.docx
- 180 Example Item 2 (Document Set)
- 178-1 Joe Bloe to Organization.docx
- 178-2 Organization to Joe Bloe.docx
- 178-3 Organization to Joe Bloe-SIGNED.docx
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
OR
- Correspondence Tracker (Document Library)
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
- 1 John Doe to Organization.docx
- 2 Organization to John Doe.docx
- 3 Organization to John Doe-SIGNED.docx
- 180 Example Item 2 (Document Set)
- 1 Joe Bloe to Organization.docx
- 2 Organization to Joe Bloe.docx
- 3 Organization to Joe Bloe-SIGNED.docx
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
And this is how it currently looks:
- Correspondence Tracker (Document Library)
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
- 179 John Doe to Organization.docx
- 180 Organization to John Doe.docx
- 181 Organization to John Doe-SIGNED.docx
- 182 Example Item 2 (Document Set)
- 183 Joe Bloe to Organization.docx
- 184 Organization to Joe Bloe.docx
- 185 Organization to Joe Bloe-SIGNED.docx
- 178 Example Item 1 (Document Set)
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Modifying item IDs is not possible - it is a read-only field.
I would honestly keep it as is unless this benefits the business users.
If you need to have a custom ID that is in the format "178-188" then you would have to create another column to store the custom ID you want.
Possible out-of-the-box solution:
1. Doc Sets can be configured with shared columns - Create and configure a new document set content type - Microsoft Support. This means that documents under a docset will inherit chosen shared columns (with the values). For example, you create property called Custom ID (Single Line of Text with the calculated option or use the default option so that it equals the ID) and Share that column. When you create a doc set, it will assign the ID to the Custom ID field with the ID value, all the documents under that doc set will have the same Custom ID value.
2. ** You will have to verify this - Create a column called Custom Doc ID for the documents as a single line of text and check calculated option - Custom ID(Shared Column)-ID - this would generate something like 178-188.
The solution above will not have the sequential number for the documents. It will just use the item ids.
If your director insists on having sequential numbers, then you must hire a developer to design, implement and possibly maintain the desired solution. Bringing up customization may deter some people since there is an associated cost 😛 You would need a PowerAutomate developer that somewhat knows SharePoint.
4 Replies
Modifying item IDs is not possible - it is a read-only field.
I would honestly keep it as is unless this benefits the business users.
If you need to have a custom ID that is in the format "178-188" then you would have to create another column to store the custom ID you want.
Possible out-of-the-box solution:
1. Doc Sets can be configured with shared columns - Create and configure a new document set content type - Microsoft Support. This means that documents under a docset will inherit chosen shared columns (with the values). For example, you create property called Custom ID (Single Line of Text with the calculated option or use the default option so that it equals the ID) and Share that column. When you create a doc set, it will assign the ID to the Custom ID field with the ID value, all the documents under that doc set will have the same Custom ID value.
2. ** You will have to verify this - Create a column called Custom Doc ID for the documents as a single line of text and check calculated option - Custom ID(Shared Column)-ID - this would generate something like 178-188.
The solution above will not have the sequential number for the documents. It will just use the item ids.
If your director insists on having sequential numbers, then you must hire a developer to design, implement and possibly maintain the desired solution. Bringing up customization may deter some people since there is an associated cost 😛 You would need a PowerAutomate developer that somewhat knows SharePoint.
- Thank you very much for your response. I was able to convince them to leave it as is. Have a great day!
- No problem! I'm glad it worked for you 🙂
hi brdmcdgll
SharePoint does not provide a built-in way to create custom IDs for document sets. To achieve this, you can use a combination of content types, workflows, and custom code.
Another option is to use a third-party SharePoint add-in. There are a number of add-ins available that can be used to create custom ID systems for document sets.
Which option is best will depend on the specific needs of your organization and the expertise of your staff.
